Monday: Cops Bust Two Burglars In Three Hours

With burglary reports up over 87% in Lakeview and over 100% in our immediate area this year, there is finally some good news about break-ins.

Actual criminal may vary.

Yesterday evening, Chicago police caught two burglary suspects in less than three hours—one in Boystown and the other in Roscoe Village.

The arrests come after several residents found themselves face-to-face with burglars in their homes.

Police arrested one suspect in the 1700 block of West Melrose at 10:50 last night, moments after a nearby apartment burglary.

The Melrose burglary victim was able to identify a computer in the man’s bag as their property.

Police drove another victim to the arrest scene and she, too, identified property in the man’s bags. Her apartment in the 3600 block of North Janssen had been burglarized earlier in the evening.

On Janssen, the burglar “pulled a big commercial dumpster from the alley up to the side of the building, stood on top and accessed a first-floor window to break in,” a neighbor told us early today.

The suspect and evidence are being processed as we post this report.

Also Monday, police arrested another burglar in the 800 block of West Aldine in Boystown just before 8 p.m.

In that case, a woman called 911 after seeing a man on her fire escape. The man tried to enter an apartment in her building moments later. Officers are hoping to secure felony charges for the attempted break-in.

Detectives will be working to connect the two suspects with other area burglaries, including one in the 1100 block of West Grace yesterday.

Hello, Stranger

At least a half-dozen Lakeview residents have come eye-to-eye with home intruders over the past two weeks.

• At 7:40 p.m. yesterday, two women called police after an unknown man climbed through their apartment window in the 1100 block of West George.

• A man walked in on a burglar who escaped by threatening to shoot the victim before punching him and sprinting out a rear door in the 3600 block of North Wayne last Wednesday. Police had yet to decide if the incident will be recorded as a home invasion when we last checked on the case. (UPDATE SEPTEMBER 22: The incident has been classified as a robbery.)

• Last Tuesday, a woman reported that a man kicked her back door in around 11 a.m. in the 3900 block of North Southport. She says the burglar was a tall black man with cornrows who was wearing a white tank top and a blue hoodie around his waist.

• In the 1400 block of West Wolfram, a burglar used patio furniture to enter an apartment’s side window on Sunday. He “ransacked the apartment, apparently looking for cash or credit cards,” according to a post in the popular and influential Taking Back Lakeview Neighbors group on Facebook.

• Another member of the Facebook group reported that their home was burglarized while they slept this weekend in the 3700 block of North Lakewood. “They entered through the main level window….Thank god we were not hurt. They took a laptop and a camera bag. Be careful and use your alarm,” the homeowner wrote.

The List

Other burglaries that have been confirmed recently by our 19th district officers include: