Police: Man breaking into homes, yelling ‘Fire, fire!’

Police issued an alert after a man broke into a pair of homes on the Northwest Side and yelled, “Fire, fire!” before running away.

In each incident, the man forced his way through the front door but was soon confronted by the homeowners, police said. The man then yelled out, “Fire, fire!” before running away and entering a dark colored, 4-door SUV with a chrome grill driven by another person.

The first incident occurred on Jan. 19 at about 1:20 p.m. in the 3700 block of North Pacific, police said. Another incident was reported two days later about 2:50 p.m. in the 6700 block of North Oxford.

The suspect is either a white or Hispanic man, about 25 to 30 years old, 5-foot-8 and 155 pounds, police said.

Anyone with information about the man is asked to contact Area North detectives at (312) 744-8263.