A Lawrence man received probation Friday for a series of apartment burglaries in which he stuck pieces of paper in doors to determine whether the occupants had left town for the holidays.

“You just have to stop, and that’s all there is to it,” Douglas County District Judge Michael Malone said as he sentenced Craig L. Brigham, 31. “If you were really good at what you were doing, you wouldn’t be here.”

Malone ordered Brigham to complete 24 months of probation. Brigham earlier pleaded guilty to three counts of residential burglary.

Police caught him Dec. 22 when a patrol officer saw him leaving Tanglewood Apartments, 951 Ark., after a burglary was reported. Some residents had grown suspicious of the pieces of paper and alerted police.

Brigham also pleaded guilty to burglaries in the 1900 block of Massachusetts Street and the 2500 block of West Sixth Street.

Other counts of burglary were dropped as part of the plea agreement.

“Mr. Brigham is very remorseful and apologetic for his actions,” said Brigham’s attorney, John Frydman.

Assistant Dist. Atty. Angela Wilson said police had retrieved hundreds of pieces of stolen property with Brigham’s help, but she said many items remained missing or unaccounted for.