Oak Park police have charged two Chicago men in connection with seven recent residential burglaries, who may eventually help solve nearly a dozen burglaries reported in northeast Oak Park, police said Tuesday. (See the map above for details of the burglaries)

Dustin Betancourt, 19, and Deontray Dennis, 18, were arrested in connection with a burglary reported in the early afternoon of Oct. 24 in the 0-100 block of Randolph Street, according to a news release from the Village of Oak Park. Keep up with Oak Park and River Forest news on our Facebook page and by signing up for our free email newsletter.



Police said the men provided information that tied them to five additional burglaries and could help solve a string of other recent burglaries. Betancourt was charged with five counts of residential burglary and one count of burglary, while Dennis was charged with three counts of residential burglary and one count of burglary.

Police also recovered five laptop computers and a digital camera that they believe were taken in the robberies. The computers and camera were recovered from a computer repair shop in Chicago, according to the release. Oak Park Police Chief Rick C. Tanksley said the multi-jurisdictional West Suburban Directed Gang Enforcement (WEDGE) task force played a key role in the arrests.

Created in 2008, WEDGE links police departments from communities in the western suburbs to fight crimes related to drug dealing and gang activity.