Police have arrested a Bristol man who is accused of burglarizing several city homes while the residents were sleeping.
Bristol detectives arrested Luis D. Cantre, 28, of Bristol, at 2:49 a.m. on Thursday.
Police said on Tuesday that they had obtained an arrest warrant for him and released a mug shot and description.
A detective recognized Cantre, who was driving on Davis Drive, and stopped the car, which was later reported stolen. Cantre has also been charged with larceny in the third degree.
Cantre is accused of committing a string of nighttime robberies in the area of Jerome Avenue and Mix Street between June 16 and 18.
The victims were sleeping when a burglar forcibly entered homes, police said. In two of the incidents, the intruder actually entered the sleeping occupants’ bedrooms and stole items.
Bristol Police called Cantre a “strong suspect” in these crimes.
"I got hit twice," said one victim, who asked to remain anonymous to protect her identity. "Sunday night they went right through the front door. ... The second night, which was last night, they got sneakier and went through the basement."
Police suspected that the same person was behind the break-ins because window screens were cut or removed in each case.
Burglars tried to get into Samantha Myers Bristol home.
"They had kind of tried to push it up and the wood, you can see, is broken," she said while showing the window where burglars tried to come in.
Homes on Dorothy Road, Vincent Road and Barbara Road have all been hit and money, pocketbooks and credit cards were stolen, according to police.
"It's a violation," Kim Laurie, of Bristol, said. "Even if they only took 10 cents or something useless, it's still a stranger in your house going through your things, and it's a violation."
Cantre is being held on $100,000 bond on the warrant arrest, and an additional $25,000 bond for charges related to the stolen vehicle. He will be arraigned today in Bristol Superior Court.
