Man charged with north suburban ruse burglaries

A Northwest Side man has been charged with a pair of ruse burglaries earlier this summer in north suburban Deerfield and Long Grove.

Members of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office Warrants Team and the U.S, Marshals service arrested 42-year-old Sandy Baker Thursday at a family home in Chicago, according to a statement from the sheriff’s office.

Baker, who lives in the Albany Park neighborhood, was wanted in connection with a ruse burglary on June 27 in Deerfield, the sheriff’s office said. After his arrest, investigators determined that Baker was also responsible for a June 20 ruse burglary in Long Grove.

A ruse burglary is a crime in which the perpetrator uses some kind of distraction to lure victims out of their homes while someone else enters and steals valuables, the sheriff’s office said. Offenders will often pretend to work as contractors or offer some kind of service, such as landscaping or fencing.

Baker was charged with two counts each of residential burglary and theft, the sheriff’s office said. He is being held at the Lake County Jail on a $200,000 bond.

“Ruse burglars appear polite and are usually well dressed, which is part of their ruse,” Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran said in the statement. “If you didn’t make a service appointment or invite someone to your home, never let an unknown, uninvited person inside, and don’t exit your house to speak to the person.”