Police use year-old evidence to charge resident with burglary

A 19-year-old resident was charged Tuesday with residential burglary for an incident that occurred more than a year ago.

The man was arrested in connection with the burglary of a residence in the 800 block of Oakton Street. A Toshiba laptop was stolen during the burglary, which occurred Oct. 21, 2013.

According to analysis from a crime lab, fingerprints recovered from the scene matched the man’s, Evanston police Cmdr. Joseph Dugan said.

Detectives obtained an arrest warrant on Jan. 29, and the man was arrested on Feb. 3, Dugan said.

The man, who was 18 at the time of the burglary, will be tried as an adult. He is scheduled to appear in court March 9.

The delay between the burglary and the arrest was because of the state police crime lab that the Evanston Police Department used, Dugan said.

“They have a definite hierarchy where they process the murders first and then the sexual assaults,” Dugan said. “Property crimes are a little lower, so it takes a little longer. The delay is also caused by the amount of cases they get.”

EPD has switched to using the North Suburban Crime Lab since last year. Dugan said he estimates the new crime lab would take only two weeks to return analysis on fingerprints.

Evanston woman robbed, suspects acquaintance

A resident robbed of her belongings this week suspects an acquaintance took her possessions, police said.

The 56-year-old woman told police that between 10 p.m. on Jan. 31 and 6 p.m. on Feb. 3, several items were stolen from her apartment on the 700 block of Reba Place.

The items were a Shiseido wrinkle cream worth $300, a black leather purse worth $150, five sets of long underwear and six pairs of socks worth $170 in total and $200 in cash.

Though the woman has no proof, she believes it was taken by a male acquaintance who stayed with her during this time, Dugan said.

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