Three charged with Riverside burglary

Riverside police in the past two weeks have arrested three people they say were responsible for burglarizing a residence in the 3500 block of Harlem Avenue on Dec. 31, 2013.

On Feb. 19, officers apprehended Julio S. Guzman, 18, at his home in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood and charged him with one count of residential burglary. On Feb. 27, police arrested two other suspects, Antonio Lemus, 21, of Berwyn, and Damien S. Romero, 18, of Chicago.

All three are self-admitted gang members, say police, who were looking for “fast cash” when they used a pick ax to force open the rear door of the Riverside residence and then stole jewelry, electronics, cash and other items they found inside.

While investigating the burglary back in December, police were able to make an impression of a shoe print in the snow, something that turned out to be a crucial piece of evidence, according to Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel.

Police say they found a perfect match of that shoeprint courtesy of Burbank police, who also made a shoeprint impression after a burglary in that town on Jan. 15. In that case, police arrested three suspects at the scene, including Guzman. Police also recovered a pick ax at the Burbank burglary scene.

Working with Burbank police, Riverside detectives were able to link Guzman to the Riverside burglary and arrested him at his home on Feb. 19. He was wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet on his ankle when he was arrested.

During the next week, police identified the two other men allegedly involved in the Riverside burglary. Romero was taken into custody on Feb. 27 at his home in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago. Lemus turned himself into police later that same day.

All three men are in custody at Cook County Jail awaiting a March 10 hearing at the Maybrook courthouse.

Busted for paintballing

A 16-year-old Riverside boy was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after allegedly shooting paintballs at people and homes in Riverside on Feb. 27.

Someone who was nearly struck by a paintball while standing in front of her home called police at 4:25 p.m. and reported that someone shot at her from an SUV in the 100 block of Lawton Road.

Meanwhile, police also received reports of paintballs striking homes in the 200 block of Nuttall Road, the 100 block of North Delaplaine Road and the 400 block of Longcommon Road.

Police pulled over an SUV in the 200 block of East Quincy Street. The driver reportedly had a paintball gun inside the vehicle, and the color of the paintballs in the vehicle matched the ones shot at the various locations in Riverside.

Vehicle break-ins

North Riverside police reported eight vehicle break-ins last week, all of them on the east side of the village.

Five of the incidents were reported on Feb. 25 — two in the 2200 block of Burr Oak Avenue, one in the 2300 block of Burr Oak Avenue, one in the 2300 block of Park Avenue and one in the 2300 block of Westover Avenue. Among the items stolen were loose change, an MP3 player, a digital camera, a GPS unit and sunglasses.

In addition, on Feb. 24 police received word that a Pioneer multimedia player was removed from an employee’s vehicle at Castle Buick, 7400 Cermak Road. On Feb. 25, a Bellwood woman reported that a laptop computer was stolen from her vehicle, which was parked in the lot at Goodwill, 1900 Harlem Ave. 

And on March 1, a Northlake woman reported that someone entered her unlocked vehicle in the lot at H.H. Gregg, 7250 Cermak Road, and removed two Nintendo DS game systems, which were hidden under the front seat.

Facebook deal

Samuel C. Morales, 21, of Chicago was charged with dealing marijuana by Brookfield police on Feb. 28 after a confidential informant agreed to buy some cannabis from him during a Facebook exchange that day.

Police say Morales, two females and a 16-year-old boy entered the parking lot of Tischler’s, 9118 Broadway Ave. The juvenile entered the informant’s car and exchanged the cannabis for $85 in marked bills.

As the juvenile exited the informant’s vehicle, he was arrested by police. All of the subjects were taken into custody. The females were not charged. The juvenile was charged with unlawful delivery of cannabis and delivery within 1,000 feet of a school and released to his father.

Morales was charged with the same offenses. He remains in Cook County Jail awaiting a March 5 court date. His bond was set at $10,000.

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, Feb. 24-March 2, 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