Suspect broke into home of sleeping family
RIVERSIDE – Following a multistate investigation, Riverside police charged a Chicago man with 22 priors for the May 10 burglary of a home in the 100 block of North Cowley Road, according to a Riverside Police Department news release.
James M. Ussery, 23, of the 3400 block of West Madison Street, Chicago, was arrested May 27 and charged with one count of residential burglary and one count of burglary.According to police, Ussery currently is on felony parole for a 2014 Oak Park residential burglary and has 22 prior arrests including invasion of privacy, obstructing police, theft, traffic offenses, obstruction of justice and six prior convictions for burglary.He is also being sought by the Elmhurst,
Glen Ellyn and Morton Grove police departments for burglaries, police said.Ussery allegedly entered a home in the 100 block of North Cowley Road in the early hours of May 10, according to the police report.The homeowner along with his wife and five young children were sleeping in the house when the burglary occurred.
Miscellaneous electronic equipment, including laptops and cell phones, was reported stolen from the home, in addition to cash and wallets.After allegedly burglarizing the home, police said he fled through a rear door, reportedly leaving behind a bicycle that had been stolen about 30 minutes earlier from a home in the 200 block of Longcommon Road in Riverside.While checking pawnshops, detectives were able to track down the victims' cellphones, learning the stolen phones had been shipped to San Diego, Calif.
Riverside police said they also recovered fingerprint and DNA evidence from the burglary scene.Ussery was arrested at 5 p.m. May 27 at XSport Fitness in Norridge and was taken into custody without incident."Mr. Ussery is a habitual felony offender who keeps committing burglary after burglary," Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel said in the report. "He gets arrested for felony burglary and/or theft, does some period of time in custody, and upon his release from jail, he goes right back to committing more burglaries."In this case, he burglarized a home after 1 a.m. in the morning while the residents were sleeping.
We know that Mr. Ussery was armed with a knife as he cut the screen when he entered the home, and it is fortunate that the homeowner did not wake up and any confrontation took place."Ussery is being held in Cook County Jail on $75,000 bond, according to the report.