Riverton man arrested for October 2022 Verona burglary

The Grundy County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday that Jonathan P. Ballard, 34, Riverton, was arrested in connection to the Oct. 24, 2022 burglary of cash from a gaming machine at EJ Karz Bar and Grill in unincorporated Verona.

Sheriff’s deputies determined back in October 2022, that someone entered the video gaming machines and took the money out, and collected the evidence to send to the Illinois State Police Forensic Sciences Crime Laboratory. Ballard was identified from a DNA profile collected off an item left at the scene.

A Grundy County Grand Jury indicted Ballard on Wednesday, and he was issued an arrest warrant for felony burglary. Ballard is currently in custody at the Sangamon County Jail on similar charges. The bond for this arrest is set at $20,000.