No Word On Darien Home Invasion Case

DARIEN, IL — Six months after a reported home invasion in Darien, local police are silent about the progress of the investigation. Recently, Darien Patch asked Police Chief Greg Thomas about the investigation's status, he said the detective handling it happened to be on the phone with an assistant state's attorney about the case.

The state's attorney's office, Thomas said, advised staying with the "status quo on public dissemination of information regarding the home invasion. So unfortunately, I have nothing for you on that topic."

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, police said.

According to a police news release at the time, 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 to law enforcement, and two people were detained by Woodridge police. The two were brought to the Darien Police Department, and a K-9 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.

At a City Council meeting in December, Chief Thomas said he understood the public's desire for information 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 council. "Unfortunately, there are rules I have to obey regarding release of information both because of the prosecution and integrity of the investigation."

Anyone with information is urged to call Darien police detectives at 630-971-3999.