Man charged with stealing 400+ graveside vases
BY STEFANO ESOSITO Staff Reporter/sesposito@suntimes.com August 10, 2011 9:40AM
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Updated: October 3, 2011 11:59AM
Mount Emblem Cemetery in Elmhurst prides itself on its “beautiful grounds” and “serene setting,” but since April, a thief has stolen a piece of that serenity — making off with dozens of graveside vases worth hundreds of dollars each.
Mount Emblem’s general manager, John Isaacson, calls the thefts “despicable,” but he was relieved to learn in recent days that police have nabbed a man suspected of stealing the vases and selling them to a South Side scrap dealer for cash.
“We are just relieved that this alleged criminal has been apprehended,” Isaacson said Wednesday. “It’s pretty sad. It really is.”
Police arrested Jeffrey T. Burke, 35, of Hometown, on Aug. 5, after allegedly observing him pluck several dozen vases from a cemetery in unincorporated Will County in broad daylight, before he allegedly took the loot to a scrap yard dealer on the South Side, investigators said.
“These vases are all items that people purchase to honor their loved ones,” said Elmhurst Police Chief Steve Neubauer. “I’m sure they were all devastated when they became aware of the thefts.”
Burke is charged with felony theft, as well as driving with a suspended license, police said. Investigators say they have recovered more than 400 stolen grave vases, valued at a total of more than $100,000.
Burke was being held at the DuPage County Jail on a $60,000 bond.
In 2007, Burke pleaded guilty to a similar theft in DuPage County, police said. He was sentenced to five years in prison in that case, police said.
Contributing, James Scalzitti
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