Florida men charged in Mount Prospect vehicle burglaries

Authorities have charged two Florida men with burglary to motor vehicle in connection with break-ins in Mount Prospect in recent weeks, after the pair was arrested late last month in Elk Grove Village.

Earley Burch, 25, and Kadeem Johnson, 23, both of Fort Lauderdale, face two counts of burglary to motor vehicle each.

Johnson also was charged with one count of identity theft in Mount Prospect and with another in Elk Grove Village, officers in both police departments said.

According to Mount Prospect police, the department has taken 29 reports of vehicle burglaries since the beginning of August, which they believe were committed by the same group of individuals. A credit card taken in one of the burglaries later was used at a business in the Northwest suburbs, police said.

Mount Prospect police circulated information about the burglaries to other area departments and a description of possible offenders.

On Oct. 26, Elk Grove Village police officers who were investigating similar crimes identified and located a vehicle believed to involved. The officers apprehended Burch and Johnson as they entered that vehicle in Elk Grove, according to police.

Stolen property from the Mount Prospect burglaries was located and identified after the arrests, police said.

Bail for Burch and Johnson was set at $50,000 each. They remained in custody Wednesday at the Cook County Jail. they're scheduled to return to court Thursday at the Cook County courthouse in Rolling Meadows.