Home Burglary Crew Member Charged Over Highland Park Break-In: Cops

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — A man accused of breaking into a Highland Park home and burglarizing it as residents slept inside was ordered detained at the Lake County Jail while awaiting trial.

Joe Mitchell, 37, of the 6700 block of West Forest Preserve Drive, Harwood Heights, was charged with one count of residential burglary and one count of theft of more than $100,000.

Mitchell already had pending home burglary charges in Cook County, as well as prior residential burglary convictions.

On April 30, Mitchell and unidentified accomplices forced their way into a home in the 1700 block of Dale Avenue, according to police.

The home's burglar alarm scared off the intruders and woke up the residents before the officers it summoned arrived, but not before Mitchell and his partners made off with more than $100,000 of property.

Prosecutors said Mitchell's cell phone could be tracked to the time and location of the burglary and that he was wearing a watch stolen from the Highland Park home when he was arrested in a separate burglary investigation.

Highland Park police later got a warrant for Mitchell's arrest and took him into custody on Friday. On Monday, a Lake County judge ordered him detained. He is due back in court Nov. 9.