Police have charged a 19-year-old and a juvenile in connection with a smash-and-grab burglary of $6,000 in merchandise from a Gurnee cellphone store in early 2019.
Kenshown I. Evans, 19, of Country Club Hills, was charged with felony counts of burglary, theft and criminal damage to property.
Additionally, a juvenile was petitioned on similar charges and referred to the Robert Depke Juvenile Justice Center in Vernon Hills.
The Gurnee Police Department responded around 1:20 a.m. January 2, 2019 to a cellphone store in the 6500 block of Grand Avenue, according to Gurnee Police Department Public Information Officer Shawn Gaylor.
Two suspects smashed the front door of the store and took over $6,000 in merchandise. They left the area before police arrived but surveillance video captured the license plate on the getaway vehicle, which was determined to be stolen, Gaylor said.
Later that same evening, officers in another town located the vehicle at a gas station and attempted to approach the suspects. The vehicle fled from the area and ultimately crashed, causing a single-vehicle accident in another town. Officers recovered the vehicle but did not locate the suspects that evening, Gaylor said.
Evidence was collected from the vehicle by Gurnee police officers and sent to a crime lab for further analysis. The evidence linked Evans and a juvenile as suspects involved, police said.
“Detectives conducted a comprehensive investigation and worked with the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office to obtain an arrest warrant for Evans. Evans turned himself in to authorities on Monday after being notified of the arrest warrant,” Gaylor said.
Evans appeared Tuesday morning before a judge in bond court and his bond was set at $50,000. He remains held in the Lake County Jail.