Police say burglar caught with juice box in hand
There are no reliable statistics on the number of criminal endeavors that have been undone by a juice box, although it is believed to be rare.
But that ignominious fortune befell Marcus Grant of Zion last week when he was charged with burglarizing a Gurnee apartment.
According to police, they were called to 4300 block of Old Grand Ave. around 3 p.m. on March 24 because neighbors saw a suspicious person walking in and out of an apartment building.
Police arrived, and although they could not find the person, they noticed pry marks on a door to one of the apartments and contacted the resident.
A woman and her 16-year-old daughter arrived, but could not immediately tell if anything was missing.
Meanwhile, Grant happened to amble by another officer in the parking lot and was asked what he happened to be doing there.
Grant was still being questioned when the girl and her mother came out of the apartment and the girl immediately recognized the juice box Grant was holding as one of her own.
Sure enough, a check of the apartment refrigerator showed that one of the girl's juice boxes was missing and a look through Grant's pockets produced some jewelry and coins that had been taken from the apartment, police said.
Grant, 26, is charged with residential burglary and is being held on $100,000 bond.
Teams advance: Mock trial teams from four universities advanced to the national finals because of their performance at a mock trial tournament held recently at the Lake County courthouse.
Assistant State's Attorney Ari Fisz said 34 teams from 29 schools throughout the country showed up for the tournament, held March 14-16.
Acting as attorneys and witnesses in real case scenarios, the teams were graded on their performances by Lake County judges and attorneys who volunteered to participate.
The top scorers were the University of Wisconsin, Madison; Notre Dame; Northwood University of Midland Mich., and Northwestern.
Those four will square off against 12 other teams from the other regional semifinals later this month in Minneapolis.
Rent going up: Communities and civic groups who hire off-duty Lake County sheriff's deputies to work at their events will have to pay a little more for the service starting in May.
The county's Law and Judicial Committee this week approved a resolution hiking the rates paid to each deputy hired.
Starting May 1, deputies hired for events in the unincorporated county will be paid $78 per hour, up from the current $73.
On May 1, 2009 that rate will increase to $81 per hour, it will go to $85 per hour in 2010 and to $88 per hour the following year.
In municipal jurisdictions, where the county now charges $91 per hour, the rate goes to $93 on May 1 and to $95 in 2009.
Starting in 2010, the deputies will be paid $97 per hour and in 2011, the rate will be $99 per hour.