Hawthorn Woods Police Sgt. Stewart Gordon was driving home on Old McHenry Road near Illinois Highway 22 recently when he saw a teenage boy walking along the side of the road.
Police had been looking for a runaway, so Gordon turned his car around and began following the individual, just in case.
The youth ducked under a fence at Jay’s Day Camp, 23160 Old McHenry Rd., on the fringes of Long Grove, and Gordon followed, said Hawthorn Woods Police Chief William Urry.
Gordon lost sight of the youth, but he noticed a sliding-glass door ajar, Urry said. While Gordon was calling for assistance, the young man came out of the building and was arrested, Urry said.
He was not a runaway but a thief, police said.
Police found on the youth a set of keys to all the buildings at the camp. The 14-year-old confessed to an earlier burglary there, during which he allegedly had stolen the keys and some electronic equipment, Urry said.
“This was an officer who went out of his way and went beyond the call of duty,” Urry said. “He was off duty and out of his jurisdiction. But because he thought it might be the runaway, he pursued the matter.”
The case has been turned over to Lake County sheriff’s police. The suspect, a Long Grove resident, was referred to Juvenile Court to face charges of two counts of burglary, said Detective Richard Bilisko of the Lake County sheriff’s police.
Official was intoxicated: Popular Avon Township Tax Assessor Gerald Kristan, 37, apparently had been drinking heavily before he was killed in an early-morning one-car accident last month near Peoria, according to autopsy and toxicology reports.
Kristan of Grayslake had a blood-alcohol content of 0.296, nearly three times the 0.10 standard in Illinois for someone to be considered legally drunk, said Woodford County Coroner Tim Ruestman, who conducted the autopsy.
Kristan’s blood-alcohol level was rising at the time of his death and may have reached 0.32 had he not crashed, Ruestman said. Most people lose consciousness at 0.30 and die at 0.40, he said.
Kristan had a cooler in the car with one empty can and one full can of beer, but he would have had to have consumed many more beers to have had such a blood-alcohol level, Ruestman said.
Kristan died Aug. 23 after his van overturned on Interstate Highway 74.
Crime stoppers: Crime Stoppers and the Libertyville Police Department are seeking information regarding an armed robbery by two men at 11:15 p.m. Aug. 15 of the Eagle Food Store at 1141 S. Milwaukee Ave.
If you have any information about this crime or any other felony or felony fugitive, call Crime Stoppers at 708-662-2222.
If your information leads to an arrest and an indictment, you could be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000. Crime Stoppers is a not-for-profit organization that seeks anonymous tips to aid law enforcement.
