EVANSTON — On Jan. 30, Jorden Parks, a 34-year-old man from Evanston, was sentenced by Third District Court Judge James Kaste after pleading no contest to a variety of crimes, including the burglary at Rip’s Groceries last June.

Parks, who was charged with one count of felony theft and facing up to ten years in prison, received a suspended sentence of two to six years and will serve three years of probation.

Parks’ troubles began in March of 2024, when one of the owners of the Evanston Inn reported a theft of iPads, an iPhone, a six-piece Dewalt tool set, three Ring cameras, a shop vacuum, a card reader and $450 from a money drawer. According to a court affidavit, “the costs of the stolen items at the time the report was made was $2,049. The cost of all the stolen items was later found to be in excess of $12,482.”

Parks, who had been an employee at the Evanston Inn, had been terminated a month prior to the burglary because it was discovered that he had charged tools and various equipment to the Evanston Inn’s Ace Hardware account for personal use and ownership.

In the early morning hours of June 14, Rip’s Groceries in Evanston was broken into, robbed and vandalized. Parks was served a search warrant the following day in an attempt to locate the items from Evanston Inn, many of which were accounted for during the search.

“The defendant then agreed to give back all the items he had acquired through or from the Evanston Inn ... [and] willingly took it upon himself to turn over items he acquired from the Rip’s Grocery burglary as well,” the affidavit states.

Nearly $300 cash from the register, approximately $3,500 from an ATM and several stolen vape cartridges were obtained from the latter theft.