Teen Charged In Lakeview Home Invasion
UPDATED 12/15/10 - 2:36 p.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A South Side teen has been charged with an Oct. 1 home in invasion in the Lakeview neighborhood, in three people were tied out and one of them was struck in the face.
Mathew Clark, 19, of the 5800 block of South Peoria Street, was charged in the incident in the 1300 block of West Barry Avenue, police said.
Clark is charged with armed robbery with a firearm, three counts of home invasion with a firearm, two counts of aggravated unlawful restraint, according to police News Affairs.
He was ordered held on $450,000 bond on Wednesday when he appeared in court after a DNA hit led to charges against him in a Lake View neighborhood home invasion. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Dec. 20 in North Felony Court (Br. 42), Cook County State's Attorney's office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton said.
Clark was arrested Monday afternoon at his home after evidence from Clark matched evidence in the Combined DNA Index System, known as CODIS, police said.
It was not immediately learned if police are searching for anybody else in the case.
Shortly after the incident, police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro said the robber entered the residence through an unlocked window and fled with electronics.
The victims told police they heard a noise coming from the front room, and when the man went to investigate, he saw a suspect in his living room.
The suspect pointed a gun at him and asked if they had any rope. The victim replied no, but said he did have tape and went to get it in from a kitchen drawer.
The suspect told the woman not to look at him and ordered the male victim to tie up the woman's hands. After her hands were tied, the suspect approached him from behind, grabbed the woman's buttocks and attempted to tie up the male victim's hand with the tape but they struggled and the suspect's gun became dislodged, according to the report.
The woman was somehow able to hit the suspect with a chair, the male victim hit him with the heat register cover, and at some point the suspect was also hit in the face with the gun, according to the report.
The man asked the assailant: "Are you going to get out of here?" and he allegedly responded, "Yeah,'' before fleeing the home through the back door, the report said.
The robbers tied up the two men and woman. One of the men was struck in the face and suffered minor abrasions, police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro said at the time.
The victims lost cell phones, computers, and a 42-inch plasma screen TV.
On Oct. 7, police also issued an alert warning North Side residents of similar home invasions where burglars enter through unlocked windows.
The home invasions happened in the Near North, Belmont and Town Hall police districts. Altogether, the three districts cover an area bounded by Lawrence Avenue on the north, the Chicago River's main branch on the south, the river's north branch on the west and Lake Michigan on the east.
