A Zion man out on parole for robbery was arrested after a family woke up and discovered the man inside their Waukegan home burglarizing the residence, prosecutors said.
Ainsley A. Ball, 33, of Zion, was charged with residential burglary and theft under $500.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Francis DeRosa said during a Wednesday bond hearing that officers with the Waukegan Police Department responded to a call of a burglary.
One of the residents in the home spotted a man on the upper level of the house on Tuesday.
The resident woke up another resident and the two went to confront the suspect, DeRosa said.
The two had witnessed the suspect downstairs trying to take a mini fridge from the home.
The suspect, later identified as Ball, fled the residence after seeing the two residents, DeRosa said.
The residents told police they believed the suspect entered the southeast window of the home because the window was open and the blinds were on the floor.
DeRosa said officers were talking to the residents when one of them pointed out the window and said they saw the suspect.
The residents identified the man as the same suspect who burglarized the home.
Officers searched Ball and found two gold rings and a gold necklace in his pocket.
The items were determined to be the same items stolen in the burglary from one of the rooms in the home, DeRosa said.
Ball and the residents of the home have no relation to each other.
State records show Ball was released in May from the Illinois Department of Corrections after serving a sentence for a 2020 robbery in Lake County.
Ball has several felony convictions on his record, including aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated robbery, robbery and possession of cannabis with intent to deliver.
Ball was on parole at the time of the burglary arrest.
Lake County Judge James Simonian ordered the man held on a $200,000 bond.
Ball remains held in the Lake County Jail and would need to post $20,000 cash in order to be released.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for September 14.