A woman was captured on video breaking into mailboxes at a Wicker Park apartment building while on pretrial release for a similar offense, according to a judge. She had recently completed a prison sentence for multiple burglaries, including the theft of Christmas gifts from beneath a tree.
Adelaide Cornell, 46, was taken into custody on February 26 after Chicago Police Department officers observed her on a surveillance camera using a screwdriver to force open the entrance of a multi-unit building in the 1300 block of North Ashland Avenue. Prosecutors allege she then proceeded to open mailboxes within the building’s vestibule.
Police arrived at the location and found Cornell sitting nearby in her Buick Encore. Prosecutors reported that a screwdriver was found next to the driver’s seat, and a search of her vehicle uncovered several screwdrivers and 16 key sets.
Cornell faces charges of burglary and possession of burglary tools. During a detention hearing, Judge James Costello ordered her to be held, highlighting that she had been on pretrial release for a similar offense for just a month. The judge also noted her recent parole completion and multiple incarcerations.
Previously known as Adelaide Tamayo, she had been involved in a burglary spree that led to her imprisonment. In 2024, she confessed to a series of home invasions from Bucktown to Lakeview and faced a phone harassment charge for threatening a victim who shared her surveillance images online.
Her criminal activities began on December 4, 2022, when she removed a Ring doorbell camera from a condo building in the 800 block of West Armitage. A week later, she and an accomplice allegedly broke into a residential building in the 1900 block of North Milwaukee, stealing packages from a hallway and storage units. Surveillance footage captured these actions, as well as their getaway car, linked to Tamayo by its license plate, according to prosecutors.
On December 17, 2022, Tamayo and an accomplice allegedly entered an apartment building in the 2700 block of North Pine Grove to steal more packages. Shortly afterward, a Lakeview man discovered them with Christmas presents from his tree in the 2900 block of North Mildred. He confronted them, knocking the gifts from their hands before they escaped.
On New Year’s Day 2023, Tamayo and her accomplice allegedly approached an apartment in the 3300 block of North Ashland, asking for someone named “Jason.” When the resident denied knowing anyone by that name, they reportedly broke into the garage, stole from a car, and took a bag, all captured on camera.
The harassment charge arose from threatening messages Tamayo sent to a victim who posted her images online. In one message, she allegedly wrote, “I’m gonna get you, b****.” Another message read, “The police ain’t going to do s***. Straight.” Prosecutors said Tamayo admitted to sending these messages.
On December 5, 2024, Tamayo pleaded guilty before Judge Paul Pavlus to six counts of burglary and one count of phone harassment. She received concurrent sentences of four years for the burglaries and three years for harassment.
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