Elmhurst Man Wields Knife In Robbery: Cops

ELMHURST, IL — An Elmhurst man is accused of entering a house and demanding money or drugs from a woman last month, police said. A day later, he burglarized a restaurant and broke into a car, Elmhurst police said.

Robert S. Cairo, 20, who lives in the 100 block of East Grantley Avenue, faces charges of aggravated robbery, burglary and theft. Patch obtained the police report through a public record request.

Late the night of Oct. 17, Cairo knocked on the back sliding door of a house in the 300 block of South Scott Street and told a man that his brother owed him $350, according to the report. The man told Cairo that his brother was not home.

When the man left to get his mother, Cairo entered the house without being let in and stood in the kitchen with a knife in his hand, police said. The mother asked Cairo what he wanted. Cairo replied that her son owed him money, saying, "I want cash or Xanax," police said.

The woman told police that Cairo waved the knife back and forth, so she could see it. As a result, she said she felt intimidated and threatened, police said.

The woman went to her bedroom, returned and gave Cairo a baggie with Xanax pills, police said.

Police found Cairo at his father's house on Grantley. His father told police, "Please tell my son to be completely honest with you," the report said.

Asked whether he had ever sold drugs before, Cairo told police, "No, I would have no idea where to start with that," according to the report.

Cairo told police that the woman invited him into the house. He denied pulling his knife out from his belt.

He later admitted that he had sold drugs before, according to the report. And he said his knife has a latch that opens it and that it may have opened when he was at the woman's house, police said.

The woman reported the incident to police two days later. By that time, Cairo had been arrested on a charge of burglarizing Chick-fil-A, 235 S. Route 83.

The incident happened about 1 a.m. Oct. 18. Cairo is accused of shattering the glass of a door with a nearby steel patio chair. Nothing appeared to have been stolen. Cairo was found close by carrying electronics.

When an officer interviewed him, Cairo said he had bought an Xbox and TV from someone behind Portillo's restaurant, police said. He said he did not know the person, but had met him online.

According to the police report, Cairo later admitted to breaking into the restaurant because he was hungry and needed food. He also said he burglarized a car at a nearby apartment complex on Fellows Court, stealing the TV and Xbox, police said.