"Prolific" Burglar Charged With Ransacking Riverside Home While Family Slept
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A man with at least six prior convictions for burglary has been arrested again, accused of breaking into a Riverside home while the family was sleeping inside.
Riverside police said 23-year-old James Ussery burglarized a home on the 100 block of North Cowley Road on May 10 as the homeowners and their five children slept. He allegedly stole cash, wallets, laptops, and cell phones.
Police said Ussery got in by cutting open a screen window with a knife, and crawling through a small kitchen window. He fled through the back door, but left behind a bicycle that had been stolen about 30 minutes earlier about a quarter mile away.
Ussery allegedly got cash for the cell phones from an ECO-ATM in Norridge – an ATM where you can exchange cell phones for cash. Police were able to track the phones to Ussery because ECO-ATM kiosks require users to submit a state ID or driver's license before getting cash.
The stolen phones had been shipped to California, but have been recovered by police.
Police also found Ussery's fingerprints at the scene of the burglary.
He was arrested Friday while playing basketball at an XSport Fitness club. He has been charged with one felony count of residential burglary and one felony count of burglary.
Police described Ussery as a "prolific" burglar with six prior convictions for burglary; he was on parole for a 2014 burglary in Oak Park at the time of the latest break-in. Police also said Ussery had 22 previous arrests for theft, obstruction of justice, invasion of privacy, obstructing police, and various traffic offenses. Ussery was being sought by police in Elmhurst, Morton Grove, and Glen Ellyn for other burglaries, according to Riverside police.