Just a week after being arrested and charged with stealing a bike from a fast-food restaurant in LaGrange, 17-year-old Aurelio Ortega finds himself in deeper trouble.
On Sept. 8, Ortega was charged with burglarizing four residences in Brookfield between Aug. 28 and Sept. 4. Two juveniles, a 16-year-old boy from LaGrange and 14-year-old boy from Brookfield, were petitioned to Cook County juvenile authorities, each charged with two counts of residential burglary.
Ortega, a Brookfield resident, is being held on $200,000 bond in Cook County Jail, awaiting an Oct. 2 court date.
All of the burglaries took place during the early morning hours, while the occupants were at home, sleeping. In each case, doors to the residences were left unlocked at night.
According to police, Ortega hit one residence in the 4200 block of Maple Avenue on two separate occasions – during the overnight hours of Aug. 27-28 and again overnight on Aug. 31-Sept. 1 – taking a total of $410 in cash and a laptop computer.
On Sept. 4, a resident of the 4400 block of Raymond Avenue reported that a laptop computer, cellphone and several DVDs stolen during the night. Also on that date, a resident of the 4400 block of Raymond Avenue reported that someone had stolen a 26-inch flat-panel TV and a wallet from the home.
An investigation led officers to an apartment in the 4400 block of Eberly Avenue, where police reportedly recovered items stolen in two of the burglaries, including the wallet, TV, laptop computer, cellphone and DVDs.
Ortega was arrested on Sept. 6 as he was walking along Rochester Avenue near his home in the 4200 block of Maple and charged for his alleged involvement in the burglaries.
On Aug. 28, Brookfield police had arrested Ortega for stealing a bicycle in LaGrange. The bike was familiar to police, because it was the same one stolen from in front of a Brookfield business on Aug. 23.
Ortega was reportedly riding the bike down the 3200 block of Park Avenue on the evening of Aug. 27, allegedly pulling on car door handles. A witness phoned police, who stopped Ortega and two other youths.
The responding officer recognized the bike Ortega was riding as the one previously stolen and returned to its owner. A day later, after confirming that the bike had been stolen again, police charged Ortega with theft.
