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Jack Mack, 23, of Belvidere, Ill., was charged with felony burglary after police say he illegally entered a home in the 8600 block of Nagle Avenue.
On Thursday, Sept. 22, around 2:30 p.m., Burbank police received a call of a suspicious person inside the Nagle Avenue residence. The caller supplied dispatchers with a description of two men; one inside the home and a second parked in a SUV out front.
“A neighbor saw Mack repeatedly knocking on the door, ringing the bell and looking in the windows,” Dudlo said. “She knew her neighbor wasn’t home at the time and called police when she saw him enter the residence.”
When a Burbank patrol officer arrived at the home, the SUV fled. The officer pursued the SUV, but the chase was terminated in the interest of public safety after the vehicle began driving erratically on westbound 87th Street, according to Dudlo.
Mack was gone from inside the home when additional Burbank units arrived at the scene but was quickly located. “He was found a block away on the porch of a house in the 8600 block of Natchez,” Dudlo said. “The witness ID’d him and he was taken into custody.”
A short time later, Bridgeview police found the unoccupied SUV in the parking lot of a health care center at 79th Street and Sayre Avenue.
According to Dudlo, while Burbank Division Chief Brian Bembenek was en-route to the health care center, he spotted a suspicious man walking east on 79th Street. After Bembenek arrived at the scene, it was determined the man he observed fit the description of the SUV driver.
Burbank officers located the man about a mile away and positively identified him as the driver of the SUV. The man was taken into custody but later released.
“Unfortunately the ASA (Assistant State’s Attorney) would not approve charges against the guy since he wasn’t inside the house and there were no proceeds found on him,” Dudlo said. “Despite only getting one suspect charged, we were able to identify the accomplice and pass this information on to area police departments. Hopefully, this information can be useful for other investigations in our neighboring communities.”
Mack appeared at the Leighton Criminal Courts Building where a Cook County judge set bail at $80,000. He is due back in court Sept. 30.
Dudlo said it’s extremely important for residents to call police when they see suspicious activity.
“The Burbank Police Department is grateful to all citizens who call and inform us of suspicious activity in their neighborhoods,” Dudlo said. “We always welcome help from the public.”
“This needs to be a community effort. When a citizen sees something suspicious, they need to say something. By saying something, we mean call the police and report the suspicious activity. That was certainly the case with this incident. An alert citizen — who knows her neighbor's schedule — called the police to report suspicious activity occurring at her neighbor's residence, knowing her neighbors were not at home. By the citizen immediately calling 911, it gave our officers the chance to respond to the residence and subsequently led to the arrest of the suspect," Dudlo said.