Theft of 9 guns from home safe results in 8-year prison term for Spring Grove man after guilty plea

A Spring Grove man has admitted in court that he stole multiple firearms from a Harvard home, including automatic rifles, shotguns and handguns.

Connor Freise, 31, pleaded guilty to one count of residential burglary, a Class 1 felony, and was sentenced to eight years in prison, according to a judgment order in McHenry County court.

Prosecutors said that on Dec. 18, 2023, Freise entered a home through a window, broke into a safe and stole nine firearms: a Taurus Tracker .357 handgun, FMK 961 9-mm handgun, Smith & Wesson Victory .22-caliber handgun, Hi-Point C9 9-mm handgun, Taurus PT92 9-mm handgun, CROL 12-g shotgun, M&P AR-15 rifle, SKS rifle and a HOWA 1500 shotgun. The firearms had a total value of $500 to $10,000, according to the criminal complaint and indictment.

“The victim stated he came home and saw an exterior window cracked open, and when he went into the house, he observed the lamp on the floor. He continued to his bedroom closet, where he observed his safe lying facedown on the ground, and lying next to it was a hammer and pry bar,” Assistant State’s Attorney Sophia Dinkel said at an initial hearing.

She argued that Freise was a danger to the victim and the community and should be detained in jail pretrial. The judge granted her petition to detain, records show.

The back of the safe was bent open, and the owner of the firearms said he also found a backpack in his garage containing an electric angle grinder, authorities said. The owner of the guns said he recognized the backpack as Freise’s because he had given it to him, Dinkel said.

A witness said she was with Freise that night, saw him enter the home and later saw him with the firearms, Dinkel said. The FBI’s investigation showed Freise’s cellphone pinging off cell towers in the Harvard area during the time of the burglary despite Freise saying he was in Wisconsin at the time, Dinkel said.

While the Harvard residential burglary was being investigated, and before Freise was arrested, he was charged a few weeks later in a separate case alleging that on Jan. 26, 2024, he possessed a stolen snowmobile, records show. According to documents in that case, a report was made to Fox Lake police that Freise drove a stolen green 2018 Arctic Cat El Tigre 129ES to a residence in Crystal Lake. Freise wound up in custody Jan. 28, 2024, when he was arrested in this case, leading to the detention hearing in the firearms case, Dinkel said.

Th case regarding the snowmobile was dismissed Tuesday, records show.

Additionally, at the time of each of these alleged offenses, Freise was on parole for a 2021 conviction. In that case, he was charged with burglary, theft, possession of another person’s credit card and possession of a stolen Jeep Patriot, records show. He was convicted on the stolen vehicle offense, records show.

“He does have significant criminal history, notably multiple cases for both burglary and residential burglary,” Dinkel said.

Freise’s attorney declined to comment Wednesday.

Freise is required to serve half his prison term followed by one year of mandatory supervised release. He is receiving credit for 485 days spent in custody. He is ordered to pay more than $6,500 in restitution to the owner of the firearms. In exchange for his plea in this case, additional charges were dismissed, including theft, being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of burglary tools and criminal damage to property, according to the judgment order.