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| Dewayne Howard was arrested in the 1400 block of West Sherwin. | CPD; Google |
A lifelong felon who recently finished doing time for a violent home invasion is free on a recognizance bond after cops allegedly caught him burglarizing a Rogers Park apartment. The accused man also has a history that includes multiple prison terms for burglary and for the sexual assault of a child.
The case of Dewayne Howard is the latest example of Cook County’s affordable bail program in action.
Last Thursday evening, a Rogers Park man hid in his bedroom closet and called 911 after a man broke through his back door with a crowbar around 7 p.m. The offender then began breaking through the door to the victim’s bedroom.
Police arrived at the apartment building on the 1400 block of West Sherwin to hear a door slam and see 51-year-old Howard emerge onto the back porch, they said. Howard leaned over the third-floor railing with gloves on his hands, then ran back into the victim’s apartment, according to police.
Cops next spotted Howard as he tried to crawl out of a first-floor window of the same building, they said. He was eventually arrested as he ran down a hallway.
The victim identified Howard as the man who broke into his apartment. Also allegedly identified by the victim were a MacBook and headphones in Howard’s backpack along with a ring, a necklace, and rolls of quarters that cops took from Howard’s pants pocket. Police say they recovered a crowbar and a screwdriver.
Prosecutors charged Howard with felony burglary. And Judge Arthur Willis released him on his own recognizance the next day.
Court records show that Howard was sentenced to three concurrent 15-year sentences in 2008 for home invasion causing injury and burglary in Rogers Park. He previously received a 15-year sentence for predatory criminal sexual assault of a child under age 13 in 1998. He caught a nine-year sentence for burglary in 1993. And six years for burglary plus a concurrent six years for aggravated battery in 1990. In 1987, he received three concurrent four-year terms for burglary and theft.
Howard is due back in court on Thursday.
