Man pleads guilty to breaking into Wheeling businesses

A 25-year-old Wheeling man pleaded guilty Thursday to burglary for breaking into businesses along Dundee Road.

David Martinez, of the 100 block of Wheeling Avenue, received three years in prison in exchange for pleading guilty to four counts of burglary and one count of attempted burglary, following a one-man, mini-crime spree that took place between March 9 and March 24 of this year.

Martinez targeted a cell phone store, supermarket, insurance agency, employment agency and an auto-parts store, said Assistant State's Attorney Mike Gerber.

Mostly he gained access through the roof, Gerber said. In one instance he broke through a wall separating the temp agency and the insurance agency, authorities said.

Martinez, who had no criminal background, took mostly property, said Gerber. Police say he also took cash, including an unknown number of coins from a gumball machine. Police arrested Martinez as he tried to break into an auto-parts store on March 24.