Months-long investigation into metro-east burglaries results in charges
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- Two suspects were arrested by Caseyville police after multiple burglaries.
Two men are facing multiple felony charges after a three-month investigation into a series of burglaries and an auto theft in the metro-east authorities said.
Jerry L.B. McCallister, 39, who has warrants in other jurisdictions, was charged in St. Clair County with theft, criminal damage to property, burglary, aggravated fleeing and possession of a stolen motor vehicle, according to Caseyville Police Chief Woodrow Hall.
Gabriel Valades-Gonzalez, 25, was charged with two counts of burglary.
The arrests followed an investigation by Caseyville police and the Metro East Auto Theft Task Force, which began after a break-in at Bobby’s on the Rocks on May 6. The suspects allegedly stole a “substantial amount of money” from the register and two gambling machines, Hall said.
“Detectives took fingerprints from areas where they touched and eliminated those matching employees and owners,” he said. “If there was surveillance — which there was — we reviewed that as well.”
No other incidents connected to the suspects were reported until September, when back-to-back burglaries were reported Sept. 2 and Sept. 3 at a towing company and the Caseyville Inn. The suspects allegedly accessed another gambling machine during the second incident, said Hall.
On Sept. 5, the suspects were spotted in a stolen Polaris XD from Granite City. After fleeing an attempted stop by Washington Park police, they were found in a bean field in Collinsville.
“If you’re going to do this kind of thing,” Hall said, “then stay out of Caseyville.”