Burglary suspect nabbed at train station

Acting on a tip from the suspect’s mother, Lake County sheriff’s police say they have caught a 19-year-old suspect in six burglaries in Libertyville in December.

Eric Schlemm, of the 800 block of Hawthorne Lane, Libertyville, is charged with breaking into three houses and three cars, sheriff’s Lt. Christopher Thompson said Tuesday.

Thompson said Schlemm’s mother alerted them to the fact he would return home from a trip to Chicago during which she believed her son would be buying heroin.

Thompson said deputies were waiting at the Libertyville train station and caught Schlemm with a small amount of heroin and a hypodermic needle.

Schlemm’s mother consented to a search of her son’s bedroom, Thompson said, and police found an iPod, a purse, a wallet and a set of car keys reported stolen in the burglaries.

Schlemm admitted to taking $200 in cash, electronic items and purses and wallets during the burglaries, Thompson said, which Schlemm admitted were committed to support his heroin habit.

“I cannot stress enough how drug addictions drive people to commit other crimes,” Sheriff Mark Curran said in a statement. “We face a battle with drug dealers each day along with working to solve crimes that are committed by drug users.” Schlemm is charged with three counts of residential burglary, three counts of burglary, and single counts of theft, possession of a controlled substance and possession of a hypodermic needle.

He appeared before Associate Judge Raymond Collins on Tuesday morning and Collins ordered Schlemm held on $500,000 bond.

Schlemm faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted and is due to appear in court Feb. 10.