The arrest took place Thursday evening after a person recognized a vehicle that police had been looking for in connection with a home invasion the day before. When police arrived at the address, they found their suspect, along with several others.
"What you have here is good police work and a good active citizen that follows the news and reads the papers," said Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran, Jr.
Rico was behind bars Friday after he was found in possession of items stolen during two separate home invasions in Lake County over the last two weeks. He was taken into custody an empty home in Round Lake Beach, a place he was apparently using to store the burglarized items, including the stolen vehicle.
The home invasions took place in Lake Villa on September 1 and in unincorporated Antioch on September 8.
Authorities say they came to believe the same person was behind both cases because both homeowners were tied up inside the house while the robber ransacked their homes.
Both homes appear to have been targeted because they had the garage doors open.
"One was on a walk, and the other was doing work outside the house and canvassing the neighborhoods," Curran said.
Rico is charged with two counts of home invasion, armed robbery and residential burglary. He is being held at Lake County Jail.
