Man pleads innocent to cemetery thefts in DuPage, Will

A man from Hometown pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of stealing more than $100,000 in brass vases from cemetery markers in DuPage and Will counties.

Prosecutors said Jeffrey T. Burke, 35, was indicted on one count of felony theft and two counts of felony cemetery vandalism. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charge, authorities said. He is eligible for an extended term because of his prior criminal history.

Assistant Public Defender Steve Dalton presented Judge Blanche Hill Fawell with an application for Burke’s case to be moved to drug court. Burke is due back in court next month. He also faces similar charges in Will County.

Authorities said Burke came under police surveillance last month after a witness saw him swipe vases from a cemetery and called in his license plate number. Officers tailed him to a cemetery in Will County and watched as the vases theft continued. He was arrested later that day at a scrap yard on Chicago’s South Side, police said, after officers found about 50, 10-pound vases in his car.

Police subsequently recovered about 350 additional vases Burke already had sold to the yard.