Local

Juvenile Burglary Suspect Arrested In Thorn Creek Neighborhood


Park Forest, IL–(ENEWSPF)– Park Forest police arrested a teenage suspect in a residential burglary and attempted residential burglaries in the Thorn Creek subdivision last Thursday. The arrest was considered serious enough for police to issue a Safety Alert reminding residents to lock their doors.

Police responded to the first block of Woodland Glen on April 24 to investigate when a neighbor called to report a suspicious person in a back yard. Officer Sweitzer discovered a 16-year-old juvenile standing behind a swing on the back patio. Sweitzer saw a clawed garden tool sticking out of the juvenile’s pocket. He also noticed that the window of the back door had been broken out and there was glass on the ground. The juvenile was taken into custody.

According to police, once at the police station the juvenile was advised of his Miranda rights. He admitted breaking the window of the residence on Woodland Glen, according to police, with the intention of entering the house to look for cash. He further told police that he broke into another house on Woodland Glen where he found the rear sliding glass door unlocked, according to police. When he could find no cash in this house, he allegedly took a flat-screen television, according to police. He told police the television was in his closet at home. The juvenile’s mother signed a form giving police permission to search the juvenile’s room where police found the television in his closet.

He also reported that he found a sliding glass door unlocked at a house on Braeburn. He began to open this door, but a neighbor arrived home and he ran into the woods, according to police.

The juvenile was arrested on April 24 and charged with one count of residential burglary and two counts of attempted residential burglary.

Officer LaTara Chaney warns residents that there are three necessary elements to a crime: target, desire and opportunity.

"Just by removing one of these elements, a crime can be averted," Chaney says in the Safety Alert distributed to residents in the Thorn Creek subdivision. "Leaving doors and windows unlocked in this incident provided the opportunity for the suspect to commit the crime. The neighbor being proactive and contacting the police about a suspicious person removed the opportunity, averting the crime, and assisted the police in the capture of the suspect."

"We hope that this community can continue to be proactive by watching each other’s homes, contacting the police regarding criminal activity, and possibly starting a Neighborhood Watch," Chaney says.

Residents are urged to contact Officer Chaney at 708-748-9536 for additional information regarding the Safety Alert or any other questions they might have.


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