A Bridgeview man claiming he was soliciting business as an aluminum siding contractor was charged with residential burglary in Riverside last week.

James Castiglione, 31, allegedly walked uninvited into a home in the 300 block of Blackhawk Road just before noon on Sept. 22. Standing in the home’s foyer, Castiglione was reportedly confronted by a painter who was working in the kitchen.

According to the report, Castiglione appeared “startled” by the appearance of the painter and said he was looking for siding work. The homeowner, who is a Berwyn police officer, heard the two men talking and told Castiglione he was calling Riverside police.

Castiglione reportedly fled the scene and began running through backyards to avoid the homeowner, who chased after him. At least eight police officers from Riverside, Berwyn and Lyons converged on the area and, after a short manhunt, apprehended Castiglione in the backyard of a home in the 300 block of Lawton Road.

The Cook County State’s Attorney approved felony burglary charges against Castiglione, who was being held without bond at Cook County Jail as of Monday.

Disorderly conduct

A 16-year-old boy from Broadview was charged by Riverside police with disorderly conduct on Sunday night after allegedly threatening to “shoot up” the house of a schoolmate.

According to police, the threat was aimed at a 17-year-old Broadview girl at Riverside-Brookfield High School; she learned of the threat on Friday at school through a friend, according to police.

While the girl did not alert school officials to the alleged threat, she told her parents, who reported it to Riverside police on Friday night. The alleged threat was made, police said, in connection with an earlier dispute between the boy and girl.

Police took the boy into custody at 10:30 p.m. Sunday at his home in Broadview and petitioned him to Cook County juvenile authorities. Police said a search of the boy’s home and school locker turned up no weapons.

Looking for drugs,
finding the police

A man who reportedly told police he came to Riverside on Saturday morning to “score some weed” was charged instead with illegal possession of hypodermic needles.

Just before 10:30 on Sept. 26, police received a call about a suspicious white Cadillac parked in a dead end at the intersection of S. Herbert Road and E. Quincy Street. The caller told police two men exited the car.

Police reported finding the two men walking eastbound on the railroad tracks. One of the men allegedly told police they were looking to buy cannabis, but the seller never showed up.

One of the two men, a 27-year-old Justice resident, reportedly informed police that his companion, 32-year-old Michael Witchek, of Custer Park, Ill., had ditched some hypodermic needles along the railroad tracks.

Witchek, whose hands allegedly had fresh track marks on his hand, reportedly led police to a plastic bag containing the needles, a tin cooker and some distilled water.

Burglary

Brookfield police reported that some time between 6 a.m. on Sept. 21 and 10 a.m. on Sept. 23, a UST gasoline generator valued at $350 was taken from a garage in the 3200 block of Elm Avenue. Police could find no signs of forced entry.

A 53-year-old North Riverside woman reported that during the overnight hours of Sept. 20 and 21, someone entered her possibly unlocked 2005 Jeep Liberty and removed a Garmin global positioning system unit, loose change and four gas credit cards.

A 42-year-old Lyons man told North Riverside police that while he was shopping at Goodwill, 2000 Harlem Ave., on Sept. 24 someone broke into his car. The man and his wife had been shopping for about 20 minutes when store management told them that the driver’s side window of their 2002 Ford Escape had been shattered. The vehicle’s GPS unit had been taken.

Some time between 7 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 25, someone entered a garage in the 4100 block of Vernon Avenue, Brookfield, and removed three Schwinn mountain bikes valued at $130 apiece.

A resident of the 8500 block of Rockefeller Avenue, Brookfield, reported that while he was gone for about an hour-and-a-half on the of morning Sept. 26, someone entered his unlocked home and removed a Toshiba laptop computer, an iPod Touch and a video game.

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments from Sept. 20 to Sept. 27 and represent a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Unless otherwise indicated, anybody named in these reports has only been charged with a crime. These cases have not been adjudicated.

– Compiled by Bob Uphues