Darien Home Invasion 'Frustrating And Scary' For Residents: Chief

DARIEN, IL — A home invasion in Darien last month was "frustrating and scary to a lot of people," Police Chief Greg Thomas acknowledged this week. But he said the police department was limited in what it could say about the case.

"A lot of people rightfully want to have a lot of answers and not feel any kind of fear from the situation," Thomas told the City Council at its meeting Monday. "Unfortunately, there are rules I have to obey regarding release of information both because of the prosecution and integrity of the investigation."

Thomas said the police would release more information once the case is resolved.

"It will be discussed at the appropriate time, not in the middle of an investigation. My apologies for that," the chief said. "As much as you like to be transparent, you can't talk about evidence that is being processed because offenders would know about the status of the investigation."

The home invasion happened about 10 a.m. Nov. 26 in the 1100 block of Belair Drive, police said. Officers took custody of two "persons of interest" in connection with the incident, but they were released. Thomas has declined to reveal why they were let go.

According to a police news release last month, a woman in her 20s was at home when she heard someone knocking on the door. She looked out and saw several people wearing construction-type vests. People said the woman called her mother to check if she was expecting anyone. Then several masked people entered the house through a door that might have been unlocked and then held the woman at gunpoint, police said in the release.

The woman's mother, who was unaware of what was happening, called neighbors, who went to check on the woman, the release said. When the neighbors rang the doorbell, the woman was ordered to answer the door and tell the neighbors everything was fine.

But one of the neighbors noticed someone in the background holding a gun, so the neighbor pulled the woman out of the house and ran back to the neighbor's house, the release said. They called police.

Darien police issued a description of the suspects, and two people were detained by Woodridge police. The two were brought to the Darien Police Department, and a K9 unit searched the area, finding gloves, items of clothing and a handgun nearby, according to police.

"This appears to be an isolated incident, and there is no further related danger to the community," police said in the news release.

Anyone with information or video in connection with the case is urged to call Darien police detectives at 630-971-3999.