BUCKTOWN — Acting on descriptions from two witnesses, police arrested a 31-year-old Wicker Park man Thursday and charged him with a string of recent burglaries in Bucktown.
Kenneth Hall, 31, of the 1400 block of N. Elk Grove Ave. in Wicker Park, is expected to appear in bond court Friday, according to Chicago Police spokesman John Mirabelli.
Hall was taken into police custody at 10:15 a.m. Thursday after officers observed him exiting an alley on a bicycle near Cortland Street and Marshfield avenues, police said.
Mirabelli said Hall was convicted of burglary and possession of a controlled substance in 2005. In 2007 he was charged with failure to report an accident involving an injury.
At the time of the arrest, police had been canvassing the neighborhood after a resident on the 1700 block of N. Hermitage Ave. had reported a suspect fleeing a back patio after the suspect made eye contact with a resident in the home.
Mirabelli said Hall also matched the description given to police by a burglary victim on the 1700 block of W. Wabansia Ave. Bags of stolen goods were found in an alley a short distance away from the resident's home on the 1600 block of W. Wabansia Ave.
In that incident, the resident had reported seeing a man matching Hall's description walk away from the resident's home carrying bags of stolen goods. During the burglary, a window was kicked in to gain entry.
The stolen goods were recovered and returned to the resident, Mirabelli said.
Hall was charged with a misdemeanor of criminal trespass to property, and seven felony counts of burglary.
The seven incidents occurred primarily in the 1700 blocks of Wabansia and Hermitage avenues and Paulina streets in Bucktown, Mirabelli said.
