put him behind bars, we dont need that thug in our town

No one needs a thug like that. I prefer the concept of hard labor as restitution over that of sitting behind bars.

Im a firm believer in the eye for eye justice system. Someone should go and steal everything he has. He will then have to start his life over and will get his life back on track.

Wow. I think all of you are being a bit too harsh on this boy. After all, he is only 18. He is obviously a troubled a child, perhaps not raised with enough love, attention or funds to match the lavish lifestyle most children in Lake Bluff/Lake Forest live. Remember Jean Valjean. I don't want the kid to be released with nothing but a slap on the wrist. However, I also don't want to see him drawn and quartered. I also think plastering his picture on the Patch was a not a good idea. Have some compassion please for a boy and his family who obviously need it! P.S. I have been the victim of robbery twice; I know how it feels on that end.

So glad I left LF/LB sounds like I'm reading The Onion. Seriously people start thinking. Jail??? He's one of your own. Go ahead put a LB kid in with gang bangers. Idiots!

Shame on all of you, especially Linda. This is not the place to be posting gossip about this boy!

Linda, your compassion is appreciated and appropriate. Obviously this young man needs assistance in many areas of his life. It can be a real challenge coming from a broken home and as we all know there are just as many young scofflaws who come from unbroken 2-parent families.

Ok, please tell me how this qualified as a "Breaking News Alert" as it showed up in my inbox. The breaking news alert should have been sent out when the burglaries were going on - THAT would have been helpful. This is obviously a case of a teenager who feels very misunderstood and is subconsciously crying out for help. Should there be consequences? Of course. Should he be "thrown behind bars"? I think we all know that is not what's going to help this kid. He needs more than that. Give him therapy and community service. I don't know about anyone else, but if I saw this kid on the street (now that EVERYBODY knows what he looks like), I wouldn't be afraid. He committed no violent crimes here. He stole out of unlocked cars - he messed with someone's property. You could compare it to bashing up a bunch of mailboxes. There is NO need to tar and feather this kid - he clearly needs more love and attention in his life and deserves to have someone like a good Psychologist listen to him and help him through his pain. We ALL deserve that. His life is NOT over and he just needs help. I sincerely hope that he can get the kind of help that's going to make him love himself again.

I know this kid, he really does have a great heart. It's sad to hear about all of this happening to him, I just pray to The Lord that he will guide him in the right direction. He just got off on the right side of the tracks, but I know that he can get back on the right track. All of us should be offering to hear him out, quit criticising him and just ask him how we can help. I know that he's Catholic, maybe if we try to show him God's ways then he will ask for forgiveness, I know that this is a possibility. For the Lord performs miracles, and doesnt like to see his children in pain, thats the work of the devil. If we all try to help, I know he will do better, and The Lord will bless us with our kind ways.

To those who said put him behind bars, be ashamed! This is his life you're talking about, its not like he is a middle aged man or even in his 20's he just turned 18. Many have done something way worse.

Really people!! All of this is harsh. If anyone on here can say that never did anything stupid when they were 18 is a liar. I work in retail in Lake Forest you want to talk about thugs? When there is a half a day of school all the kids come to where I work. They have sat on the floor reading magazines, spraying things over the isles, taking balls and throw them on the wall, and chase each other around. Also it's also the person who owns the car's fault he should've locked it. When my son was 18 he got busted pool hopping he just went to court paid the fine and it was over and he's not a thug. Being a parent and all of you were posting things about my child I'd be pissed and so would all of you if this was your child.

Thank you Jennifer, Holly, LMS, Linda C B. !

Voices of reason and compassion !

The LB/LF police's policy of publishing the names of "alleged offenders"
is ridiculous ! Why the policy of public humiliation ?

What if it the article was about your child's unfortunate incident?
Would you like to read the rude comments ?
What if as a result of the article your child was shunned by parents and lost friends?
Kids have it hard enough in this socially competitve town.

He is young, He needs a break.

