WHEATON, Ill. (AP) — A suburban Chicago man has been sentenced to 22 years in prison for stealing a remote control.
DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin says 35-year-old Eric Bramwell of Melrose Park was eligible for a sentence of up to 30 years because of his criminal history. He says that regardless of what was stolen, Bramwell “repeatedly thumbed his nose at the law.”
Bramwell was convicted of burglary in November for taking the remote from the common area of a Wheaton apartment complex in August 2015.
Authorities say Bramwell fled the scene of the crime but dropped a glove. Police later matched DNA collected from the glove to Bramwell through the state’s convicted felon DNA database.
Prosecutors say Bramwell committed other burglaries at apartment complexes in six suburbs, including Aurora and Lisle.
