Charges have been filed against a 28-year-old man after he allegedly stole a car in Fox Lake, crashed the vehicle and fled into a neighborhood where he broke into a house, causing a large police search on Thursday.
The Fox Lake Police Department responded around 12 p.m. Thursday to the McDonald’s, 40 South Route 12, for a report of a stolen vehicle from the parking lot.
Fox Lake Police Chief Jimmy Lee said that witnesses followed the vehicle northbound on Route 12 to State Park Road.
After turning onto State Park Road, the vehicle left the roadway and came to a rest in the ditch.
The suspect fled on foot into the neighboring subdivision, Lee said. Police were seen searching near Dewey Street and Kendall Avenue in unincorporated Spring Grove.
The Fox Lake Police Department requested assistance from the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office, Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Antioch Police Department, Round Lake Police Department and Round Lake Beach Police Department.
Lee said that several concerned citizens called 911 with information about the suspect’s direction of travel.
A search of the area was conducted and the suspect was located inside of a residence that he broke into and was hiding from the police.
The residents of the home were not at the home at the time of the burglary, Lee said. The suspect was identified as Thomas A. Brown, 28, of Fox Lake.
Paramedics were called to the scene to treat the man for minor injuries.
Brown was charged with three counts of theft, one count of residential burglary, possession of a stolen motor vehicle, driving while license revoked and leaving the scene of an accident.
Brown appeared in bond court Saturday morning before a Lake County judge, who ordered the man to be held on a $200,000 bond.
Brown, who would have to post $20,000 cash to be released, was remanded to the Lake County Jail where he remains held.