Wheeling man gets prison for church burglary

A Wheeling man was sentenced to three years in prison Friday after admitting he tried to steal money from a church collection box.

Ryan Ward, 20, pleaded guilty to attempted burglary during a hearing before Lake County Associate Judge George Bridges.

Assistant State's Attorney Marykay Foy said an employee of the St. Savia Serbian Monastery, 32377 Route 21 in Libertyville Township, saw Ward standing next to her car in the parking lot around 11 a.m. on May 12. When the woman yelled to Ward to get away from her car, Foy said, she saw him run away with her purse in his hands.

The woman called Lake County sheriff's police who located Ward, of the 1600 block of Pennsbury Court, in the area and arrested him.

He was caught holding $40 and two bottles of prescription drugs that had been taken from the woman's purse, Foy said.

Officials later discovered the collection box inside the monastery had been broken into and an undetermined amount of cash had been taken.

Ward admitted to that crime, and Foy said she agreed to reduce the charge against Ward to attempted burglary in exchange for his guilty plea.

Charges of burglary to the woman's car and a residential burglary charge from Grayslake for a March 5 incident were also dropped as part of the negotiation.