Dean and I went to school together, and I know that he's a caring guy and only likes to make others happy. He isnt the type of person to want to hurt others. Trust me! You ask anyone from LFHS that knows him, and they say that he is a great guy! He is well known for his love of music, and he says that he wants to be a famous musician! He is really good at playing the bass guitar, you should hear him play! Do you really want someone with this much talent landing behind bars? When he belongs center stage? God gave him a gift, he should be able to create sounds that please our ears.

Kristin, Dean texted my daughter and told her that he appreciates all of our positive comments. I am sorry if you feel that I don't care . I care dearly and Dean Knows that! He is all that matters here. I wish the best for him and hope that if I offended anyone that they understand I didn't mean to. I only want to help him. He is a talented young man who has had an upset.

Your welcome Annette, I couldn't agree with you more!

Anyone who says to lock Dean up, should just listen to themselves! If you say such things, it obviously means that you dont have a heart. You need to show more compassion towards others. God watches our every move, he wants us to care for one another, not be hostile.

So your saying if I commit a felony, a class two felony, that I should not be in trouble because iI am a nice guy and play bass? I am listening to myself, and if I made a mistake like this, yeah I deserved to be locked up.

Holly you should be checked into a phsych ward for your last comment. Part of the reason our country has lasted so long is because we follow the constitution and laws. He broke the rules he pays the punishment. Have you ever heard the saying if you cant pay the time dont do the crime. You must be some crazy liberal anarchist or something if you think he doesnt deserve to be punished.

Has anyone ever heard of " Innocent until proven guilty"? It is right up there with
following the constitution and the laws of this country. So lighten up .....

Shame on the Patch for posting this as breaking news. He hasn't even been convicted, yet many of you - including the Patch - are treating him as guilty.

this just became a high profile case now. I like patch sending it out.

Lynette Paulson you need to check yourself into a psych ward! I mean common, is that the best you got! This kid is innocent until proven guilty! Also I know that it could possibly be others, where's the proof! I know for a FACT THAT OTHERS STEAL! THAT MEANS OTHER KIDS FROM LFHS! IVE SEEN IT! I KNOW DEAN, HE HAS NEVER DONE ANYTHING LIKE THIS, NOTHING!

Actions have consequences and thats what life is about.

UH.... I think its cool...he steals stuff and gets chicks....thats cool..

Who were the boobs who left their cars unlocked? Haven't they heard from other news reports that cars were broken into and valuables were taken like: wallets (that contained DLs, credit cards and insurance info), purses, cameras, computers or other things? Were these car owners thinking that it will never happen to them - look in the mirror - do these people lock their cars at: train stations, grocery stores, shopping malls or at sporting events?

Where did this kid live? Was he bored because he didn't have a job? did he just graduate? Was he just starting his senior year of high school and he robbed the teachers who were threatening about going on strike? Did this kid have nothing else to do like video games, read a book or watch tv and he decided to try a little theft instead?

Wake up people - get a clue!!

So if you are an adult and commit a crime and are caught in Lake Forest or Lake Bluff you should be let go? Common people. If he gets a pass because he is "a great kid" what is to stop anyone from going in our cars and homes and taking what they want? He was old enough to know right from wrong, and got caught. End of story.

Uh.... ya where are these cars with stuff in em? How do we get our picture up here so we can get chicks?

Lynette Paulsen dont worry.
Do you guys know that he is reading the stuff that your saying about him? Him and I spoke yesterday, and he told me that he was following up on what everyone had to say. I hope that the people that said crap about him are embarassed!

We all need to try to be supportive, and get Dean some help, not bash him left and right. This also includes doing more for the community to prevent this from re-occurring to any other LF student. There is alot of pressure in this town, we need to try to fix this! Jail time is not the answer here! What he really needs is therapy and rehab, putting him in jail wont do any good, it will make him worse, do you really want a newly turned 18 yr old locked up in prison with many people who have done way worse? If he ends up in jail he could end up as one of those people that you see on locked up! He could get worse rather than better.

Uh.. ya... Holly culd you post ur picture so we can see what kind of chicks well get if we steal some stuf...

