Eight business burglaries in Homewood this fall — including four smash-and-grab incidents on Nov. 26 and 27 — have been cleared by arrests, police said Thursday, Dec. 20.
One adult and two juveniles have been arrested following a burglary spree in the village between Sept. 23 and Dec. 3, Homewood Deputy Chief Denise McGrath said.
The suspects were arrested between Dec. 5 and 14, she said.
Bernard Barfield, 21, of the 4600 block of 189th Street in Country Club Hills, was charged with burglary in connection with six of the incidents in Homewood, McGrath said.
A 16-year old-suspect was charged with burglary in connection with seven of the incidents. A 17-year-old juvenile was charged with burglary in one incident.
Homewood’s burglaries were part of a string of crimes that took place in the H-F communities and nearby towns this fall.
Barfield was also charged with four counts of burglary and one charge of felony criminal damage to property following a series of smash-and-grab incidents in Flossmoor on Dec. 1, police said. According to Flossmoor Detective Dave Freeman, four businesses were burglarized that night, along with two vehicles at Homewood-Flossmoor High School.
The Chicago Heights Police Department took a lead role in investigating the multiple burglaries throughout the region and arrested and charged the three suspects.
That department on Dec. 18 provided a press release to the H-F Chronicle indicating that its detective division “led an intensive investigation which resulted in three suspects being arrested and charged in connection with a series of recent burglaries targeting local businesses within the city.”
The Chicago Heights department “is aggressively pursuing leads and working in cooperation with multiple law enforcement agencies regarding similar burglaries that have occurred in a number of other south suburban municipalities,” the press release states.
Chicago Heights Police Chief Thomas Rogers told the Chronicle Dec. 20 that his department “is still actively working this burglary investigation and it is still an open investigation so at this time we cannot be giving any statements” other than what was in the press release.
McGrath said the following burglaries in Homewood were cleared by the arrests:
- Sept. 23 at 3:32 a.m. — Game Stop, 17925 Halsted St.
- Oct. 17 at 3:05 a.m. — Game Stop.
- Nov.26 at 11:36 p.m. — Best Buy, 17800 Halsted St.
- Nov. 27 at 1:50 a.m. — Big Lots, 3055 W. 183rd St.
- Nov. 27 at 1:59 a.m. — Lorenz Appliances, 18320 Governors Highway.
- Nov. 7 at 2:04 a.m. — Edible Arrangements, 18312 Governors Highway.
- Dec. 2 at 2:24 a.m. — Pride Cleaners, 18330 Governors Highway.
- Dec. 3 at 12:44 a.m. — Mobil, 2138 W. 183rd St.
