Suspect currently in prison in Illinois
Waupaca County prosecutors filed charges against a suspect in last fall’s Kmart burglary.
Judge Raymond Huber issued an arrest warrant for John M. Signorile, 44.
Signorile is currently an inmate at Vandalia Correctional Center in Illinois, where he was convicted of burglary.
He is charged in Waupaca County with burglary, possession of burglary tools, felony theft and criminal damage to property.
Shortly before 7 a.m. on Sept. 21, 2018, a Kmart employee called 911 to report finding the front door and a display case broken.
They were uncertain if someone was still inside the store.
Deputy Bill Zeamer and his then K-9 partner Arrow secured the building.
While taking photos of the scene, investigators found a spark plug outside the entry door among the broken shards of glass.
Inside the door, they found a neoprene mask on the floor.
By the shattered glass display case, police found a hammer and two empty jewelry boxes.
Kmart’s security camera showed a suspect approaching the display case.
The suspect appeared bald and wore a mask, gloves and a dark hoodie.
The suspect is seen using the hammer to break the display case and grab several items. He leaves the store in less than 40 seconds.
According to the criminal complaint, the retail price of the stolen items was estimated at more than $52,000.
Repairing the glass case and glass door cost about $1,250.
DNA evidence
On Feb. 17, 2019, the state crime lab linked DNA from the mask to Signorile.
As a convicted felon, Signorile’s DNA profile is on record with the state Department of Corrections.
He was convicted of burglary in Kenosha County in 2005 and sentenced to three years in state prison.
In 2009, Signorile’s extended supervision was revoked and he was sentenced to 59 months in state prison.
Before receiving the DNA report, Waupaca County Detective Sgt. Nick Traeger discovered Signorile sold jewelry to nine pawn shops in the Chicago area.
On March 19, Kmart staff identified some of the stolen jewelry from photos provided by the pawn shops.
Waupaca police contacted the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office, where a detective obtained DNA swabs from Signorile.
On April 1, Capt. John Helgeson sent the swabs to the state crime lab.
On May 1, the state crime lab matched the DNA profile from the swabs to DNA on the mask.