Police have arrested a Wichita man for a series of home burglaries.

The Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office has charged 54-year-old Willis Lewis, Jr. for two counts of aggravated burglary, 16 counts of burglary, 8 counts of felony theft, 8 counts of misdemeanor theft, two counts of felony criminal damage to property and 16 misdemeanor counts of criminal damage to property.

Police said burglary investigators were looking into a crime trend where homes were being broken into and jewelry, firearms and other items were taken.  Detectives were able to determine that Lewis was involved in 19 separate cases, representing five percent of the residential burglaries reported in Wichita between June and September.  The losses added up to about $56,000.

Police said Lewis has a number of previous felony arrests and convictions and he has been on parole through the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Police said with recent work by detectives, Wichita has had a drop of 21 percent overall in burglaries compared to a five-year average.