Wheaton church burglar receives six months in jail
The last of four men involved in a string of church break-ins in Wheaton will serve a short stint in jail for his role in the brazen crimes.
Mirnes Logo, 18, was sentenced this week to six months of periodic confinement, during which he'll be allowed to go to work, after he pleaded guilty to burglarizing a place of worship.
The Wheaton teen must serve four years' probation.
"By destroying a place of worship, you're impacting an entire community and an entire population," DuPage State's Attorney Joe Birkett said Wednesday. "That's why it's taken so seriously. We will continue to vigorously prosecute these cases."
Police zeroed in on the young men while investigating several burglaries to churches and at least one college in Wheaton. In all, thieves broke into 15 sanctuaries and institutions dating to July 3, 2006.
Detectives developed leads on two men, Alen Kalember and Stojan Suznjevic, through DNA evidence after the men cut themselves while climbing through a broken window at World Relief.
Then, on Oct. 19, 2006, Logo and some of the other defendants used a brick to smash a window at Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 1753 S. Blanchard St., Wheaton. A janitor called police to report seeing three men fleeing with electronic equipment. He also provided license plate information.
Police tracked the suspects down minutes later at one of their homes.
Police arrested Logo; Kalember, 21, of Carol Stream; and Nedim Sivcevic, 26, of Lombard, for burglary.
The fourth man, Suznjevic, 25, of Winfield, was arrested a short time later for the World Relief burglary. He also was charged with burglarizing a Wheaton pool in July 2005.
Kalember received a five-year prison term for committing eight burglaries, which he said was to feed a drug habit. He'll be paroled in September.
Sivcevic was tied only to the final break-in at Aldersgate. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail. Suznjevic received a three-year term. He is due to be paroled Saturday.
Some of the other burglarized institutions include Christ Community Church, St. Mark Catholic Church and Holy Cross Lutheran Church.
At least one church was hit twice. At St. Mark, prosecutors said the thieves snatched a TV/VCR and pilfered money from the donation box before fleeing. At Holy Cross, the burglary occurred during a wedding.