Pre-trial release has been revoked for a Grayslake man who has been charged twice with breaking into Lake County places of worship.
Lake County Circuit Court Judge Michael Nerheim revoked the pre-trial release conditions for Brendan Wilcox, 37, of Grayslake, after he was arrested for breaking into a second church in less than a year on April 25.
Court records show Wilcox was initially charged with a Class 1 felony charge of burglary to a place of worship and a Class 2 felony theft at a place of worship after breaking into an unidentified Lake County church on August 28, 2024.
He was released on pretrial conditions, but was arrested again after burglarizing a Lake County retail business on February 14, 2025.
Following the retail theft, Wilcox was charged with a Class 2 felony for burglary and a Class 3 felony for theft and was initially ordered detained until trial. However, he was later released on pre-trial conditions, court records show.
On April 5, Lake County deputies were called to the Gages Lake Church in the 18000 block of Gages Lake Bible Road for a burglary in progress, Lake County prosecutors said during Wilcox’s court-ordered Detention hearing on June 4.
A witness met officers in the parking lot and said a window was broken near a concrete walkway, prosecutors said.
The witness also told deputies the offender may still be inside the building because a bathroom light with a motion sensor had been set off inside the church.
Deputies entered the facility and found the money box had been cracked open, prosecutors said, and various other damages had occurred inside.
After it was determined no one was in the building, deputies reviewed video surveillance cameras positioned inside the church, prosecutors said.
Deputies recognized Wilcox on the video due to his previous arrests, and a warrant was obtained for his arrest, prosecutors said.
Nerheim said during the Detention hearing that Wilcox was also out on probation in two similar cases in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, when the latest burglaries took place.
Nerheim decided to detain Wilcox “to make sure he stops picking up additional offenses.”
Wilcox is due back in court on June 25, court records show.