2 charged in Lake Bluff-area burglary

Two men who stole a gun and other valuables from a home in an unincorporated area near Lake Bluff on May 18 were apprehended Sunday thanks to an alert neighbor, authorities said Wednesday.

According to a news release by the Lake County sheriff's office, the neighbor reported seeing a suspicious vehicle being driven through the area around the time of a burglary on the 200 block of Juneway Terrace. The neighbor remembered the vehicle's license plate number and relayed it to deputies.

Eleven days later, a Park City police officer pulled over the vehicle, which was being driven by Theopolis Owens, a 25-year-old from the 700 block of South Chestnut Avenue in Park City. The officer discovered that the passenger in the vehicle, Martell Ford, a Milwaukee resident, had the gun that was stolen during the burglary, according to the news release.

On Tuesday, Lake County sheriff's deputies conducted a search of Owen's residence and found other items that were stolen during the Lake Bluff-area burglary, the news release said.

Owens was charged with three felonies: residential burglary, possession of stolen property and theft over $500. Ford was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and two counts of felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.

Both men are being held at Lake County jail. Owens' bail was set at $50,000 and Ford's at $100,000.