2 charged with DuPage and Kane county burglaries, suspected in others

Two Chicago men have been accused of burglarizing homes in unincorporated areas of Kane and DuPage counties.

Vincent N. Ely, 21, of the 3300 block of South Leavitt Street, and Rocky Miller, 45, of the 4600 block of West 79th Street, are each charged with one count of attempted residential burglary in DuPage County court and residential burglary in Kane County.

A DuPage County judge ordered they be detained pretrial on the grounds of dangerousness and risk of flight. Their next court date is Thursday in DuPage.

The duo has not appeared yet in Kane County court.

According to petitions for pretrial detention filed by DuPage prosecutors, Downers Grove police were monitoring a GPS tracker placed on a Nissan Rogue suspected of being involved in burglaries in Downers Grove. On Oct. 4, they noticed the vehicle was at I-47 and I-88 near Sugar Grove.

Prescription medication and a coin collection were reported stolen from a home in a ruse burglary near Sugar Grove, according to the petition.

Police then tracked the car to the 1600 block of Apache Drive in Naperville. The petition alleges Ely and Miller knocked on the front door and, when there was no answer, went to the back door and forced it open. A 74-year-old woman in the home screamed, and the men ran off, according to the petition.

The Rogue then went to the North Side of Chicago, where Downers Grove police tried to arrest Miller and Ely outside a White Castle at Addison Street and Kedzie Avenue. It hit a police officer, a Chicago police squad car and two other vehicles, according to the petition.

Ely and Miller then switched vehicles with a woman near 31st Street and the Dan Ryan Expressway, according to the petition. That vehicle crashed at 71st Street and Lafayette Avenue on the South Side. The two men ran off but were apprehended a short time later.

The police officer sustained minor injuries, according to Downers Grove police.

The petition alleges Miller and Ely are two members of a “notorious” organization of “traveling crime families known for ruse and forced-entry burglaries” that target elderly victims. It said the organization is based out of the Avondale neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago.

The petition stated that while tracking the car, police noticed it had been in Wisconsin on Oct. 1, Rockford on Oct. 2 and Morris on Oct. 3.