Park City man denies Gurnee house burglaries

A Park City man accused of breaking into a pair of Gurnee homes on the same morning pleaded not guilty Thursday in Lake County circuit court.

Christopher Augustus, 50, faces eight to 30 years in prison if convicted of both charges of residential burglary filed against him.

Assistant State’s Attorney Reginald Mathews said a 16-year-old resident of a house in the 600 block of Angelo Avenue called police around 8 a.m. on Sept. 14 and said she had just found a man inside the attached garage of the house.

The man had run off, Matthews said, but the girl got the license number of the car he drove away in and gave it to police.

Minutes later, residents of a house in the 4000 block of Cornell Avenue called to report that power tools and lawn care equipment worth $3,510 had been stolen from their attached garage.

Gurnee police found the license number provided by the first victim was registered to a car owned by Augustus’ wife, and went to their residence in the 3000 block of Hood Street to investigate.

Augustus’ wife gave police permission to search the house, Matthews said, and the property reported stolen from the Cornell Avenue house was found in a bedroom closet.

Augustus was taken into custody and is held on $50,000 bond.

Associate Judge Theodore Potkonjak scheduled a trial of the case for Nov. 10 and ordered Augustus to appear in court Nov. 1.