Evanston man charged with burglary from Gurnee employer

An Evanston man has been charged with burglary and criminal damage to property after allegedly stealing from his Gurnee employer, police authorities said.

Brandon A. Balkom, 31, entered Timothy O’Tooles Pub at 5572 Grand Ave., in Gurnee at 3:48 a.m. Tuesday, broke into a register drawer and took a small amount of cash, police said Thursday.

Officers were called to the pub via the alarm company after the burglary, and looked at video footage of the robbery from the pub’s security camera system, authorities said.

After watching security video and further investigation, it was determined that Balkom — a recently hired employee with a key — might be the suspect, authorities said. However, officers could not locate Balkom to interview him.

Later Tuesday, a Gurnee 911 center operator heard on the radio that Waukegan police officers were checking a suspicious subject and ran the name of Balkom across the radio. She contacted Waukegan police and told them that person was the suspect of the O’Tooles burglary, authorities said. Balkom was taken to the Gurnee Police Department for further investigation.

He was charged with burglary and criminal damage to property by Gurnee police. He was taken to Lake County jail, where it was discovered he was also on parole for burglary from the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Balkom’s bond on the new charges was set at $100,000, police said.