Evanston police have arrested a Chicago man in connection with a robbery that took place nearly three years ago in the 1500 block of Seward Street.
Police Cmrd. Joseph Dugan says a police evidence technician recovered fingerprints from the burglary scene and that earlier this year were identified by the state police crime lab which identified them as belonging to Paul Richard Downs, 20, of 1646 N. Kedzie in Chicago.
A woman who came home and discovered the burglary in progress on Aug. 30, 2012, was able to identify Downs as the man she’d seen burglarizing her home.
He’s now been charged with one felony count of residential burglary.
Dugan says that since the 2012 incident the police department has partnered with the Northeastern Illinois Regional Crime Laboratory, which has substantially decreased the time required to process evidence.