Man pleads guilty in vehicle theft from Algonquin dealership, gets 4-year prison term

A Rockford man accused of stealing a vehicle from an Algonquin dealership pleaded guilty to burglary Friday and was sentenced to four years in prison.

Additional charges against Ted Tran, 36, of the 2500 block of Whale Avenue, were dismissed in exchange for the guilty plea, including unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle and theft of more than $500, according to the indictment in McHenry County court.

Tran is required to serve his prison term at 50%. When his incarceration is complete, he is required to serve 12 months of mandatory supervised release. He also will receive credit for 510 days in custody and 108 days, a half day for each day he was involved in a jail work program, volunteering or self-improvement, according to sentencing orders signed by Judge Tiffany Davis.

With truth-in-sentencing and jail time credit, Tran has 112 days left in his prison term.

On or about Oct. 22, 2022, employees at Rosen Hyundai made a police report that the facility had been broken into earlier in the week. Employees and police reviewed surveillance video showing a person “forcing open an exterior lockbox to secure a key which the individual then used to enter” the dealership, according to a motion and transcripts filed in court.

The suspect was “seen taking various items from workstations including key fobs for vehicles stored on the facility’s lot,” according to the documents. The person is then seen “leaving the facility and moving off camera. A vehicle was reported stolen from the facility,” according to the motion.

According to the indictment, Tran was the person behind those actions and was accused of stealing a 2022 Hyundai Genesis. He also was accused of stealing four VCI II Main Module GDS-Ms, used for vehicle diagnostics, along with three Samsung Galaxy Active Pro 10.1s and three 64 GB SD Cards valued at more than $500.

Tran, who matched the description of the person on the surveillance video, was apprehended by Rockford police driving the stolen vehicle.

“Officers interviewed [Tran] on multiple occasions and, over the course of those interviews, [Tran] admitted he is the individual depicted in the surveillance video,” according to the motion.

He was arrested on a warrant by Winnebago sheriff’s police July 25, 2023, records show. Tran has a pending case from 2022 in Winnebago County alleging possession of burglary tools, possession of methamphetamine, criminal damage to property and obstruction of identification, according to Winnebago County records.