Evanston police arrested three men early Thursday and a fourth early today in separate auto burglary incidents.
Police Cmdr. Joseph Dugan says that about 2:36 a.m. Thursday two officers on routine patrol in the alley of the 700 block of Oakton Street spotted a vehicle with both its front doors open and two subjects leaning inside going through various items with a third man standing nearby.
When the subjects saw the officers, all three fled on foot running in different directions, but officers managed to arrest three suspects at different locations within two blocks of the scene.
Dugan says police recovered a large amount of loose change, electronic charging cords and miscellaneous items from all three men.
The owner of the vehicle, a female Evanston resident, said it had been left unlocked, that about $2 in loose change was missing and that a spare key that she keeps hidden in a drawer in the car had been placed in its ignition switch.
Officers also were able to recover a debit card from one of the subjects had been taken in another burglary in the 700 block of Forest Avenue.
Dylan M. Tomlin, 20, of 7357 N. Kedzie in Chicago, was charged with burglary in both the Oakton and Forest incidents. Justin H. Castellanos, 19 of 7628 N. Bosworth in Chicago, and Princeton C. Owens, 19, of 8112 S. Cottage Grove in Chicago, were each charged with one count of burglary in the Oakton case.
Aureliuse P. Griffin
This morning about 12:43 a.m., Dugan says, officers responding to a call of burglary to vehicle in progress in the alley of the 800 block of Washington Street saw a subject flee on foot south through yards and apprehended him in the 800 block of Madison Street.
Dugan says the man, who was wearing latex gloves, had a drivers license and debit card that did not belong to him as well as a diaper bag, sunglasses, keys and an I-Pod.
Dugan says officers were able to determine that some of the recovered items were stolen from two different vehicles, one parked in the alley of the 800 block of Sherman Avenue and the other parked on the street in the 600 block of Callan Avenue.
Aureliuse P. Griffin, 20, of 7501 N. Seeley in Chicago, now has been charged with two counts of burglary to auto.