A Chicago man whom police have dubbed the “doorknob twist burglar” and say is responsible for more than 40 burglaries in Evanston since late December was arrested early Monday and charged with three counts of burglary, said Cmdr. Chuck Wernick of the Evanston Police Department.
The arrest of James Owens, 29, marks the end of EPD’s monthlong investigation of commercial burglaries in the downtown, southern and northern areas of Evanston.
The break-ins, which began Dec. 29, were characterized by “doorknobs being twisted or damaged in attempts to get in,” apparently by using a pipe wrench, Wernick said.
Police located Owens after an employee of an Evanston music store wrote down a suspicious customer’s license plate number last week and reported it to EPD, Wernick said.
Owens, of the 8500 block of South Carpenter Street in Chicago, entered Flynn Guitars & Music, 2522 Green Bay Road, on Thursday during business hours and asked for a musical instrument that does not exist. The store’s rear doorknob had been tampered with twice since December, according to police reports. The store employee became suspicious and wrote down the plate number of the man’s vehicle, a Chevy Astro van, Wernick said.
An undercover officer on Monday spotted Owens’ van on the 1500 block of Chicago Avenue, Wernick said. The officer saw Owens enter the vehicle and drive away without his lights on. The officer stopped Owens for a traffic violation and arrested him at 3:29 a.m., Wernick said.
Owens has been formally charged with three counts of burglary and one count of possession of burglary tools, but police believe he might be responsible for as many as 38 other commercial burglaries, Wernick said.
Police thought they knew the burglary suspect’s identity since early January because he had purchased two pipe wrenches in Evanston, Wernick said. They had been tracking him undercover at night.
“We knew who he was all along,” Wernick said. “(But) knowing who does it and catching him are two different things.”
Police found evidence of doorknob tampering and attempted burglary at a number of businesses around Evanston, including Student Book Exchange, Sherman Restaurant and Mail Boxes Etc., 1555 Sherman Ave., where $1,000 in cash, $250 worth of stamps and a cash drawer were taken between Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. Someone entered the business by breaking off the rear door knob, according to police reports.
When the burglar did gain access to businesses, he stole mostly stereo equipment, radios and laptop computers, Wernick said.
“Anything that wasn’t nailed down, he removed,” Wernick said.
Between Jan. 5 and 6 a padlock was pried off a storage room door at 2151 Ridge Ave. Locks also were broken on building doors of 2157 Ridge Ave. and 2145 Ridge Ave. on Jan. 6, according to police records.
But Owens only burglarized businesses, Wernick said.
Jason Choe, owner of Potion Liquid Lounge, 910 Noyes St., said his cash register and phone were taken Jan. 9. “(The burglar) used some kind of device to clamp (the lock) down and then he forcefully turned (the knob),” Choe said.
Choe said the burglar was very careful and left only a few dust spots around the cash register. “He used a rag to wipe his prints off. He didn’t really leave too much of a trace.”
Choe praised police for investigating the “doorknob twist” burglaries. “Evanston cops did a really good job of taking care of business the right way,” he said. “I’m here really late. I saw cops back in the alley shining their flashlights and taking care of things.
“I’m glad they caught him. Hopefully they’ll have him sent away for awhile.”
Owens is scheduled to appear Wednesday morning at Circuit Court in Skokie, where his bond will be set. If forensic testing of recovered evidence from other burglaries comes back positive, he’ll likely face additional charges, Wernick said.
