Smash-and-Grab Burglary Suspect Faces New Charge

The 49-year-old Auroran charged in a smash-and-grab burglary at a St. Charles auto parts store and whose motus operandi matches a Geneva gas station burglary has been charged with an additional count of burglary after police linked him to an earlier burglary of a St. Charles auto spa.

Mark E. Swienton, 49, was charged with burglary, a Class 2 felony, after investigators linked him to a break-in at , St. Charles police said. A cash drawer and money were taken in that burglary.

Swienton was arrested March 22, 2013 in St. Charles by Aurora police. Aurora investigators had been using a high-tech tracking device as part of a surveillance operation after they identified him as a suspect in numerous smash-and-grab burglaries that had been occurring throughout the area. The Aurora officers arrested Swienton after they saw him throw a large rock through the front-door window of rd St.

St. Charles police said Thursday that Swienton was served with the latest charge while still incarcerated in the Kane County Jail, now facing two felony counts of burglary. The new charge also bumps up Swienton’s bail, which was set at $130,000 when he was arrested last month, to $160,000 on the two counts. Even if he is able to post bail, however, police said the Illinois Department of Corrections has a hold on Swienton, who was on parole for a burglary conviction.

Related:

• Was Citgo Robbery the 'Smash and Grab' Serial Burglar?
• 3 More Overnight Smash-and-Grabs; How Widespread Is This?