Bloomingdale police hope arrest solves burglaries

Following a string of daytime burglaries the past several months on the west side of Bloomingdale, police arrested Friday a 26-year-old Cicero man they hope will shed light on the crimes, officials said.

Daniel Strom, 26, of 4917 W. 29th St. in Cicero, was arrested after police found him fleeing from the scene of an attempted home break-in. He was later charged with attempted residential burglary and criminal damage to property.

Police Chief Frank Giammarese said the Illinois Department of Corrections also issued an arrest warrant for Strom, who was recently paroled from Jacksonville Correctional Center after serving time for six charges, three of which were residential burglary.

Giammarese said a woman who lives on the 200 block of Westminster Drive, just southeast of Lake Street and Springfield Drive, called police about 11 a.m. reporting that a man was trying to break down her front door.

“He rang the doorbell, knocked and when no one responded, he tried to break in and broke the frame of the door,” said Giammarese. “I’m not sure if he got spooked or heard police sirens, but he ran before he gained entry and the victim was able to give us a good description of the suspect and the car he fled in.”

Less than half a mile away, police say they found Strom in a dark-colored Chevy HHR with Iowa license plates, believed to be a rental car.

Nothing was taken from the home and no one was injured.

Police said they are trying to learn if Strom is involved with other residential burglaries in the area, several of which also happened during the day and included forced entry into the front and rear doors of the homes.

“While he was very polite, Strom did not give a statement and was not cooperative but we are assuming he could be a possible suspect and looking to see if there’s a connection,” said Giammarese. “We’ve been really vigilant and really proactive to try to catch whoever is involved with these crimes.”

Strom was not taken to DuPage County Jail and, instead, was taken into custody by the Illinois Department of Corrections due to his warrant, jail officials said.