Police have arrested a homeless man in connection with six residential burglaries in the rural northeast part of Madison County.

The Madison County Sheriff's Department is also asking for the public's help in identifying some of the recovered items.

James L. Stufflebean, 35, has been charged with six felony charges of residential burglary, Capt. T. Mike Dixon stated in a news release.

Dixon said this case is among a growing trend of people who use addictive, illegal drugs and commit crimes to support their drug use.

Police believe Stufflebean committed the burglaries during the day when residents were not at home.

Police arrested Stufflebean July 13 on existing burglary-related warrants out of Jersey County and St. Louis County.

Investigators recovered about $7,000 worth of suspected stolen items. They have identified owners for all of the items except for the following:

* An antique rectangular bass cello in a tan zip-up case.

* A black Hewlett-Packard laptop computer with silver lines and white circular graphics on its outer casing.

* A black and tan Epiphone acoustic guitar in a hard black case.

* And a silver "Flip" brand palm-sized video camcorder by Cisco.

Anyone with information about these items may call the Sheriff's Department's dispatchers at 692-4433, investigators at 692-0871 or anonymous tip line at 296-3000.