An NIU student is a suspect in a DeKalb “burglary ring” thought to be responsible for up to 10 home burglaries and four attempted burglaries.

Susan Wood, 19, was one of four subjects arrested Dec. 11 in connection with a home burglary at 1510 Kent Place. Wood, along with Anthony Mayfield, 18, of Elgin; Reginald Nix, 18, of Hanover Park and Nathan Jefferson, 22, of Elgin, were charged with one count of burglary. However, additional burglary charges against the four are expected.

DeKalb Police Sergeant Chuck Kross said there were nine burglaries and two attempted burglaries since Oct. 25 in the Bradt Park area near DeKalb High School which he believes were related to this “burglary ring.” “There are four additional burglaries and one attempted burglary that police have probable cause to believe some of them (the four suspects), or all of them, committed,” Kross said.

“There were also four other burglaries and an attempted burglary that occurred at that period of time that have similar methods of operation and we believe they, or their associates, were probably connected with those. It appears that all of the burglaries were similar in nature,” Kross said.

Kross said that since the arrest of Wood and the three others, the burglaries in the Bradt Park area have ended, with the exception of one burglary he believes also was tied in with the rest.

“(Police) were able to make the original arrests due to a young girl who had just gotten up to go to school (on Dec. 11). She saw some people in the back yard, which looked unusual. She talked her mother into calling the police, and as a result, we were able to make the arrests,” Kross said.

Preliminary hearings for Wood and Mayfield are set for Jan. 29 and on Jan. 22 for Jefferson and Nix. Kross said a fifth suspect, Eric Spatez, 21, of Elgin, is at large at this time.