A Streamwood man and two Chicago men have been convicted of stealing copper cable from a ComEd substation in Kane County.
Ronald R. Moore, 30, a resident of the 1100 block of Fulton Drive, and Chicago residents Joseph J. Lewis, 33, and Javan K. Brown, 34, have each been convicted of theft of more than $10,000.

Lewis and Moore were both found guilty last week by separate Kane County juries after a five-day trial. There was one trial, but separate juries for all three defendants.
While awaiting his verdict, Brown agreed with the Kane prosecutors to a sentence of 24 months probation and 162 days in jail in exchange for a guilty plea to theft of more than $10,000, a Class 2 felony. Judge Timothy Q. Sheldon accepted the plea and gave Brown credit for 162 days served in the Kane County Jail while awaiting trial.

At 1:45 a.m. March 17, a station wagon exited a ComEd substation on Mason Road in Gilberts. When police attempted to stop the car, the vehicle’s driver declined to pull over and then eventually stopped in the middle of Randall Road near Interstate 90 in Elgin, with six men fleeing the vehicle.

Gilberts and Elgin police and the Kane County Sheriff’s Department apprehended four of the six men. Police found $3,000 worth of copper cable in the station wagon.
At the substation, police found three piles of smaller pieces of copper cable that had been cut from spools located within a locked fence. The value of that copper was $21,000.

Moore faces a sentence of three to seven years in the Illinois Department of Corrections or probation. His next court appearance is Oct. 1. Lewis faces from six to 30 years in prison because of prior convictions. Lewis also faces an additional Kane County charge of theft of copper cable from another ComEd substation in Kane County. That case is pending.