Police Find, Arrest Man Who's Been Robbing Senior Citizens For Almost A Year

After eight months of looking for a suspect who broke into a handful of senior citizens’ homes and stole from them, suburban police have found and arrested their man.

Riverside police have charged Erik Albavera, 30, of Berwyn, with four counts of residential burglary, they announced in a release. According to another statement sent out by the Berwyn Police Department, whose officers arrested him, Albavera was additionally charged with nine counts of residential burglary and two counts of attempted residential burglary by their units.

Several other police departments also plan on lodging charges against the man, Berwyn Chief of Police Michael Cimaglia said in the release.

Albavera was caught after a long investigation into several related burglaries in the western suburbs. According to Cimaglia, the crimes date back to May 2016 and had all targeted senior citizens who live alone.

After surveilling several possible victims’ houses for some time, Berwyn police saw Albavera trying to break into a Berwyn home around 11:10 p.m. Feb. 9. He was reportedly wearing a gray sweatshirt and used a flashlight and pry tool to try and get into the house, but he failed and walked away.

Cops arrested Albavera as he tried to get into a car that was parked on a nearby street.

Albavera confessed to committing several burglaries in the Berwyn area and close communities, Cimaglia said. According to Riverside police, he told investigators that he’d been robbing his victims due to a “severe gambling addiction.”

The Riverside burglaries took place as follows:

• 300 block of Lionel Road in May 2016
• 200 block of Shenstone in October 2016
• 700 block of Arlington in November 2016
• 400 block of Uvedale Court in February 2017

“Although a great deal of time may pass, I can assure residents that detectives continuously work on cases to try to not only apprehend the offenders but to bring some peace of mind to our residents that their cases are solved,” Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel said in the release.

Albavera’s case is currently scheduled for a status hearing Wednesday, March 1.

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Mugshot courtesy of the Riverside PD