Scottsdale Suspect Spilling Details, Police Say; May Solve As Many As 20 Burglaries

A Chicago police sergeant said Thursday night that CPD detectives appear to be breaking open a two-man burglary operation responsible for at least nine burglaries in the greater Scottsdale area and 20 such crimes total.

"After these two (suspects) were processed (at the police station), one lawyered up and wouldn't say anything; but the other cooperated," stated CPD Sergeant Allen Cain, head of the CPD Eighth District CAPS Program. The pair Cain referred to are Scottsdale residents Ricardo Rodriguez and Joseph Rocha, arrested on December 28 and charged with burglarizing a home near 80th and Kolin. (Original SWCP story below.)

Cain's remarks were made before more than two dozen men and women at the January meeting of CAPS Beat 834, held at Bogan High School.

4338 South Pulaski

While Cain did not say which suspect was cooperating with detectives, he added that the suspect claimed to have pawned 97 stolen items in the past 18 months or so at EZPAWN, 4338 South Pulaski. Cain praised EZPAWN management for cooperating with the investigation. The Southwest Chicago Post has reached out to EZPAWN officials for comment and awaits word.

One local woman in the audience praised detectives for their diligence. She said that her home had been burglarized, as well---and that police cracking the case open resulted in the return of four expensive items (including a laptop computer and digital camera) out of 36 items stolen from her home.

Cain also spoke highly of a man who lives across the street from the home burglarized and was said by police to play a pivotal role in the December 28 arrests. "He saw something that didn't look right; and not only was he willing to get involved by calling 911 right away, he agreed to identify the suspects when police brought them back to the scene."

Cain showed an award he had planned to give the neighbor, who was unable to attend the CAPS meeting. "This is a great guy. I would love to have him as a neighbor on my block. All of us need to do what he did: watch out for each other and stick up for each other."

(Editor's note: more coverage of the CAPS Beat 834 meeting coming later today.)

Original Southwest Chicago Post story published on December 30, 2012

An alert neighbor who called 911 helped police interrupt and foil the burglary of a Scottsdale home near 80th and Kolin.

At 9:39 a.m. Friday, December 28, police responding to a "burglary in progress" call were pointed in the direction of two men by construction workers. Police spotted them at a play lot at 8030 South Kostner, next to Stevenson School.

Ricardo Rodriguez

Arrested were Ricardo Rodriguez, 33, of 82nd and Tripp, and Joseph Rocha, 27, of 81st and Tripp.

The neighbor told police that he saw the pair pull up to the victim's home in a black 2007 Dodge Caliber. Rodriguez allegedly got out and rang the front door bell. When no one answered, he reportedly went back to the car, got a crowbar and (along with Rocha) walked around to the back and pried open the home's back door.

Joseph Rocha

Police said that the back door was damaged, three bedrooms were ransacked, that stacked on the kitchen table were a power saw, a laptop computer and an iPad. They also found a flat-screen TV thrown on a bed.

In Rocha's left front pants pocket, police said they found 11 two-dollar bills. They also found a TV remote control lying on the ground at the play lot. The victim, a 36-year-old man who was at work when the crime occurred, later identified the cash and the remote as his.

Police further reported that they found a crowbar lying in the grass in the victim's backyard.

The Dodge Caliber was impounded.

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