Oswego Man Wanted In Liquor Store Robberies Arrested In Kentucky

OSWEGO, IL — An Oswego man wanted in a brazen string of local liquor store robberies has turned up in southwest Kentucky, where he was arrested on separate charges. Now, Bruno Rendina — a former fugitive — faces five felony burglary and theft counts in Kendall County, Oswego Police said Friday.

Rendina, of the 200 block of Main Street in Oswego, has been charged in three liquor store robberies that took place in a three-week span starting in late August. That includes robberies on consecutive days last week, in which Rendina and an accomplice were allegedly caught on surveillance cameras stealing bottles of liquor from two Oswego stores.

The second of those thefts happened on Sept. 9, according to police. But by Sept. 11, Rendina had already made it Laurel County, Kentucky, where he was booked on a slew of other charges.

In Kentucky, 40-year-old Rendina was arrested and charged with receiving stolen property valued under $10,000, improper display of registration plates and reckless driving, among other lesser charges, according to the Laurel County Sheriff's Office. He is being held on $10,000 bail and has a court date scheduled for Friday.

Authorities in Laurel County have been made aware of the new charges and an arrest warrent out of Kendall County, said Oswego Police Chief Jeff Burgner.

"Our detectives haven't had an opportunity to dig in to how he got down there," Burgner said on Rendina's Kentucky charges.

On Tuesday, Aug. 19, Rendina allegedly walked into BJ's Wine & Spirits, 1154 Douglas Rd., at around 7 p.m. and stole liquor valued at under $300, according to Oswego Police.

At around 5 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 8, Rendina allegedly returned to BJ's Wine & Spirits with a woman and stole bottles of liquor, according to police. At 9:46 a.m. the following day, Rendina allegedly drove up to Oswego Food & Liquor, 4547 Route 71, and walked into the store with the same woman before stealing six bottles of alcohol, police said.

Rendina and his accomplice allegedly appeared in surveillance camera footage from all three incidents, acccording to the two stores, which posted the footage to Facebook. Rushil Thaker, owner of Oswego Food & Liquor, on Wednesday correctly identified the thief by name to Patch, saying the man was a previous customer and had shown up in surveillance footage from other nearby stores.

"He used to be an old customer, then he just disappeared.," Thaker said.

Rendina has disappeared before. In February 2017, Rendina was arrested in Oswego by U.S. Marshals, according to CBS Chicago. He was a fugitive at the time and was wanted in Union County, North Carolina, on charges of kidnapping and rape, Kendall County Sheriff's Office said at the time. Rendina has a fugitive for over a year before his 2017 arrest.

Oswego Police used the surveillance footage from the local liquor stores to identify Rendina as the suspect in all three incidents, according to the department. He was charged with two felony counts of burglary and three felony counts of retail theft, Oswego Police said.

An arrest warrant was issued by a Kendall County judge, and bond was set at $75,000, Oswego Police said.

The police department have not charged Rendina's alleged accomplice in at least two of the thefts. In a press release following the latest liquor store theft, Oswego Police described the accomplice as a woman standing 5-foot-5 and weighing 130 pounds. She was seen wearing a black-and-white sweatsuit.

In the last local theft, Rendina and the woman are seen on camera being driven to Oswego Food & Liquor by a white SUV, which police described Ford Explorer.