Javier Paredes was charged with retail theft, false reporting and disorderly conduct after police said his claim he'd been stabbed was bogus. (Chicago Police Department)
A man who told police he was stabbed during a robbery in downtown Chicago last month actually shoplifted razor blades from a nearby drugstore and cut himself after arguing with his girlfriend, investigators said Sunday.
Javier Paredes, 32, was charged with retail theft, false reporting and disorderly conduct, and was ordered held on $450 bail following a hearing.
Emergency responders in the Magnificent Mile commercial district found him on the morning of Nov. 14 with cuts to his abdomen. He claimed he'd been robbed, but prosecutors said security cameras in the area showed no such incident.
However, police officers examining the footage spotted Paredes taking the blades from a CVS drugstore approximately 20 minutes before he reported the stabbing.
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Paredes was arrested Thursday after officers found him pulling the handles of gangway fences on the city's Southwest Side. After his arrest, officers identified him as the shoplifting suspect.
According to Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Rebecca Wiggers, Paredes admitted to officers that he'd stabbed himself after an argument with his girlfriend during which he threatened to harm himself.
Paredes is due to appear again in court on Thursday.
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