Gilberto “Big O” Valensuela: A Record-Breaking Return to Custody
We’ve covered plenty of stories about people who get arrested again while on parole, but Gilberto “Big O” Valensuela might have set a new speed record.
The 36-year-old, a three-time convicted auto thief, was released from the Lincoln Correctional Center on Friday. By Saturday morning, he was back in custody, arrested in Albany Park for residential burglary while still carrying his freshly issued parole paperwork, according to a Chicago police report.
Around 9:30 a.m. Saturday, CPD responded to a burglary in progress call in the 4100 block of North Kimball Avenue. Officers found a broken window, blood around the front door handle, and a large metal pipe on the porch, prosecutors said in a detention filing. As one of the home’s residents came downstairs to let the police in, she spotted Valensuela hiding in a dark corner at the bottom of the staircase, according to the filing.
“There’s someone here! He’s laying on the floor by the door!” she screamed.
An officer entered with his gun drawn and ordered Valensuela to raise his hands. He complied.
Valensuela allegedly told police his girlfriend told him to break in, and that he first tried to smash the window with his foot before switching to the pipe found nearby. His left hand was bleeding.
He also allegedly told officers that “Gangbangers were shooting at me, that’s why I went in,” and “They told me to go in there.” None of the residents, who are all related, had ever seen him before, police said.
When officers searched Valensuela, they found his parole discharge paperwork, which included a notice reminding him: “You shall not violate any criminal statute of any jurisdiction during the parole or release term.”
Judge Shauna Boliker granted the state’s petition to detain him. Corrections officials are also reviewing his parole status in light of the new allegations.
