ILLINOIS COMPUTER STOLEN SJ-R.COM - Police Beat

* A thief who swiped a computer from a grocery store vendor was caught after he tried to sell the computer back to the vendor a few days later, authorities said.

Earl J. Horn, 57, of the 800 block of East Clay Street was arrested at his home about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, three days after the theft occurred at Shop ‘n Save, 1755 Wabash Ave.

Jerome police said an employee of Southern Wine and Spirits put his computer on some boxes in a store aisle as he took inventory Sunday. At one point, when he went to enter data into the computer, it was gone.

The store’s video surveillance recorded the incident, but Horn’s identity wasn’t immediately known, Jerome police said.

Authorities believe he might have tried to sell the computer to a pawnshop, but the computer was marked with the company’s name.

On Monday, Horn allegedly called Southern Wine and Spirits’ corporate center in Chicago and told staff members he had bought the stolen computer from a homeless man for $100. Horn offered to sell the computer back to the company for the price he paid, Jerome police said.

An undercover Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office detective, posing as a Southern Wine and Spirits representative, agreed to meet Horn at his home. There, authorities were able to identify Horn as the thief thanks to the store’s video footage, Jerome police said.