Police are searching for the suspect in a series of burglaries in several Tarrant County cities who steals gold jewelry.
Jesus Chavez, 23, is wanted by the Tarrant County Sheriff's Office and police in Arlington, Mansfield and Grapevine in connection to several home break-ins. He is also wanted by Ellis County Sheriff's Office detectives.
In most of the burglaries, Chavez is suspected of knocking on the front door during the day to determine if someone is home. If no one answers, he allegedly breaks in through a back entrance and steals gold jewelry.
"We're fearful that, if he enters someone's home and a homeowner is at home, that violent altercations could take place, and we want to avoid that," Grapevine police Sgt. Robert Eberling said.
The most recent break-in was Saturday. Chavez encountered a homeowner but ran away. Eberling said investigators are concerned that he may not have that option next time.
Grapevine police have linked Chavez to two burglaries because of physical evidence found at the crime scenes. They suspect him in two more Grapevine break-ins because of several similarities between the crimes, Eberling said.
One of the Grapevine victims said the burglar came through his back gate, took a brick from a pile in his driveway and threw it through a glass door. Matt Shirley said he came home to find broken glass on the kitchen floor and his wife's gold jewelry missing from their bedroom.
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"It didn't take me long to figure out what happened," he said.
Shirley said he has since added a security system to his family's home. He said he hopes people take a good look at Chavez's photograph.
"Once that's public, then, hopefully, it'll be harder for this guy to make other people his victims," he said. "That's part of the reason we're standing here right now is, we want this kind of thing to stop."
