Accused Serial Burglar Charged In Deerfield, Evanston, Indiana

DEERFIELD, IL — A Chicago man accused of a string of home burglaries of senior citizens earlier this year faces felony charges in at least four Illinois and Indiana counties, according to police and court records. Authorities said he was part of a crew of serial burglars who carried out at least half a dozen ruse-type burglaries in January and May, and he has been charged with thefts and residential burglaries in the north suburbs of Evanston and Deerfield as well as downstate Indiana. "Ruse" burglars often target the elderly, according to police, luring residents outside or distracting them in order to get inside their homes and steal valuables.

Sam Mason, 22, of the 3300 block of North Albany Avenue in the Avondale neighborhood of Chicago, was arrested Aug. 2 in Winnebago County on a Lake County arrest warrant issued by Deerfield. He was turned over to Cook County after posting bond a month later and awaits possible extradition to Indiana to face additional charges in the Evansville area, authorities said.

The first incident of the year took place in Evanston. Shortly after 3 p.m. on Jan. 10, a resident in the 2700 block of Bryant Avenue reported a ruse burglary. Someone claiming to be doing home repair next door claimed there was an obstruction on the resident's property. Meanwhile, an accomplice ransacked a bedroom and stole what was described as costume jewelry, according to Evanston police communications coordinator Perry Polinski.

The resident grew suspicious and called the police, spooking the suspected ruse burglars, according to Polinski. Detectives retrieved an image of the suspects' gray pickup truck from a neighbor's surveillance camera and sent out a bulletin to other departments. Polinski said an officer from another agency was able to identify the truck, and police issued a warrant for Mason's arrest.

Then, on Jan. 19, a resident of the 500 block of Susan Lane in Deerfield reported that a man walked up to him outside his garage and said he had noticed a "For Sale" sign on the residents house. The man claimed his parents were interested in buying a home in the area and asked to see inside. The resident agreed to give him a tour and allowed him in.

Before long, the man invited another man, purportedly his brother, to join him viewing the home. The two asked to look at the back porch and walk throughout the home before telling the resident they would talk to their father and follow up. About an hour later, the resident's wife arrived home and discovered a jewelry box had been stolen. Deerfield detectives got descriptions of the suspected burglars and found two possible suspects. One of them was Mason, who the resident was able to positively identify. Deerfield police issued a warrant for Mason's arrest in February.

Mason was later arrested in May at an Evansville hotel as part of a joint operation between the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office, the Warrick County Sheriff's Office and the Evansville Police Department. Investigators said he and four others from the Chicago area burglarized the homes of at least four elderly residents between May 1 and May 8, stealing more than $30,000.

In one of the Evansville incidents, three men showed up at a home claiming to have damaged the property while running cable behind a fence and persuaded the homeowners to leave the home to take a look at the damage while one of the burglary crew got inside and stole Jewelry. Mason was initially charged with four counts of residential burglary and two counts of theft in Vanderburgh County. Authorities in Warrick County, which issued a warrant for his arrest on Aug. 6 on four more counts of felony residential burglary and two of felony theft, expect to seek his extradition, according to the sheriff's office. A warrant for failure to appear in court in Vanderburgh county was issued on Sept. 5.

Mason was taken to Lake County Jail and initially held on a $100,000 bond, police said. He was released a month later after posting 10 percent of a $75,000 bond on Sept. 3. Mason was then transferred to Evanston police custody and booked into Cook County Jail, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office. As of Sept. 10, he was being held in Cook County in lieu of the $5,000 cash portion of his bond ahead of his next court appearance Sept. 19.