Thank you Kevin, I have wondered about this public disclosure issue.
I am not trying to be antagonistic, just curious.

This is a excerpt from the IL FOIA ACT / "Sunshine Law". My interpretation, as regular citizen of IL, is that the police can use discretion when releasing personal information to the media and the public.

'GENERAL PROVISIONS: Freedom of Information Act, eff. Jan 1, 2010
(5 ILCS 140/7) (from Ch. 116, par. 207)
Sec. 7. Exemptions.
(c) Personal information contained within public
records, the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly
unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, unless the
disclosure is consented to in writing by the individual
subjects of the information. "Unwarranted invasion of
personal privacy" means the disclosure of information that
is highly personal or objectionable to a reasonable person
and in which the subject's right to privacy outweighs any
legitimate public interest in obtaining the information.'

Ok, i have no intention of starting a war on Patch. I was just curious about your comment and wondered if it was true.

I did read the whole statute. I saw that section. Then it goes on to say that there are exemptions under the Juvenille Court Act 1987 and in Section 7. Don't you think (5 ILCS 140/7) Sec 7 (1) (c) gives the police the option to release his name, photo and other private information ?

What about the police blotter? Is that really 100% of arrests made in one month? If not, then what is the criteria to be in the blotter?

How does the blotter fit into this law? The blotter is the publication of the police department. It's not the "media" trying to get a juicy story.

@johnclark2 You know nothing about me. Maybe these kids are not thugs but they still caused a ruckus, and they should know at their age that it's wrong to do what they are doing. As for my RETAIL JOB it happens to be a good one. All you are is a bragger because a person who brags the way you do actually is just a bragger with nothing to show. If you have children I hope you're 18 yr old doesn't get into trouble lord knows what people will say about your child. The pool hopping is a crime of trespassing. All of you are being insensitive to this kid and his family. Do any of you have any morals. I still say it's part of the vehicle owners fault for not locking their cars.

Annette,

The police blotter is not a publication from the police department. The police department is required to provide a summary of the weekly cases to the media. From there...the media decides which cases to publish. The blotter does not include every arrest made or even every significant case. If you are wondering what "makes" a case "blotter worthy" then you must speak with your local reporter. The police department cannot tell the media which cases to publish or how to publish them. It is that darn "freedom of the press" thing.

Uh... ya LMS... do you get any chicks at your retail job? cause uh I know a couple of guys who might be interested in working there. we have spent a lot of time in retail stores.... If not just let me know what magazines you have that we could uh check out...

Thanks for the information William. Intersting. Learn something new everday.

You may think that Lf student 111 but you dont know how good lake forest is. You should be thankful to call it your home. It sets you up to be a winner. Maybe things would be better if we all lived in the ghetto where kids are getting shot on a daily bases. Ya i didn't think so. You should think about how good you kids have it before you run your mouth. There isn't such thing as a perfect community but lake forest is pretty damn close compared to the rest of the USA.

First of all what moron leaves their car unlocked? This isn't Mayberry RFD. It was entering not BREAKING and entering so it ws really only half a crime. He almost looks like he was crying NOT drunk or on drugs as johnclark2 states above....and what do you know about how people look on drugs anyway---hmmmm? I don't think this Patch needed to post his picture, but I'm not too impressed with this publication to begin with. What exactly was taken? Did he return it? Was this his first offense?more lack of information but williness to comdemn someone for a blasted story, without all the eveidence. (bad Patch, bad) Some murderers who should get life (let's not even go there) get this kind of sentence, so give the kid a break. Make him do some community service.

My gut call is that Nancie D, UnionBuster, Lynette O and johnclark2 are all the same person. Either that or they are all in the same remedial English class at LFHS.

Uhh any update on this kid? He enjoying life in the slammer?

Hey I think this kid just got busted in Oak Park for the same thing

He is right! http://oakpark.patch.com/articles/three-rob-berwyn-man-of-iphone-and-more-oak-park-police-blotter#comment_6245690 patch lake bluff/ lake forest really should have reported this