Crime & Safety
Rat Trap Thief Is Guilty, Could Face Prison Time: Prosecutors
Andrew A. Schwartz has been convicted of stealing more than $27,000 worth of rat traps from a business in Elgin.
KANE COUNTY, IL — A Prospect Heights man has been found guilty of stealing a truckload of rat traps worth $27,000 from an Elgin business last fall, prosecutors said Thursday. Kane County Associate Judge Charles E. Peterson found Andrew A. Schwartz, 31, guilty Tuesday of theft, a Class 2 felony, and forgery, a Class 3 felony.
Schwartz, a contract truck driver for J.B. Hunt Transport Services, picked up the rat traps from the business business on Sept. 29, 2017. He'd been instructed to bring the rat trips to a location in Ohio, but instead, left the traps at the home of an acquaintance in Wauconda, according to a news release from the Kane County State's Attorney's Office.
He then told his company the rat traps had been dropped off in Ohio, prosecutors said.
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Schwartz, of the 700 block of Camp McDonald Road in Prospect Heights, is next expected in court Sept. 1 for his sentencing. He faces a minimum sentence of probation but could also be sentenced to between six and 30 years in prison.
He remains free on a $5,000 bail as he awaits his sentencing, authorities said.
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