'Pizza Man' Car Burglar Pilfered Cash for Local Pie: Police

Riverside, IL — A man charged with felony car burglary confessed to being "a lover of pizza" after he was arrested in Riverside.

Dany Y. Ortiz, 21, of the 5200 block of West 22nd Place in Cicero, told police he drove around Berwyn, Cicero, River Forest, Oak Park, North Riverside and Riverside in May to scope out appetizing pizza restaurants.

Ortiz said he began burglarizing unlocked cars in early June for cash and change to pay for the pizzas he wanted to eat in each town, according to Riverside police.

“This is one of the most unusual and bizarre burglary patterns I have ever come across in my 31 years in law enforcement," said Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel. "Mr. Ortiz actually went out and identified pizza restaurants in early May and then would come back and burglarize cars for the cash in the communities where he wanted to try the pizza."

Police caught up to Ortiz after a July 2 car burglary in the 400 block of Loudon Road in Riverside, in which the car's owner captured home surveillance video of the crime. The burglar, dressed in pajama pants and slippers, was visible in the video.

Several other car burglaries and thefts had been reported to Riverside police in the weeks before this one, and they all involved coins and cash stolen from unlocked cars. Items such as laptops, iPads, iPods and other electronic devices in the cars were untouched.

Police tracked a suspicious vehicle report to Cicero. On July 11, police found Ortiz, who matched the person on the surveillance video, sitting on his front stoop, smoking cannabis.

After his arrest, Ortiz acknowledged he'd committed the burglaries for pizza money. Riverside police got in touch with detectives in the other suburbs involved.

Ortiz told investigators his favorite pizza place is Slice Factory in Oak Park.

Photo courtesy of Riverside police.