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A Chicago resident already charged with conducting a vengeful online campaign of cyber stalking against multiple victims has been indicted on new burglary charges and Cook County prosecutors said today that the burglary rate in the Chicago Police District where he was operating has decreased by more than 70 percent since his arrest, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez announced today.

Jicheng Liu, 32, of the 1700 block of West Altgeld on Chicago’s North Side, has been indicted on 12 new burglary charges after being linked to a large-scale series of burglaries, many of which occurred in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.

In a court appearance today at the Cook County Criminal Courts Building at 26th and California, Liu’s indictment on the burglary charges was announced and a Cook County Judge set a $500,000 cash bond on the new charges.  He has been held in custody at the Cook County Jail since his arrest on a previous $100,000 cash bond.

Liu, a Chinese National who has no legal immigration status in the United States, was charged last month with multiple counts of Cyber stalking, Computer Fraud and Identity Theft.

According to prosecutors, Liu was also an alleged serial burglar believed to be responsible for hundreds of thefts, including a pattern of stealing packages that had been delivered to residents and left on the front porches of homes throughout the Lincoln Park neighborhood.

According to prosecutors, Liu is suspected in possibly hundreds of burglaries and when the contents of his home and five storage lockers were searched following his arrest, Chicago police recovered a large-scale array of stolen merchandise.  This included more than 200 bicycles, more than 200 baby strollers, up to 100 sets of golf clubs, a stolen automobile title and a stolen check for more than $200,000.   Also recovered were more than 50 garage door openers, most of which had the home’s corresponding address written in marker on the back.  Prosecutors estimate the value of the stolen merchandise to be in excess of $1 million dollars.

The Chicago Police Department allowed past victims of garage burglaries to view property that had been in the possession of the defendant and approximately 100 burglary cases were solved based on the identification of the property by the victims.  Since Liu’s arrest, the burglary rate in Chicago’s 19th police district is reportedly down by 72 percent.

During the course of committing his crimes, Liu also is alleged to have cyber stalked several individuals that he believed attempted to get in the way of his criminal activities or reported him to police.  These victims became the subject of vicious online smear campaigns that targeted their personal and professional reputations. However, in some instances, Liu misidentified his intended targets, leading several innocent individuals to suffer the consequences of his cyber attacks.

In one case, an individual who helped police apprehend Liu after he caught him stealing packages from his porch suddenly discovered a string of negative comments online attacking a business owned by one of his relatives who had the same name. This individual also found that his wife’s wedding planning business also suffered the same fate and had comments posted on consumer review websites accusing her of being “a thief,” and the “wedding planner from hell.”

Liu is also alleged to have launched cyber attacks on two Chicago Police Officers who had previously arrested him, calling one a sexual predator and the other a corrupt and abusive officer.

In another case, Liu is alleged to have targeted another couple who operated an online consignment store who reported him to the police after they realized he was giving them stolen property to sell. After their contact with police, numerous negative online reviews began appearing from alleged ‘victims’ who claimed to have been ripped off.  Liu allegedly set up numerous fake accounts to flood Ebay with so many complaints that they were eventually banned from the site. Ultimately the negative feedback caused their business to fail.

In a third case, a woman whose baby stroller had been stolen responded to an online ad selling the exact same model. When she met up with Liu, she realized he was trying to resell the stolen stroller when she found her children’s artwork in one of the pockets. She called 911 and responding police were able to arrest Liu.

After his release on that misdemeanor theft charge, Liu again misidentified his accuser and began to target more innocent victims. One of the victims, a nurse, suddenly found comments accusing her of negligent behavior including administering the incorrect dosage of medicine to children and falling asleep on the job. Online posts targeting the victim’s husband, a realtor, accused him of cheating a victim out of her home and sexually assaulting a woman during a property showing.

Liu’s harassment of this couple went beyond posting negative online comments. He was also found to have ordered food online and had it delivered to their home. On two other occasions, men began knocking on the door in the early morning hours saying they were responding to online ads that had posted pretending to be from prostitutes that told them to meet at the victim’s address.

Chicago Police and Cook County State’s Attorney Investigators looking into all of the victim’s complaints were able to identify Liu as a suspect. Authorities were able to link the email accounts used by the defendant to the various negative online reviews as well to the prostitution ads and for the food delivery. Liu was also found to have used the names and phone numbers of victims when he posted his negative online reviews about other victims.

After his arrest, police and prosecutors searched Liu’s home and five storage lockers and recovered a myriad of stolen goods.  Much of it still had address labels attached allowing detectives to identify the owners.  Prosecutors also announced that financial records indicated that shortly before his arrest Liu had wired $300,000 to Hong Kong. 

The public is reminded that charging documents contain allegations that are not evidence of guilt. The defendant is entitled to a fair trial at which the state has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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