A young man whose four-month burglary binge took him across four different counties in rural Illinois and netted him thousands of dollars worth of stolen property has been nabbed.
Twenty-five-year-old Brett T. Chastain of Granite City, Illinois, was charged yesterday by the Madison County State's Attorney's Office with six felony charges of residential burglary, stretching 23 miles across the county, from Roxana to Alhambra.
The well-traveled vandal was wily enough to elude Madison County law enforcement for at least four months. But his luck ran out when he took he took his looting act to neighboring Bond County.
On June 27, Chastain and another man were apprehended near the scene of an interrupted burglary in Greenville, Illinois. Authorities from the Bond County Sheriff's Department contacted their counterparts in Madison County and were able to link Chastain back to one -- and ultimately six -- prior burglaries. (In each case, Chastain allegedly entered an unoccupied home in broad daylight, typically by busting through a rear door, and targeted jewelry, electronics and money.)
Detectives have seized stolen property linking Chastain to burglaries in St. Clair and Macoupin as well. Madison County detective Mike Dixon tells Daily RFT that his office is working with investigators with multiple counties, and, as of now, Chastain is a person of interest in an investigation being conducted in Macoupin. Additional charges could be sought in Madison County as well, says Dixon.
Chastain is being held at the Madison County Jail on a $150,000 bond. He has prior convictions in theft and aggravated battery. Dixon says Chastain's burglary spree was motivated by a heroin addiction.
