Wilmington Police have arrested a wanted man in connection to the commercial burglary trend on the West Side of the City.
On April 29 at approximately 3 a.m., members of the Criminal Investigations Division were in the area of 4th and Jackson Streets as part of their ongoing investigations into a number of commercial burglary incidents that have affected businesses west of I-95 when they were made aware of an attempted burglary that had just occurred in the 1000 block of West 4th Street. Further investigation led to the location of a suspect inside of a vacant residence in the 1000 block of Read Street.
Investigators took 50-year-old Jimmie Hayes – who was wanted on multiple unrelated matters out of multiple jurisdictions – into custody without incident, and recovered proceeds from multiple burglary incidents.
As their investigation continued, detectives identified Hayes as a suspect in connection with a total of 9 burglary incidents and 2 attempted burglary incidents – with locations including the 1000 block of West 4th Street (two incidents); the 1400 block of Lancaster Avenue (two incidents); the 100 block of North Lincoln Street; the 1800 block of West 3rd Street; the 400 block of North DuPont Street; the 800 block of North Market Street; and the 300 block of North Union Street.
Hayes has been charged with following offenses:
- Burglary (Third Degree) – 8 Counts
- Theft Under $1,500 – 5 Counts
- Criminal Mischief Under $1,000 – 2 Counts
- Criminal Mischief Over $1,000 – 7 Counts
- Theft Over $1,500 – 2 Counts
He was arraigned in Justice of the Peace Court 11 and was given $42,000 secured bail for the burglary-related charges, and $10,000 cash-only bail in reference to a violation of probation. He has been committed to the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution pending further proceedings.
Our investigation into this commercial burglary trend remains active and ongoing, and police are asking anyone who may have information about any of these incidents to contact Detective Joran Merced at (302) 576-3637 or [email protected]. You can also contact the Wilmington Police Department at (302) 654-5151 or share information anonymously with Delaware Crime Stoppers by contacting them at 1-800-Tip-3333 or Delawarecrimestoppers.com.
Police also encourage the public to report any suspicious activity to police.
