Bond Set At $1 Million For Suspected Serial Burglar

ROCHESTER HILLS (WWJ) - A Detroit man suspected in more than 20 burglaries in homes across metro Detroit is being held on a $1 million bond.

Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said 32-year-old D'Mario Thornton was arrested after he was caught breaking into a home in Rochester Hills.

"His method of operation was to drive around, look for somebody leaving the home, go up to the door, knock -- if he didn't get a response, go around the back and look for an unopened door -- which often times he would find -- which is a good reminder to folks to secure your house," said Bouchard. "And if he didn't find one, then he'd look for a way pry his way in and go right for the jewelry."

Thornton was out on parole for a home invasion charge in California.

Bouchard said, unfortunately, sometimes officials are in too much of a rush to empty out prison population to save money in the short-run.

"But in the long run, by the time you take a career criminal, the expenditure to release that person, parole them, try to watch them, the economic cost of what they steal, then the cost to investigate, arrest, prosecute, and re-incarcerate --  those costs far outweigh keeping a person in prison a longer time," he said.

Thornton is suspected of breaking into homes in Troy, West Bloomfield, Shelby Township and Rochester.