Bond increased for Montgomery woman accused in room rental scheme

A Kendall County judge has increased the bond of a Montgomery woman charged with theft in Kendall and Will counties who is also facing a civil lawsuit by the Village of Montgomery related to a room rental scheme.

Catherine Burson, also known as Catherine Boyd, appeared before Judge Robert Pilmer Wednesday morning, Oct. 17, at the Kendall County Courthouse in Yorkville regarding Assistant State's Attorney Andrea Boyle's request to increase Burson's bond in part due to her arrest on theft charges in Joliet on Oct. 1.

Burson, 38, of the 2300 block of Thunder Gulch Road, Montgomery, was arrested after she allegedly slipped multiple items from the store into her purse and tried to leave without paying for them, according to police.

Burson currently faces multiple theft charges, including those related to allegations that she rented rooms in her single-family home in Montgomery's Blackberry Crossing West subdivision.

Boyle requested that Burson's bond be increased by $30,000, while Burson's defense attorney, Michael Orescanin, asked for Pilmer to keep his client's bond at $4,000, which he said is all she could afford to pay. Orescanin also argued that Burson was the caregiver of a child at home, and that she suffers from depression, anxiety, and abandonment issues.

However, Boyle argued that Burson had violated her bond conditions by being arrested in Joliet.

Pilmer set Burson's bond at $5,000. Burson will have to post 10 percent of that amount, or $500, to be released from the Kendall County jail in Yorkville. Burson was taken into custody following the hearing.

In her most recent Kendall County criminal case, Montgomery police arrested Burson on Thursday, May 3, on charges felony retail theft of less than $300, according to court records.

The Kendall County State's Attorney has charged Burson with felony unlawful restraint, for refusing to allow a woman to leave her residence in February of 2016; felony theft for obtaining funds of less than $500 under the promise to rent a room in her home in February of 2017; felony theft for "knowingly exerted unauthorized control over property" worth less than $500 and "intending to deprive (the victim) permanently of the use or benefit of the property in February 2017; felony theft for "knowingly exerted unauthorized control over property" worth less than $500 and "intending to deprive (the victim) permanently of the use or benefit of the property in May of 2016; felony theft for obtaining currency "under promise to rent a room to (the victim)"; and misdemeanor battery for an incident that occurred in March of 2017 at her home.

Burson's next court date for the criminal charges was scheduled for Oct. 30.

Village sought to dismiss civil suit

The Village of Montgomery and the Blackberry Crossing West Homeowners Association also filed civil lawsuits against Burson in 2016, accusing her of running her single-family home at 2328 Thunder Gulch Road as a "boarding house facility." Such a use violates the village's zoning code, according to the village's lawsuit.

Regarding the village's civil lawsuit, Kirsten Casas, an attorney representing the village, responded in an email recently that the village had filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit late last month.

However, Casas wrote that "between the filing and the hearing on the motion, the village was alerted to continued violations at the property and on Oct. 4 the village withdrew its motion to voluntarily dismiss."

The next court date for the civil complaint by the village is set for Nov. 28 at 9 a.m. before Judge Timothy McCann.