Prosecutors say a crew, linked to numerous burglaries in the Chicago suburbs, stole $180,000 in proceeds while distracting a homeowner and burglarizing his Lake Zurich home.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Colleen McConnell said a homeowner in Lake Zurich called 911 around 2:40 p.m. on March 23, 2023, to report a residential burglary.
The Lake Zurich Police Department responded and learned the homeowner answered a knock at his home’s door.
The 73-year-old homeowner reported a Hispanic male wearing a reflective vest and a mask was at the door, McConnell said.
The suspect informed the homeowner that he was contracted by the Village of Lake Zurich to clear trees and brush next to his house.
McConnell said the homeowner left his house and followed the suspect to see the supposed area needing to be cleared.
The suspect communicated via radio in another language during the interaction.
The suspect left after five minutes and claimed he had to go pick up his employees.
The homeowner returned to his home and found a safe in his home was missing, McConnell said.
The estimated value of the missing jewelry, watches and cash was just over $180,000. Important documents, including passports, were also in the safe.
Surveillance video from a neighbor showed two suspects entering the victim’s home and exiting while loading something into a vehicle, McConnell said.
A bulletin was issued across the state to other law enforcement agencies about the incident.
Police departments in Skokie, Lincolnshire, Glencoe, Buffalo Grove, Lake Villa, McHenry, Wauconda, Dixon and Bartlett responded to the bulletin or issued their own reporting similar circumstances.
McConnell said those all referenced a Ford Edge SUV, which matched the Lake Zurich burglary suspect vehicle.
The North Regional Major Crimes Task Force arrested Lawrence Miller, 31, of Arlington Heights; Sam Mason, 28, of Arlington Heights; and Christopher Nicholas, 38, of Chicago, on April 11, 2023, at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg.
Miller, Mason and Nicholas were inside the Ford Edge SUV.
The three were charged in connection with an April 11, 2023, burglary that occurred at an elderly couple’s residence in Naperville where the suspects used a contaminated water ruse to gain entry to the home and steal $6,000 in jewelry, prosecutors said.
The victim in the Lake Zurich burglary identified Miller as the suspect who he believed lured him outside his home.
“The defendant lured [the victim] out of his home while his two co-defendants entered the home and took several belongings,” McConnell said.
“He knew someone was home yet he still burglarized the home. This defendant had no concern for the safety of his victims and has done this similar act in several towns around Lake County,” she added.
Miller was charged in Lake County in February 2024 with one count of residential burglary and one count of theft over $100,000. Court records do not indicate that Mason or Nicholas have been charged in the Lake Zurich burglary.
Miller has a prior criminal history of committing residential burglaries in Illinois.
Court records show Miller was released from a three-year and six-month sentence in prison for the 2023 Naperville burglary in October 2024.
Miller was taken into the custody of the Lake County Jail on the warrant for the Lake Zurich case last month.
The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office filed a petition to detain him pending trial and Lake County Judge Michael Nerheim granted the petition following a detention hearing.
Miller is scheduled to appear in court again on February 18 for an arraignment hearing.