Three men are facing felony burglary charges after sheriff’s police say they were caught in the act of breaking into freight railcars on Chicago’s Southwest Side late Thursday, following reports of shipping containers being pried open on a moving train near the 1200 block of West 74th Place. Officers say they found cutting tools and other evidence at the scene, and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office has now filed burglary counts as the case heads to court.
According to a post by the Cook County Sheriff's Office, Norfolk Southern Railroad police alerted the sheriff's police community safety team around 11:25 p.m. Thursday after spotting several containers that appeared to have been broken into. Sheriff’s officers responded to the area and took three people into custody near the tracks, the post states.
Cargo theft has been climbing nationwide in recent years, with industry trackers and national reporting noting sharp upticks in stolen freight, including hits on trains and intermodal yards. Reporting on CargoNet’s data by DC Velocity found a year-over-year rise in incidents in 2025, and testimony cited on Congress.gov flagged tens of thousands of rail-related thefts across the country.
The sheriff’s post identified the suspects as Jamafia Robinson, 26, of Glendale Heights; Donshawn Saunders, 24, of Chicago; and Jaquese Walker, 27. Officers say they recovered a pair of bolt cutters from a nearby vehicle and another set near the tracks, and that Norfolk Southern drone footage showed the three men walking to a gray Infiniti parked close by, with one person seen placing an item in the car’s wheel well. The Cook County State’s Attorney charged all three with burglary on Feb. 13, according to the post. Robinson and Saunders were released after initial court appearances on Feb. 14, while Walker remains in custody on a separate alleged violation of pretrial release tied to a July arrest in a similar cargo burglary case, the office said.
How police say surveillance helped
Sheriff’s police credited Norfolk Southern’s railroad police and their drone footage with helping trace the suspects from the moving train to the nearby parked Infiniti, which they say led directly to the recovery of the alleged burglary tools. That kind of coordination between private rail operators and local law enforcement is increasingly common in efforts to clamp down on cargo theft, according to industry reporting.
What happens next
The Cook County State’s Attorney has lodged felony burglary charges, and the three defendants are expected to face preliminary hearings at the George N. Leighton Criminal Courthouse. The sheriff’s post also noted that the men are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and that upcoming court filings will determine any changes to custody status or bail conditions.
