Palatine motel employee charged with stealing coins, medals from guest

A Palatine motel maintenance worker who authorities say took Israeli coins, medals and other items from a motel guest last month and pawned them for more than $4,600 was ordered held Thursday on a $20,000 I-bond.

Ramiro Malagon-Aguilera, 43, is charged with residential burglary, a class 1 felony punishable by up to 12 years in prison. Probation is also an option. The I-bond means Malagon-Aguilera will not have to post any money to be released from custody. He next appears in court on Oct. 16.

Prosecutors say Malagon-Aguilera had a master key to all the rooms at the motel, which is in the 1400 block of East Dundee Road.

On Aug. 13, he took the items, including coins and a Lake Zurich Fire Department badge, and pawned them for $3,719.30, using his Illinois state identification, said Assistant Cook County State's Attorney C.J. Orrantia. The transaction was caught on video surveillance, Orrantia said.

On Aug. 17, he returned to the pawnshop with a medal and other items and pawned them for $900, Orrantia said. He returned two more times, on Aug. 20 and 27, to pawn more of the motel guest's property, Orrantia said.

A Palatine detective recovered all of the items, which the guest identified, Orrantia said. A pawnshop employee also identified Malagon-Aguilera as the person who pawned the items, Orrantia said.