Inmate Who Fled Elmhurst Funeral Caught: Prosecutors

ELMHURST, IL — A Villa Park man convicted of gunrunning was caught over the weekend after cutting his electronic monitoring device and leaving a funeral in Elmhurst, authorities said.

Bruce Berrier, 23, was seen at a Jewel grocery store in Glendale Heights and taken into custody Saturday, according to a news release from the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office.

Over the state's objection, a DuPage County judge allowed Berrier to attend his brother's funeral at Arlington Cemetery in Elmhurst on Jan. 11. He had been in the DuPage County Jail, waiting to be transferred to a state prison. A half-hour before he was supposed to return to jail, Berrier tore off the monitor, which Elmhurst police found at the cemetery, prosecutors said.

“Thanks to the outstanding work of all the law enforcement agencies involved, Bruce Berrier’s alleged attempt to avoid the consequences of his previous criminal activity was short-lived,” State's Attorney Robert Berlin said in a statement.

In December, Berrier pleaded guilty to one count of gunrunning and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Berrier now faces the additional charges of indirect criminal contempt of court, escape, failure to return to a penal institution and criminal damage to government property.

In September 2020, an undercover officer contacted Berrier through Snapchat about buying a gun from him, police said. The officer bought a .22-caliber gun and multiple rounds of ammunition from Berrier, prosecutors said. On three more occasions over the next two months, the officer bought three more guns and ammunition from Berrier, police said.

The sales took place in Roselle and Hanover Park, police said. In December 2020, authorities executed a search warrant at Berrier's home, and he was taken into custody.