Employee charged with trying to steal safe from Orland Park Dairy Queen

A man has been charged with trying to steal a safe from a Dairy Queen restaurant last month in southwest suburban Orland Park.

Authorities were called at 10:56 a.m. April 16 with reports that someone had damaged and tried to remove a safe from the Dairy Queen at 14460 S. La Grange Road, according to a statement from Orland Park police.

Evidence found at the scene, including latent fingerprints, identified 21-year-old Jonathan S. Lofton as the suspect, police said. Lofton worked at the Dairy Queen and hid inside the building after all the other employees had left on the night of the burglary.

He tried, unsuccessfully, to break open the safe and remove it from the building, police said. He was arrested Wednesday and charged with a felony count of burglary.

Lofton, who lives in south suburban Lansing, appeared in court Thursday for a bond hearing before Judge Michael Joseph Kane at the Bridgeview Courthouse, according to police and Cook County court records. He was released on a $10,000 I-bond and his next court date was scheduled for May 23.