Wauconda residents charged in Deer Park burglary

Lake County authorities were not only able to issue arrest warrants in a Deer Park burglary, but they were also able to return some of the stolen jewelry to its owner.

Authorities charged a Wauconda man and woman in connection with the Jan. 12 theft of approximately $65,000 in jewelry from a Deer Park residence.

Investigators were also able to recover a portion of the jewelry from a pawnshop.

It was the culmination of a more than three-week odyssey that began on Jan. 12, when police initially responded to a report by an off-duty officer of a possible burglary in progress on the 20500 block of Meadow Lane. The front door had been kicked in and the burglars were gone.

At that point, the Lake County sheriff’s office began its investigation, with the case turned over to Detectives Chris Dador and Gianni Giamberduca, according to a sheriff’s office news release.

Investigators worked with local businesses to develop leads in identifying the passenger of the vehicle used in the burglary, ultimately identifying Christie P. Partipilo, 35, of the 100 block of Slocum Lake Road in Wauconda, as a person who attempted to sell jewelry from the burglary to a local business, deputies said.

They put Partipilo under surveillance and on Jan. 27 conducted a traffic stop and charged her with driving on a suspended license.

She then told deputies that her live-in boyfriend had committed the burglary while she waited in the car, authorities said.

She also told deputies what pawnshop the jewelry had been sold to.

Partipilo and Jeffrey S. Levin, 53, both were charged with felony burglary. Bail is $250,000 for Levin and $25,000 for Partipilo. Levin is currently in custody on a burglary charge in Springfield.