Lake County Sheriff’s Deputies and a Canine Team from Gurnee Police Department located and apprehended three individuals who forced entry into the Costco in Mettawa and committed a burglary.
On January 4, 2020, at approximately 2:20AM, Lake County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to Costco, 25901 North Riverwoods Road, Mettawa, for a burglar alarm. The first sheriff’s deputy on the scene located broken glass and a security door being propped open, both signs indicative of a burglary.
Sheriff’s deputies immediately requested assistance from neighboring police agencies to assist with establishing a perimeter around Costco. While establishing the perimeter, Illinois State Police received a call of three subjects running eastbound across I-94. The subjects ran directly toward an IDOT Utility Truck, which happened to be parked on the northbound exit ramp of I-94 & Rt 60. The subjects dropped bags they were carrying upon seeing the IDOT truck, then fled southbound.
As there was no sheriff’s canine team working at the time, Gurnee Officer Dan Ruth and his canine partner, K9 Bear arrived on scene. The team conducted a search beginning where the offenders dropped the bags. K9 Bear tracked approximately 1/8 of a mile south, directly to a concrete wall which supports an overhead sign for I-94. All three subjects were attempting to conceal themselves behind the concrete wall. K9 Bear began to bark and the three surrendered. They were taken into custody by sheriff’s deputies assisting with the search.
Sheriff’s deputies recovered the bags dropped by the offenders, which contained nearly $20,000.00 worth of high-value jewelry stolen from Costco and burglary tools. Sheriff’s deputies also found facemasks and gloves near the bags.
The three offenders were transported to the Lake County Sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Division. Following the information developed at the scene and furtherance of the investigation by sheriff’s detectives, the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office approved the following charges:
Burglary (class 2 felony)
Criminal damage to property (class 3 felony)
Possession of burglary tools (class 4 felony)
The three offenders have been identified as:
Joseph D. Page, 24, of the 0-100 block of North Sheridan Road, Waukegan
Cortez R. Morrow, 37, of the 0-100 block of East Garfield Boulevard, Chicago
Clarence D. Blanchard, 26, of the 500 block of North Lawler Avenue, Chicago
In addition to Gurnee Police Department, the sheriff’s office was assisted by:
Illinois State Police
Park City Police Department
Grayslake Police Department
North Chicago Police Department
Lake Forest Police Department
Vernon Hills Police Department
The three remain held in the Lake County Jail pending an initial court hearing today.
All suspects are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.