Well, well, well. Look what we have here.
Less than a month after CWBChicago profiled a couple of active burglars who’ve been breaking into Lakeview homes, Chicago police have arrested a suspect.
Cacey Williams, a 34-year-old who went to prison in 2013 and again in 2015 for burglary charges, is now accused of committing three residential burglaries since 2022, including the one featured in our recent story.
Prosecutors said Williams was one of the men who broke into the home in the 1600 block of West Byron on April 4, getting away with an estimated $5,860 in proceeds. The two-man burglary team that broke into the home around 10:45 that morning took purses, jewelry, perfume, an Xbox controller, AirTags, backpacks, and wine, according to a criminal complaint.
DNA testing linked Williams to burglaries in the 1900 block of West Byron on November 16, 2023, and the 4300 block of North Ashland on December 9, 2022, officials said. The victims on Ashland suffered losses estimated at $18,000.
Prosecutors told Judge James Costello that Williams entered homes by breaking through back windows. Costello ordered Williams detained, saying he had “destroyed [the] sense of safety” victims enjoyed in their homes.
The most recent victim shared surveillance video of the burglars casing their home on April 4.
“They can be seen attempting to gain entry by checking windows and trying to scale a fence into our neighbor’s yard,” one of the homeowners told us. The couple asked to remain anonymous for this story. “They gained entry into our unit by standing on the HVAC unit and entering through our kitchen window, which had been closed.”
“They chose the exact 45-minute window when my fiancé, who typically works from home, stepped out for a brief period,” one of the victims said. “This suggests they may have been monitoring our routine before deciding to break in.”
The victims told us that CPD made “no effort” to gather camera footage from neighbors, so they launched their own investigation.
As we reported last month, the couple had done so much legwork, they believed they had identified one of the burglars by name. We can now reveal that the name they provided was … Cacey Williams.
The second man seen in the surveillance video has not been found.
Original reporting you’ll see nowhere else, paid for by our readers. Click here to support our work.
