When a Robinson, Ill., man was arrested May 4 in connection with an area burglary, police in Cape Girardeau and Jackson linked him to more than 70 similar crimes that have plagued the community since last fall.

Mark P. Lowery, 46, has cooperated with the ongoing burglary investigations, police said Thursday, yet so far, he faces charges in just two of the dozens of burglaries police believe he has committed.

Lowery appeared in court this week on charges associated with an April 10 burglary in Jackson and a February burglary at a Cape Girardeau residence.

Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle declined to comment on whether Lowery will be charged with committing any additional burglaries but said he filed amended information seeking to convict Lowery as a prior and persistent offender.

According to the amended charges, Lowery has convictions in Orange and Riverside counties in California on attempted burglary, residential burglary, car theft and receiving stolen property.

Swingle said that as a prior and persistent offender, Lowery could serve up to 75 years in prison if convicted in Cape Girardeau County for the two counts of burglary and two counts of theft.

The string of burglaries began in late fall and seemed to occur between 5 and 10 p.m.

Police quickly became convinced they were dealing with a professional and started to see a pattern. The biggest similarities involved the time frame of the crimes and the items being stolen, said Sgt. Scott Eakers of the Jackson Police Department. The perpetrator seemed to stick mostly with expensive jewelry and occasionally cash and firearms, passing over costly electronics and other valuables.

"From what we're finding, he worked alone," Eakers said.

Police have used evidence retrieved from crime scenes to link Lowery to about 10 of the burglaries, said Eakers and Jackson chief James Humphreys.

Eakers said police are working on trying to recover some of the stolen items and that Lowery has cooperated with the investigation.

Cape Girardeau police spokesman Sgt. Jason Selzer said investigators believe Lowery was behind the majority of the more than 60 burglaries committed in the city from last fall through April.

Police got their first break in the case six days after releasing a surveillance photo of a red car driven by the suspect in the April 10 Jackson burglary.

A school resource officer learned that Lowery had taken his 12-year-old stepdaughter out of school because they had to leave the area after his vehicle was shown in local media, according to a probable-cause statement.

In that burglary, the victim, who surprised the burglar in the act, reported the theft of a $2,000 diamond watch, several gold "bowling rings" engraved with the owner's name, wedding rings and $700 in cash.

The bowling rings were later recovered in an Anna, Ill., pawnshop with the help of a tip from a man who told police Lowery had called him for help in selling the rings.

Lowery was implicated in the Feb. 4 Cape Girardeau burglary by DNA evidence found on a small black radio left behind by the burglar, according to a probable-cause statement. At first he denied it was his, then later said he left it there to throw off suspicion because it was engraved with a phony name, the statement said.

bdicosmo@semissourian.com

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