Caledonia Man Accused of Burglarizing Former Residence

Booze will get you into trouble, just as one man found out.

A Caledonia man was arrested today for burglary, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia by the Caledonia Police Department.

Jose Stokes, 19, is accused of stealing $15,000 in jewelry, cash, a camera and guns from his former home in the 2300 block of Broadleaf Ct. in August. The Racine County District Attorney’s Office has yet to issue any charges against Stokes.

“Robert Sides, a patrol officer and evidence technician, really cracked this case when he lifted Stokes’ fingerprints off of a bottle of booze that was found in the house,” said David Malison, an investigator with CAPD.

According to the report, the homeowner, who knew Stokes because he used to live at the house, came home Aug. 15 to find a once full jewelry box empty on the table, $700 in cash missing, a camera, a cell phone, $4,000 in old coins and guns missing.

At the time of the initial report, Stokes denied any involvement and had submitted his DNA to eliminate himself as a possible suspect.

A break in the case occurred in November when the police were contacted by the Greenfield Police Department, who issued a municipal citation against Stokes for false swearing after he sold several items to a pawnshop and said he owned the items. The Greenfield investigator went to pick up Stokes with Malison, who asked if he had ever touched the bottle of alcohol Sides processed.

Stokes told Malison in November, “he knew better than to touch the alcohol upstairs and they only partied downstairs.” But Malison knew the fingerprints matched Stokes’.

Malison arrested Stokes and took him to the Racine County Jail.