A 27-year-old Chicago man River Forest police arrested last week is a suspect in more than a dozen vehicle burglaries.
River Forest police found Cassanova Hastings hiding in bushes in the 500 block of Thatcher Avenue and arrested him shortly after 7 a.m. May 23. Hastings had a large amount of coins on him, and police located several vehicles that appeared to have been burglarized.
An hour before that, a resident in the 7900 block of Oak Street reported that his vehicle had just been burglarized. A yard-to-yard search was conducted with the help of Oak Park and Forest Park police and a Forest Park K-9 unit to locate Hastings.
River Forest police recorded 13 “burglary to auto” offenses between May 15 and last Wednesday, where unlocked cars were targeted and spare change was taken. Hastings is a suspect in all of them, said Deputy Chief Craig Rutz.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office approved one count of burglary against Hastings and his bond was set at $25,000 Thursday morning. He has had at least 18 arrests and 11 convictions in the past, including five convictions for burglary and four for invasion of privacy.
