A 25-year-old Chicago man faces home invasion and aggravated kidnapping charges after he allegedly entered his ex-girlfriend’s North Riverside home, forced her into his car and drove away leaving her 4-year-old daughter behind on April 29 at about 5:15 a.m.
Brandon Weatherly remains in custody without bond at Cook County Jail awaiting trial. In addition to the home invasion and kidnapping charges, both of which are Class X felonies punishable by between six and 30 years in prison if convicted, Weatherly was charged with aggravated battery/strangulation and aggravated unlawful restraint.
According to the police report, Weatherly entered the woman’s 14th Avenue residence where a verbal altercation started. Another man inside the home attempted to intervene, but Weatherly reportedly threatened to shoot him and the allegedly dragged his former girlfriend down the stairs, out of the house and into his vehicle, where he placed her in the rear driver’s compartment and activated the child lock on the door.
They drove down 17th Avenue to near I-290 where Weatherly reportedly continued arguing with the woman before striking her in the face and choking her. The woman apparently convinced Weatherly they needed to go back and get her child, who was asleep at the house.
When they returned, police were waiting for them and took Weatherly into custody at gunpoint near 15th Avenue and Cermak Road. Police reported observing bruising around the woman’s neck.
Brookfield garage burglaries
Brookfield police responded to reports of four garage burglaries last week, all appearing to have been committed overnight on April 25-26 on the west end of the village.
Two men were charged by Chicago police with possession of a stolen motor vehicle after they were reportedly found inside a 2019 Nissan Kick that was stolen around 2:50 a.m. from the garage of a home in the 4200 block of Madison Avenue.
The victim was alerted to the burglary via a phone notification and contacted his wife, who called police. The car was gone by the time police arrived, but it was located at 11:55 p.m. on April 26 in Chicago.
Two of the three other garage burglaries happened in the 3800 block of Harrison Avenue, while the fourth reportedly happened between April 21 and April 28 in the 3700 block of Morton Avenue.
Power tools and hand tools were stolen in those incidents.
Car stolen from dealership recovered
Police in Magnolia, Texas, near Houston, called North Riverside police on April 25 to report that a vehicle that had been fraudulently purchased from Zeigler Ford back in January had been located there.
Residential burglary
North Riverside police responded to a residence in the 2200 block of 19th Avenue on April 27 after the homeowner called to report that someone had forced open the front door and removed several items.
The burglary happened between 3 and 10 p.m. Among the items taken were a Samsung TV, Panasonic laptop, Yamaha amplifier, Sony DVD system, and Asus router and $600 in cash.
Aggravated speeding
North Riverside police charged a 16-year-old boy with aggravated speeding, reckless driving and driving without a license after he allegedly sped away from officers who responded to the parking lot near Round One at the North Riverside Park Mall, 7501 Cermak Road, on April 26 at about 3:50 p.m. for a report of a large fight involving about 30 people.
When police arrived, they reported observing 15 people running toward four vehicles, all of which sped south through the parking lot at around 67 mph before exiting the shopping center property.
Police reported observing one of the vehicles pull into the Best Buy parking lot where the driver apparently tried to conceal his vehicle behind a large truck. Police took him into custody without incident. The boy reportedly told police there was no fight and that the people were gathered in the parking lot of a music video shoot.
Two other vehicles that fled the scene were entered into the police computer database as wanted in connection with aggravated fleeing/eluding.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, April 24-30, 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
