'Telltale' Cigarette Butt Links Man to Christmas Car Burglary: Cop

Photo: Jake M. Stakas, 20, of Crestwood. | Illinois Department of Corrections

A cigarette butt left in the front seat of a burglarized vehicle was linked to a Crestwood man through DNA analysis, said a Palos Heights police officer, and police didn’t need to go far to find their man. He was sitting in the Will County jail.

An arrest warrant was issued Friday at the Bridgeview courthouse for Jake Stakas, 20, who is a suspect in a car burglary that took place during the overnight hours of Dec. 23, 2014. The police officer told a Cook County judge the owner came into the station on Christmas Eve to report someone had rummaged through her vehicle while it was parked in the garage overnight. Money was missing.

A Newport brand cigarette butt was found in the front seat. The owner claims neither she nor anyone in the family smokes, and they don’t allow people to smoke in the vehicle. The police officer said the vehicle smelled of cigarette smoke.

A neighbor also reported seeing a suspicious man peering through other car windows on Dec. 23, 2014, after the vehicle was believed to have been burglarized, according to court testimony.

The cigarette butt was sent to the Illinois State Crime Lab for DNA analysis and the officer said the results matched Stakas. The officer told the judge that Palos Heights police have had multiple run-ins with Stakas in the past.

According to Palos Heights police records, Stakas was found hiding in a crawl space of a home he had broken into this past January, when he was charged with possession of a controlled substance. He received a 12-month sentence in the Illinois Department of Corrections stemming from the January possession charge, but was paroled the same day he entered the system on July 27.

Stakas was charged with felony DUI and driving without insurance in Will County on Aug. 26, and he remains in the Will County adult detention center.

The Palos Heights officer told the judge he’s since had conversations with Stakas, who denies smoking the Newport brand.

The judge issued an arrest warrant for $50,000.