Kelly Stawicki, 27, who has cancer, reacts after receiving donations for? (Zbigniew Bzdak, Chicago Tribune)
December 22, 2011|By Ashley Rueff | Tribune reporter
A Palos Hills man was charged today with stealing a donation jar for a woman battling cancer after he was identified through surveillance video from a Crestwood convenience store.
Joseph Campione, 45, was held in lieu of $100,000 bail after appearing in court Thursday on felony theft charges, said Crestwood police. He turned himself in at 7:45 a.m. Thursday after tips from the surveillance video released to the media helped police identify him.
"The first thing you have to do is be angry when you see somebody do that," said Kelly Stawicki, who has stage III colon cancer. "But like I said, I have a heart, you know. I feel bad he's got to spend Christmas in jail."
The 27-year-old Alsip woman and her family have been raising money to help pay down more than $100,000 in medical bills that have accumulated since August. She was laid off from her data-entry job last December and doesn't have insurance.
Stawicki said she doesn't know how much money was in the stolen jug, but when it was emptied on two previous occasions it held about $125. The money hasn't been recovered.
The surveillance video shows a man paying for some items at Shop Mart, 13650 Cicero Ave., about 4 p.m. Dec. 5 before taking the jug from the counter and walking out of the store.
Surveillance video was turned over to authorities Dec. 14, and police released it to the media Saturday. Tips rolled in both from people who recognized him as well as law enforcement agencies familiar with Campione, authorities said. He has three previous theft convictions and one drug conviction, police said.
Campione's attorney contacted Crestwood police Wednesday and made arrangements for him to turn himself in, police said. Campione declined to make any statements to police about the incident, authorities said.
"I would probably only describe him as maybe remorseful after he saw what he did and the effect that it had," said Dave Weigand, director of police services for Crestwood.
In the end, Stawicki and her family said a difficult situation has turned into something that has brightened their Christmas. After hearing her story, an anonymous donor wrote her a check for $10,000, and many others have made donations as well.
Thursday at a news conference, she was presented with three $100 checks from the Crestwood Police Association, Crestwood Firefighters Association and A&R Security Services.
"Each day, little by little, more and more keeps coming in," she said. "The support from everybody, including people that I don't know, it's overwhelming."
Stawicki said she will start the seventh of 12 chemotherapy treatments Tuesday.
arueff@tribune.com
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