Glen Ellyn burglar gets 10-year prison term

A burglar was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison for a rash of break-ins that ended when one homeowner chased him through his Glen Ellyn-area neighborhood until police arrived.

Vincent E. York, 22, of Carol Stream, targeted two homes about a block apart last Nov. 13. The residents, though, had other plans.

One woman locked herself in a bedroom and called 911 after York kicked in her back door on the 21W500 block of Monticello Road. He fled empty-handed.

"The time I spent barricaded in a bedroom that morning, before the police arrived, was the longest, scariest time of my life," the woman said during the sentencing hearing. "Many people have said, 'At least nothing was taken.' But that's definitely not true. I would have rather given up all my possessions in order to have my sense of security back."

As sheriff's deputies canvassed the Butterfield West neighborhood, another nearby homeowner said he returned to his house to find an unwanted visitor trying to break into his safe using two screwdrivers and a sledgehammer.

"I came home from the gym to find Vincent York gathering my things using a pair of my socks to cover his hands and using my own pillowcase from my bed to carry the items he wanted," the homeowner said Wednesday. "He even helped himself to a bottle of water from the refrigerator which he left wide open."

The man chased York through the neighborhood and deputies nabbed the suspect within minutes. Upon investigation, prosecutor Thomas O'Connor said authorities later connected York to a May 23, 2007, burglary inside the Outreach Community Center in Carol Stream in which four computers, $1,100 cash and $300 in gift cards were stolen.

O'Connor said no one was injured in any of the burglaries.

York pleaded guilty July 29 to residential burglary and burglary. He faced four to 15 years in prison.

In meting out the punishment, DuPage Circuit Judge George Bakalis noted the irony in that York ripped off a charitable organization similar to those that have helped him throughout his troubled life.

York has to serve half of the prison term before being eligible for parole.

His criminal history includes prior burglaries he committed as a juvenile and felony convictions as an adult for theft, retail theft, forgery and unlawful use of a weapon.