Cop comes home for dinner break to burglary in progress

An Elgin man was charged with felony burglary after a police officer caught the man burglarizing his home Wednesday night, Elgin police said.

Ryan Hukill, 21, of the 500 block of Redtail Ridge, was arrested at about 8:15 p.m. Wednesday when the police officer came home for a dinner break, Elgin Police Cmdr. Glenn Theriault said.

Hukill and the police officer are neighbors, although they had never spoken before the incident, Theriault said. They live in different sides of a condominium building served by two separate entrances, he said.

Hukill told police he realized he was in a police officer’s home when he saw a pair of handcuffs and a biometric safe in the home, Theriault said. Police, however, believe that Hukill knew he was burglarizing an officer’s home.

“That officer regularly stops home with his squad car,” Theriault said, adding the officer recognized Hukill as his neighbor.

Police are investigating whether Hukill is involved in other residential burglaries that have taken place in the last year in Elgin, Theriault said. Hukill has no criminal record, only traffic citations, he said.

On Wednesday night, the officer, a 17-year-veteran of the department, noticed a window screen missing and a light turned on in his second-floor apartment. He also saw Hukill through a bedroom window, police said.

Hukill saw a flashlight shine into the room and fled through the front door of the condominium building, where he was taken into custody by the officer.

Hukill had taken the handcuffs; the safe had been damaged in an attempt to pry it open, but no weapons were taken, Theriault said.

Hukill admitted to his involvement in the burglary, police said.

Hukill appeared in bond call Thursday morning and was remanded to Kane County jail on $75,000 bond. He is next due in court at 9 a.m. Jan. 17 at the Kane County Judicial Center.