Sleeping Teen Wakes to Find Burglar Standing Over Her Bed

Published March 14, 2016.

Riverside, IL - A 17-year-old girl told Riverside police she woke up in the middle of the night to find a person standing over her bed.

The girl reported the burglary at the Riverside police station at 6:42 a.m. Feb. 25, a few hours after she'd found the person in her bedroom, because she'd been too afraid to call 911 right away, according to Riverside police.

The girl told police she woke up around 4 a.m. Feb. 25 to find a person wearing a black hoodie and glasses in her bedroom, standing over her bed. She screamed, and the burglar left the Kimbark Road home, and there was no physical contact, police reported.

The girl's parents were out of town the night of the burglary, and the door had been left unlocked.

A Riverside officer on routine patrol in the area noticed a suspicious-looking person at 4:27 a.m. leaving an apartment complex in the 0-100 block of Forest Avenue. The officer recognized the 17-year-old boy as a former Riverside resident, and the officer stopped him to ask if he was all right because he seemed "disordered," police reported. The boy told the officer he was on his way home to Forest View from his girlfriend's house in Riverside.

The police officer noticed the boy was carrying jewelry that looked expensive, and the boy said he'd bought the jewelry for his girlfriend. The officer photographed the items and made a case report with the intention of following up.

When police asked the girl who reported the burglary to look at a photo lineup, they included the boy's photo. She identified the boy as the person who was in her room, police reported.

Police arrested the boy in the 8000 block of Edgewater Street in North Riverside.

The boy gave a full confession, police reported, and he said he stole from the Kimbark Road home and went into the girl's bedroom to try to find more jewelry when she woke up. He was charged with felony residential burglary.

Police reported that after booking, the boy seemed to need medical attention, and he and his mother were taken to MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn for medical care.

“This early morning residential burglary, in which the offender went into a bedroom of a young female, is an extremely unusual occurrence for the Village of Riverside," said Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel in a statement. "However, the victim did not lock her doors. I want to stress that Riverside residents need to secure their property to prevent thefts so that individuals cannot just can walk into their homes ... This was also a case of excellent police work as the officer spotted a suspicious person early in the morning and completely documented that stop including taking photos which eventually led to the offender being arrested later that same day."