Cops: Fox Lake teen tied to burglaries

Fox Lake police have arrested an 18-year-old man they say was prowling the Nippersink Park neighborhood carrying burglary tools.

Fox Lake Police Chief Mike Behan said police were called to the 100 block of Nippersink Drive at around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday after a resident reported a suspicious person wearing a ski mask and dressed entirely in black.

Officers, who parked about a block away and walked into the area, said they met with a neighbor who saw the person crawling near a stack of piers which had been removed from the water.

Police approached the piers and saw Sean Madden, 18, of the 100 block of Forest Avenue, wearing a black ski mask, dressed in black clothing and carrying a rubber hammer, a standard flat-tipped screwdriver and other tools which they say could be used to break into cars and homes.

Madden was taken from the scene to the Fox Lake Police Department, where he was questioned, Behan said. Madden told police that he was there to meet someone that he was supposed to fight.

"Officers also traced Madden's footsteps in the area and saw that he approached a car and a boat before heading behind the piers," he said. "While no entry was made into those vehicles, we believe he was caught moments before breaking into those vehicles."

Behan said the Lake County State's Attorney's office approved charges of possession of burglary tools, a class 4 felony that could put him behind bars for one year.

He was transported from the Fox Lake Police Department to Lake County jail early Wednesday where he is awaiting a bond hearing.

"We have had some break ins in that area in the past," he said. "It's pretty evident what he was attempting to do when he was caught."

He said police are still investigating.