An unexpected finding led police to identify and later apprehend the person who allegedly burglarized a home in suburban Cook County, authorities said.
Jeremiah Phillips, 35, was charged with burglary, residential burglary and criminal damage to property in connection with a September 2023 burglary at a Rich Township home, according to the Cook County Sheriff's Department.
On Sept. 6, 2023, deputies were called to a home in the 4000 block of Blackstone Avenue regarding a residential burglary. Detectives responded to the scene and reviewed security footage, which showed the man go inside the home's detached garage and open the fridge.
The individual then took a drink from a bottle of 19 Crimes Cali Red before putting it back in the fridge, sheriff's officials said. Some time after that, the man spotted the security cameras and spray-painted them with paint he found in the garage.
Footage captured a few days later showed the man return to the home, enter through the sliding door and damage security equipment. Detectives later submitted DNA samples from the wine bottle to the Northeastern Illinois Regional Crime Laboratory.
Then, in February, law enforcement received a report from the lab "showing an association" between the DNA found on the wine bottle and Phillips, police said. The 35-year-old was taken into custody on Wednesday and appeared at an initial hearing.
A judge released him from custody pending trial, police said.
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