$5M Bond For Man Charged With Home Invasion
Updated: 10:47 p.m. 3/18/11
SKOKIE, Ill. (STMW) - One of three men accused of tying up a man and a locking a child in a basement during a home invasion in Glencoe earlier this week was ordered held on $5 million bond on Friday.
The Cook County State's Attorney has approved aggravated kidnapping and home invasion charges, both serious Class X felonies under the Illinois Criminal Code, against Curtis Cobb, 38. Glencoe Police Chief Mike Volling said Cobb was an acquaintance of the victimized family.
A Cook County Circuit judge ordered him held on $5 million bail on Friday.
Glencoe Police investigators, led by Detective Mary Saikin, worked around the clock on the case Tuesday night, Volling said, and are on the move Friday "seeking information on other individuals in the Chicago area who may have knowledge of the incident."
Police say up to three masked gunmen burst into a big house on the first block of Crescent Drive at around noon Monday, and left around noon Tuesday with jewelry and a large amount of cash.
"That's a big problem in this case," Volling said. "We're not sure how many people we're looking for."
Cobb had told police that he was tied up during the drama. They said he also told them that he had picked up the homeowner's 6-year-old daughter at the Glencoe Park District's Takiff Center, while being watched by one of the gunmen. The child was then locked in the basement.
The home invasion was over with no injuries at around noon Tuesday, according to Volling, but neither Cobb nor the homeowner called police until 4:50 p.m.
"That was one of the things that didn't add up," Volling said.
The victim called a friend and her husband -- on a trip to Russia -- before calling police, Weiner said.
The husband knows Cobb, too, he added. He said the husband told her to call the police.
Cobb had once done carpentry at the home, Volling said.
Weiner said language difficulties have made the investigation especially confusing, and stories have changed, even that of the wife, a native speaker of Russian. Weiner said at one point she said she was tied up, and at another she said she was locked in a closet.
"We are actively pursuing all leads," Weiner said. "We're taking nothing at face value, while looking at all possibilities."
Neighbors who have seen squad cars in front of the house have worried over their own safety.
"If it happened next door to me, I'd be scared, too," Volling said. "But this is a very isolated incident. The community is not at risk.
One group of neighbors asked about pooling their money for security cameras to watch their homes, but Volling said Deputy Police Chief Al Kebby discouraged them.
"We don't have a band of armed gunmen running around our community," Volling said. "This was a targeted situation."
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