A man police say was caught by an East Moline resident burglarizing her home has been accused of also burglarizing at least one other neighboring home.
The East Moline homeowner arrived to her house in the 700 block of Oaklawn Avenue to find a man inside, according to a statement from Detective Commander Lt. Darren Gault. She called 911 to report the burglar around noon on Thursday, April 30, 2015.
Police said the man fled on a bicycle once the homeowner saw him.
When police arrived, Gault said a witness reported seeing the man trying to break in to a home in the 4300 block of 8th Street, which is just about a block south of the Oaklawn home.
“Police officers began investigating and believed the suspect matched the description of a person of interest in other local burglaries,” Gault said in his statement.
Gault said officers caught up to 30-year-old Michael Schram at 1040 Avenue of the Cities in East Moline, three streets east of the reported burglary. Police found him in possession of jewelry that had been stolen from the Oaklawn Avenue home.
Investigators found that Schram had burglarized another home in the 4100 block of 3rd Street A on April 23, 2015, Gault said in his statement.
Schram was taken into custody Thursday and was being held at the Rock Island County Jail on $150,000 bond. Schram has been charged with two felony counts of residential burglary- one for the burglary on Oaklawn Avenue and one for the burglary on 3rd Street A.
Schram was set to make his first appearance in court on Friday, May 1.
East Moline Police was continuing to investigate the possibility of other April burglaries being connected to the case, Gault said.