Man charged in Round Lake Park burglaries

Round Lake Park police say they nabbed a man believed to be responsible for a string of burglaries in the village.

Brendan M. Wilcox, 28, of the 200 block of Highmoor Drive in Round Lake Park, was charged with three counts of residential burglary and is being held on $150,000 bail at Lake County jail, Police Chief George Filenko said Friday.

Investigators recovered several items reported stolen in the burglaries while searching Wilcox's home after he was arrested Thursday afternoon, Filenko said. Additional charges are pending, he said, because syringes that tested positive for heroin were also recovered.

Filenko said burglaries that didn't involve forced entry were reported to Round Lake Park police over the past several weeks - typically, someone would enter unlocked homes and take cash, jewelry, gaming consoles, laptops and tablet computers.

Round Lake Park officers were called Jan. 7 to the 200 block of Bellevue Drive about an armed man entering a house and confronting a resident, Filenko said. The man fled, but police were able to get a description of the burglary suspect from the victim.

A man fitting the description was spotted by a patrol officer about 1 p.m. Thursday near Elder and Clifton drives, Filenko said. A victim of one of the burglaries identified Wilcox, who then admitted to an unspecified number of Round Lake Park burglaries, authorities said.

As officers processed recovered goods at Wilcox's home, Filenko said, a neighbor approached one of the officers and identified a laptop computer he didn't know was missing from his house. He said the neighbor believed a relative had borrowed the computer and was unaware it was stolen.