FAIRHOPE, Ala. - U.S. Marshals arrested a 22-year-old Montrose man Saturday connected to a nearly year-long rash of burglaries in that community.

Justin Lee Burden is being held without bond in the Baldwin County jail after the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested him on three felony charges and other crimes unrelated to the burglaries.

Fairhope Police Chief Bill Press said Burden was charged Monday afternoon with both second-degree burglary and second-degree theft.

“Whether or not we can bring additional charges against this individual remains to be seen,” Press said, noting the investigation is ongoing.

The Montrose community of about 150 residences is located just north of Fairhope but falls within the city’s police jurisdiction.

“If our legal system can stand up, he’ll be there for a long time,” said Kent Hendricks, whose home has been burglarized four times since Sept. 24, 2010.

The current charges against Burden stem from the May 28 invasion of the Hendricks’ home.

Hendricks said he personally connected Burden to the break-ins following the September incident in which $13,000 worth of electronics was taken, including an iPhone. Tracking the calls made from the phone for 10 days, Hendricks contacted 14 people from the call list, six of whom said a man identified as Burden attempted to sell the stolen equipment to them.

Hendricks said he handed over the information to the Fairhope Police Department within 24 hours. His home was then burglarized two more times – in mid-December and late May – and personal surveillance video footage from the May 28 break-in showed a visible and “distinctive” tattoo on the left arm of one of the assailants.

Following a June 2 community meeting at Fairhope City Hall to address resident concerns about the burglaries, Hendricks said he asked the lead investigator, Fred King, if anyone had even “knocked on (Burden’s) door,” and he was told the department did not have the resources to do so. Several days later it was revealed the task force had been brought in to assist in the investigation.

“The officer that came to my home after our third burglary told me that they cover 88 square miles and had four officers on the clock that night,” Hendricks said.

During the community meeting, King told residents that nine homes had been burglarized during the period in question, but Hendricks said the show of hands among the roughly 70 residents present indicated the number was higher and said several of the homes in question had been hit more than once yet categorized as one incident for reporting purposes. Although his home was burglarized three times, Hendricks said his garage was actually the site of the first invasion, but he never reported the incident for lack of proof.

Montrose resident Helen Gwin was also present at the community meeting and walked away feeling like “we were told we lived in an affluent neighborhood, and it just wasn’t a big deal if somebody got our stuff and that the police department is very, very busy.”

Although her home was never burglarized, Gwin said it was definitely “cased” when a man came to her door of her secluded home asking for directions to State Highway 64.

“I had a big German shepherd with me when I answered the door, so I think that helped (me), but there is absolutely no way he was really lost,” said Gwin, who is having a security system installed because of the incident but believes that is a costly option many residents might not find practical.

Hendricks, however, said he had “proven beyond a reasonable doubt” who was responsible for the crimes, so he was “shocked nothing came of it.”

“I certainly feel better knowing he’s not coming to my home tonight or while I’m at work, but I’m still dismayed at the system, and I’m going to get to the bottom of what happened and why,” Hendricks said.

“They were telling us in the (community) meeting they’d spent several hundred thousand dollars for a new software system, so we can call police and tell them where there are problem areas in the city, but it doesn’t matter. I’d much rather have seen higher dollars spent putting more feet on the street than fancy software. The reality is there are only four officers protecting us at any one time, and I think a solution has to be found,” Hendricks said, referencing man-hour figures provided by King during the June 2 meeting.

“We’re always pleased when we can solve a case and have probable cause to make an arrest,” Press said, but residents must also retrain themselves to take security precautions in an often dangerous society.

“It’s not just Montrose and Fairhope but several locations across Baldwin County where most burglaries occur because people leave their door unlocked, and people have to be more careful. We’re pleased to have made an arrest but displeased we had another burglary in the process,” Press said.