Man Gets Prison Time For Burglarizing Church

A man has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison for burglarizing a Jo Daviess County church. 57 year old John Cook Jr. of Lacon, was sentenced in Jo Daviess County Circuit Court after pleading guilty to felony burglary of a house of worship. Cook’s prison term will be followed by one year of mandatory supervised release. According to a report, Jo Daviess County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded to St. Mary’s Church in Elizabeth on January 27th after receiving a report of a man who drove past the church multiples times, then parked, checked all the church doors and entered the church. Deputies eventually located Cook near his vehicle and reported that he had multiple $1 bills in his pockets, a ring of keys in his pocket, a screwdriver in his right sock and two metal forceps in his left sock. The church’s pastor reported forced entry into the church as well as into the burning votive candle display lockbox, with the money inside missing.