Charges filed after October 2016 burglary at Lynch Chevrolet in Burlington caught on camera

BURLINGTON -- A Kansas City, Missouri man has been criminally charged in connection with an October 2016 burglary at Lynch Chevrolet in Burlington.

The accused is 41-year-old Joshua Walker. He faces six charges:


    A criminal complaint makes reference to a history of convictions dating back to 1993 in Missouri, Indiana and Kenosha County.

    According to that complaint, on October 24th, 2016, Burlington police were dispatched to Lynch Chevrolet on Browns Lake Drive near Milwaukee Avenue in Burlington. The service director reported tires and rims had been taken from the showroom floor. Additionally, a set of keys and a 2016 GMC Yukon XL 4WD Denali were taken from the lot. The tires were valued at $8,500 and the vehicle was valued at $77,095.

    Investigators took a look at surveillance video, which showed a white vehicle headed westbound on an access road towards Lynch Chevrolet. The vehicle then made a U-turn, and drove back towards Browns Lake Road around 3:15 a.m. An individual was then seen talking along the dealership lot, and then along the back of the lot, before breaking a window to gain access to the service area. The video showed the suspect entering the main showroom floor -- removing a set of keys from  desk. He was then seen hiding behind vehicles as other motorists drove past the dealership.

    The complaint says officers later learned the suspect removed a license plate from a vehicle being serviced at the dealership, along with a sticker from the Denali, which was hidden in a grate on the ground.

    The suspect then returned to the showroom and rolled tires to the broken window, before driving the Denali to the broken window to load the tires. He was later seen loading the tires into the vehicle at a different location because he was unable to get them through the broken window.

    The Denali was then seen leaving the lot.

    The complaint says during this investigation, it was learned the white vehicle had been stopped near the Lynch dealership at the time this burglary was occurring, and the driver identified himself as "BM," and offered what was believed to be false information about where he was coming from and how he came to be in Burlington. He also provided inconsistent statements about where he lived and inaccurate contact information for the owner of the vehicle, according to the complaint.

    Additionally, investigators learned a suspicious vehicle had been seen on the lot prior to the burglary. A license plate was recorded, and investigators learned who the vehicle was listed to. They found a Facebook page for that person, and an employee at the Lynch dealership believed this person was the suspect seen on the lot. That person is Facebook friends with a "BM," the complaint says.

    According to the complaint, investigators through a subpoena obtained tollway information from Illinois State Police regarding the vehicle stopped near the dealership at the time of the burglary. It was learned the owner of that vehicle had an "I-PASS" account, which showed the vehicle was on the tollway and drove through the Waukegan toll plaza about 35 minutes before it was seen on surveillance video from the Lynch dealership. It drove through the Waukegan toll plaza again about 40 minutes after it was released by the deputy.

    Investigators say it was learned though cell phone data that BM had communicated with the suspect charged in this case -- Joshua Walker, leading investigators to believe they were in the car together on October 24th. Both cell phones pinged off towers in Burlington at the time of the burglary.

    The Denali taken from the Lynch dealership was recovered in Illinois on December 13th, 2016. It had a new, stolen license plate attached to it, the complaint says. A passenger was arrested after fleeing the vehicle. A cell phone was recovered from the vehicle and the owner of that phone was found to have an address which was a known address for Joshua Walker from 2008 until 2016. Additionally, the complaint says DNA evidence for Walker and another individual were recovered from cigarette butts in the vehicle.

    The complaint notes that social media shows Walker, BM and the third individual are associates.

    Walker was arrested on 75th Street in Pleasant Prairie.

    Walker made his initial appearance in court in this case on June 20th. Cash bond was set at $5,000. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for June 28th.