Evanston Man Tied to 15 Thefts in Wilmette and Kenilworth

Evanston resident Fernando Heredia was arrested Friday and charged with burglary after he allegedly admitted to stealing from 15 cars in Wilmette and Kenilworth.

The villages have been hit by a rash of burglaries from vehicles, with 46 reported since the beginning of 2012. Detective Sergeant Michael McGarry said were patrolling for suspicious activity at 12:30 a.m., since evidence suggested that’s when most of the crimes were occurring, when they spotted Heredia and Skokie resident Deivonte D. Kelly, Jr. in the 1200 block of Chestnut Avenue.

Earlier: 

“We knew from the previous burglaries that credit cards taken from victims’ automobiles were being used at about 2 a.m. in Skokie, Evanston and Morton Grove,” Detective Sergeant Michael McGarry said. “One of the officers ran across these guys parked on the side street. They had no good reason for being there, and then it was discovered that the car immediately in front of them had been burglarized.”

The two men were found to be in possession of a GPS programmed with out of state addresses that identified it as coming from a car that had been burglarized two weeks ago. A pair of ice skates in the trunk of their car was identified as belonging to a victim from Kenilworth.

All of the cars Heredia allegedly robbed were unlocked. Police said the burglaries took place on five occasions in March, and that Heredia mostly took change, small electronic items and credit cards.

Kelly said he had gone along, but had not taken part in the burglaries, McGarry said. He was charged with possession of stolen property based on video footage of him using a credit card tied to a previous burglary. He was released on iBond. Heredia was charged with burglary and unlawful use of a credit card. He was taken to bond court Saturday, where his bail was set at $10,000.

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