ST. LOUIS – An 18-year-old East St. Louis man is accused of numerous car break-ins and thefts, as well as home burglaries on both sides of the Mississippi River.
According to the Frontenac Police Department’s probable cause statement, numerous families reported their vehicles, some parked outside and some parked in garages, had been broken into on Wednesday, May 8. In some instances, the garages were also ransacked.
Investigators reviewed nearby surveillance footage that showed a blue 2015 Hyundai Sonata at the entrance of Ridgetop Drive along Clayton Road just before the burglaries occurred.
Police responded to another burglary and car theft in which burglars took car keys from a victim’s purse and used those keys to steal a blue 2024 GMC V25000 and a black 2018 Porsche Cayenne. The stolen Hyundai was left behind in front of this residence.
Investigators claim cellphone tower data links Robert Swygeart to the crimes. The data allegedly shows Swygeart leaving his East St. Louis home and later places him at the scene of the Hyundai theft and where the other break-ins and thefts occurred.
Police later arrested Swygeart and claimed he admitted to being present at the time of the burglaries. Swygeart was on probation when he committed these crimes.
The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Swygeart with four counts of first-degree burglary, two counts of stealing a motor vehicle, one count of stealing, and one count of first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle.
In March, the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office charged Swygeart with first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle and resisting arrest after city police allegedly found Swygeart in possession of a stolen car at a local gas station. Swygeart was initially jailed without bond. However, a judge agreed to a bond reduction order and Swygeart was allowed to go free under certain conditions, among them wearing a GPS monitor.
In the days and weeks following Swygeart’s arrest in St. Louis County, he was arrested in Illinois on suspicion of car thefts and break-ins. The St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s Office charged Swygeart with 11 felonies for burglary, vehicle theft conspiracy, possession of a stolen vehicle, and theft. He’s been in custody at St. Clair County Jail since May 29 and cannot bond out due to a hold order.