Justin Cortes (law enforcement photo).
Rolling Meadows police say that about 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday June 28, 2016 a group posed as a church group asking for donations at the front door of a home on Cardinal Drive in Rolling Meadows. After being greeted at the front door, they allegedly forced their way into the house, knocked the woman to the floor, demanded money, and took items from her house. They fled in a vehicle that was not described by police.
CORRECTION: Earlier it was reported that a Cook County prisoner transport bus driver discovered the suspects’ vehicle, but a Streamwood Police prisoner transport van driver put “the eye” on the vehicle.
A Streamwood Police prisoner transport van driver in the area matched the description of the vehicle and/or the suspects described inside the vehicle, which were believed to be connected to the home invasion and robbery. Additionally, the area — as usual — had a large presence of police vehicles in the area because the victim’s home is only 3,800 feet from the front driveway of the Cook County Rolling Meadows Courthouse. There are usually 15-30 police cars from area police agencies at the courthouse or on the way to the courthouse for court dates or other court duties at that time of day.
A chase developed from Rolling Meadows to Schaumburg, where the suspects’ vehicle crashed into a tree after exiting southbound Route 53 to Higgin Road. Some or all of the suspects then fled north on foot through the Streets of Woodfield parking lot and were captured near Dick’s Sporting Goods, 601 North Martingale Road. Schaumburg police and Streamwood police were also involved in the chase that ended near Streets of Woodfield.
Three of the suspects in the group are men, and have been charged with Home Invasion/Armed/Force charges on $1 million bond or no bond. They were booked today and remain in Cook County jail.
A fourth suspect is a woman, who was charged with Aggravated Fleeing and Eluding from Police, and was held on $200,000 bond. She also remains in Cook County jail.
A fifth person with the group, a 24-year-old woman, was detained and released without charges.
Justin Cortes, age 20, a male/black, 5’11” 150 LBS of Chicago was charged with Aggravated DUI and possibly Home Invasion charge. Court documents are possibly in error showing two charges for Aggravated DUI with no bond. His next court date is July 1, 2016.
Robert Cutler, 31, a male/white, 5’9″ 188 LBS of Hoffman Estates was charged with Home Invasion/Armed/Force and held on $1 million bond. His next court date is July 21, 2016.
Vladimir Georges, age 21, male/black, 6’1″ 185 LBS of Palatine was charged with Home Invasion/Armed/Force and held on $1 million bond. His next court date is July 21, 2016.
Sarah Wendy, age 22, 5’4″ 115 LBS of Glenview was charged with Aggravated Fleeing and Eluding from Police, and was held on $200,000 bond. Her next court date is July 21, 2016.
The fifth person — the woman who was released and not charged — was not named by police.
IMPORTANT ALERT …
Cardinal Note: As of June 5, 2013 — up to and including the date of this article — police incidents related to the above police agency are not reported in real time or within a prompt time period. Police protecting their realm of investigation and police activity, have chosen to use secret military-grade encrypted radios to withhold their police communications, which were previously open to the public and news media via monitoring of public safety scanning radios — with no known negative results locally.
The delayed knowledge or entirely blacked out knowledge resulting from encrypted police communications may protect certain police operations and investigations, but it also puts the public at risk in situations such as when armed and dangerous offenders are at large and when other similar situations occur, such as when desperate offenders of property crimes are eluding police. In other cases, the delayed or blacked out information inhibits or prohibits the possibility of the public providing early witness accounts before a criminal trail goes cold. Citizens are much more likely to recognize or recall suspicious or criminal activity if they are aware of the criminal incident within minutes or hours of its occurrence. The most serious incident involving dire results would be a trail that is allowed to go cold in the case of child abduction.
The lack of real time information from public police dispatch also weakens an effective neighborhood watch program mostly working to prevent property loss, but also working to prevent possible violent crimes.
Lack of real time information from police dispatch also delays public awareness or eliminates public awareness of general hazards and traffic or other situations in everyday living in an otherwise economically thriving community.
Police have alternate ways to transmit tactical, operational or investigative information, while still keeping their main public dispatch channels open for the best balance of public safety and police safety.
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Robert Cutler (law enforcement photo).
Vladimir Georges (law enforcement photo).
Sarah Wendy (law enforcement photo).