Man steals St. Charles city truck, crashes gate at public works, sets another vehicle ablaze: police

ST. CHARLES, Ill. - A Dundee man is accused of ramming the gate of the public works facility in St. Charles with a stolen utility truck before setting fire to another stolen vehicle Wednesday night, according to police.

Joshua Ales, 44, has been charged with nine felonies after he was arrested that same evening, St. Charles police said in a press release on Friday.

Around 9:45 p.m., an officer noticed a damaged security gate at the St. Charles Public Works facility, located at 1405 South 7th Avenue, police said.

Joshua Ales, 44.

Investigators learned Ales gained access to the secured facility by climbing over an exterior perimeter fence before getting inside a city-owned utility truck, according to the statement.

Ales then drove the truck through the security gate, causing extensive damage, police said. The truck was later located in downtown St. Charles.

Later that evening, officers responded to the 700 block of West Main Street where they discovered Ales had stolen another vehicle. After the theft, Ales drove to an unincorporated area of Kane County where he set fire to the vehicle and ran away.

Kane County deputies responding to the fire located Ales in a tree line nearby and took him into custody, the statement said.

He has been charged with nine felonies including aggravated possession of a stolen vehicle, possession of a stolen vehicle, arson to personal property, criminal damage to government-supported property, burglary to a motor vehicle, criminal damage to property, and obstructing justice. He was also charged with three misdemeanors.