A Round Lake man who allegedly stole tools from his neighbor was chased down and detained by the neighbor and another man after the burglar tried selling the tools, sheriff’s officials said.
Michael J. Schuerr, 39, of the 35300 block of North Nielsen Drive in unincorporated Round Lake, was charged with two counts of burglary, a Class 3 felony, and three counts of theft, a Class 4 felony.
A Gurnee man browsing Facebook Marketplace saw tools for sale that he was interested in, Lake County Sheriff Spokesman Sgt. Christopher Covelli said. The Gurnee man messaged the seller, identified as Schuerr.
The Gurnee man arrived in the area of Schuerr’s residence Wednesday afternoon but was unable to locate his home. The Gurnee man explained to one of Schuerr’s neighbors that he was there to buy tools from Schuerr and asked if he knew where his house was.
“The neighbor, having recently been burglarized and having tools stolen during the burglary, decided he would walk the Gurnee man to Schuerr’s house. When the two arrived, Schuerr opened his garage door and the neighbor saw his toolbox and tools which were stolen in the burglary,” Covelli said.
The neighbor confronted Schuerr and Schuerr immediately closed his garage door and fled from the residence. The neighbor, along with another neighbor, followed Schuerr and detained him until sheriff’s deputies responded.
Sheriff’s detectives furthered the investigation and obtained a search warrant for Schuerr’s residence, as he was the suspect in other area burglaries, Covelli said. Sheriff’s detectives recovered property stolen from other area residents while conducting the search warrant.
Schuerr also had an active failure to appear arrest warrant for unlawful possession of hypodermic needles. Additional charges are possible in the burglary case.
Schuerr remains held at the Lake County Jail on $35,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court on February 13.