Daniel K. Cronin, 22, of Barnhart has been charged for allegedly burglarizing a home in the 2100 block of Meadow in Barnhart on Tuesday morning (March 10) while a man who lived at the house was inside, authorities report.
At about 7:40 a.m., the victim, the homeowners' son, reportedly was in his bedroom and heard someone inside the home and when he went to investigate, found Cronin crouched in a corner of the basement, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
The victim said a coffee can filled with change had been taken from an upstairs bedroom and was sitting next to Cronin in the basement, the report said.
Cronin allegedly ran from the home, and the victim chased him, following him to a nearby home in the 2100 block of Parkton Way, where he lived, according to the report.
Deputies arrived on the scene a short time later and arrested Cronin.
The victim said Cronin had been wearing a brown jacket, a blue hooded sweatshirt and black and white Nike tennis shoes, and when Cronin was arrested, deputies allegedly found those clothes inside his home, the probable-cause statement said.
The same day Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed first-degree burglary charges against Cronin. The charge is a class B felony, punishable by five to 15 years in prison.
Cronin was being held today (March 12) at the Jefferson County Jail on a $15,000 cash-only bond.
Cronin allegedly got into the victim's house through the front door, which the homeowners' son had left unlocked while he ran an errand, said Capt. Ron Arnhart of the Sheriff's Office.
After the son returned home and went to his bedroom, he heard Cronin inside the house and found him there, Arnhart said.
In September 2014, after pleading guilty to a felony burglary charge and a felony stealing charge tied to a March 2014 incident in St. Louis County, Cronin was sentenced to two four-year prison terms, to be served concurrently, or at the same time, but the sentences were suspended and he received five years’ probation, court records indicate.