'Evening Burglar' has history of home burglaries

A man arrested for his role in a string of nighttime home burglaries was arrested repeatedly in the past for the same crime.

Corey Lee Caldwell was one of two men known as the "Evening Burglars" who struck homes in Collin County and Far North Dallas. Caldwell was arrested over the weekend.

But lawyers who have represented Caldwell in the past said they were stunned he was able to rob again because he was sentenced to 60 years in prison less than five years ago.

"It's one of the most frustrating parts when citizens think someone for a burglary charge gets sixty years," said then-assistant district attorney Toby Shook "They think he'll be there 20 to 25 years, when in reality they'll come up for parole after a few short years."

In 2006, Caldwell was on probation in an organized crime case connected to home burglaries and was being re-arrested for the same thing when he walked out of an unlocked holding cell through a courtroom to freedom

Caldwell avoided arrest until Nov. 2007 and stayed in jail until 2010 when Judge Don Adams sentenced him to 60 years in prison for violating his probation. Police cleared more than 200 burglaries with his arrest.

Four years later he got out and police said he was doing what he did before -- home burglaries.

"I think what you'll see this time is a concerted effort on the part of the D.A.'s office to stack sentences on him meaning that after he makes parole on one sentence then he starts serving time on the next sentence," Shook said.

Caldwell remained in jail Monday night and declined an interview request from FOX4.