Riverside police arrest man suspected in several burglaries, wanted in DuPage County

RIVERSIDE - Riverside police Friday charged a Chicago man with burglary and unlawful use of a credit card in connection with an October garage and vehicle burglary.

William Wesley Brown, 44, of the 2300 South Kostner Avenue, block of was charged with one count of felony burglary and one count of felony unlawful use of a credit card, according to a Riverside Police Department news release.

Over the last two months, police have been investigating the burglary. Police recovered a cell phone in a yard in the 100 block of Northgate Road adjacent to where the burglary occurred.

Police developed leads through video surveillance of where the stolen credit card was used at locations in Chicago and Cicero, which implicated Brown, who has been arrested by Riverside police several times in the past.

Police determined that Brown was staying at the Cindy Lyn Motel in the 5000 block of West Ogden Avenue in Cicero. They staked this area out and confirmed he was staying in a room at the motel with a girlfriend. They then secured a search warrant for the motel room.

After executing the search warrant on Dec. 3, they arrested Brown and his girlfriend, Nicolette Barton, 34, of the 100 block of North Sangamon Street in Chicago. They recovered stolen property from the Riverside burglary and other property believed to have been stolen from other suburban communities.

Additionally, Brown and Barton were both wanted on outstanding felony burglary warrants issued by the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office.

Barton also was charged with being a fugitive from justice in relation to the outstanding felony burglary warrant issued by DuPage County Sheriff's police. Additionally, both are suspects in numerous open burglary cases in Riverside and other west suburban communities. Those investigations are still ongoing.

Brown's criminal history is extensive and includes 25 prior arrests including numerous burglary charges, aggravated assault, battery, theft, felony theft, retail theft, escape from police custody, and several other criminal charges, police said. Brown is also a self-admitted and documented street gang member.

Barton's criminal history includes traffic offenses, drug offenses and burglary charges.

“This arrest is a direct result of the excellent police work done when the crime was reported, and tenacious follow up by detectives who followed every lead they could until they were able to execute a search warrant and arrest Mr. Brown,” Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel said in the release.

“Mr. Brown is no stranger to Riverside police and he has over the course of his career been “a one-man crime wave” in Riverside over the years. There is no doubt that Mr. Brown was fixated on committing crimes in Riverside even after getting repeatedly arrested.”