Cops: Man squatted in vacant Sugar Grove mansion 8 months

Sugar Grove police say a man who took up residence in a vacant, lakeside mansion for eight months apparently had no trouble settling in.

When officers went to arrest him Wednesday, they found the $700,000 house stocked with living room furniture and two big-screen TVs.

"Pretty gutsy," said Sugar Grove Detective John Sizer, who has been on the case for the better part of a year. "He definitely moved up."

Steven Hathorne, 41, formerly of Aurora, is charged with the theft of $1,400 in water from the village of Sugar Grove and criminal damage to government property, both felonies. His bond was set at $250,000.

Sizer said officials have suspected Hathorne was living in the house on the 100 block of North Buckingham Drive in the Prestbury subdivision since last summer, after the home was foreclosed upon, but it took months to get permission from the mortgage company to enter the property. He said Hathorne told neighbors he was in the process of buying the house.

"It was obvious somebody was living in there. But we can't just charge into someone's house without the owner's consent," Sizer said.

In earlier attempts to vacate the house, Sugar Grove public works officials shut off the water meter and put a lock on it - twice. Each time, Hathorne cut off the lock and turned the water back on using a 10-foot tool police found in the home's three-car garage Wednesday, Sizer said.

Officers also found a cloak that had been used to cover the water meter, apparently so village officials could not use a mobile electronic device to take a reading without entering the property.

Eventually, detectives were able get cooperation from the mortgage company, and Kane County Sheriff's deputies served Hathorne with a notice to vacate Wednesday morning. He was arrested at the scene.

Sizer said the house is in unincorporated Sugar Grove Township but receives its water from the village. The gas and power also were turned on.

"There may be more of this going on," Sizer said. "We've got anywhere from 60 to 80 vacant houses in towns that we patrol. It's surprising the number of times we're finding these homes unsecured. It's a concern of ours."

So far, Sizer said, Hathorne has been uncooperative with police.

The theft charge is a Class 2 felony with a standard sentencing range of three to seven years in prison or probation.

Hathorne was being held in the county jail Thursday pending an April 30 court appearance in front of Judge Jordan T. Gallagher.