Racine police: Serial business burglary suspect arrested

RACINE, Wis. - Racine police said the man suspected of burglarizing five different Racine businesses is now in custody.

It was part of a month-long burglary spree, police said. From broken windows to stolen cash registers – it left the victimized businesses with a mess to clean up.

The burglaries started last month at Joey's Yardarm Bar & Grill. The burglar broke into a porthole. With feet initially dangling outside the building, the man eventually made his way inside.

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"At first he tried to pry it open and it didn’t give, and then he broke the window to jump through it and went straight back to the bar to see if the cash register was open," said owner Anna LeGath.

"Then he heard the alarm going off and was out of there in less than a minute and jumped back through the window."

Surveillance of Racine burglar's legs dangling from porthole 

Police said the man didn't stop there. From March 27 through April 15, authorities said he also hit Mi Jacalito Restaurant, George's Tavern, Michelle's on Taylor and Xpress Food Mart.

"This isn’t his first go-around, unfortunately," said Police Sgt. Kristi Wilcox.

Wilcox said police connected all five burglaries through surveillance footage.

Surveillance from burglary at Racine's Xpress Food Mart

"Great work to our patrol unit and our investigations for getting this solved and their cooperation and being on the lookout," she said.

The input of the business owners also helped.

"If you see something, say something. If something doesn’t look like or someone doesn’t look right, call us so we can check out," said Wilcox.

Police said charges were referred to the district attorney's office Thursday. Once processed, the man will be identified.