Three north suburban police departments have charged a man who allegedly stole tip jars from the front counters of Starbucks coffee shops in the north suburbs.

Christopher M. Sheehan, 32, of 5811 W. Montrose Ave., Chicago, was arrested Dec. 7 after he turned himself in to Winnetka police, said Deputy Police Chief Patrick Kreis.

After being charged with one count of misdemeanor theft in Winnetka, he was turned over to Wilmette authorities, who had a warrant for Sheehan’s arrest, and Buffalo Grove police, where he was also charged with theft. Both the Wilmette and Buffalo Grove charges were misdemeanors.

Two Starbucks cafes in Wilmette reported a man stealing their tip jars in early November. The first theft took place Nov. 5 at 3520 Lake Ave. A second was reported Nov. 7 at the 1515 Sheridan Road location. The jars were estimated to contain a combined $100.

Later in the day Nov. 7, the Winnetka Starbucks, 565 Chestnut St., reported a similar theft.

A manager at one of the Wilmette locations followed the thief into the parking lot and wrote down his license plate number, according to a police report. That led investigators to Sheehan – whose registered vehicle matched the description of the suspect’s car, according to the report.

Winnetka detectives used that information to locate Sheehan by telephone and persuaded him to turn himself in, Kreis said.

“Our investigators had communicated with the Wilmette Police Department, who had a similar crime and had developed some suspect information,” Kreis said. “Our investigators were able to work with Starbucks security to locate a security video of the crime and then set out efforts to locate Mr. Sheehan.”

Sheehan could not be reached for comment.