Berwyn police are searching for a man who broke into a home in the 3600 block of South Wisconsin Avenue at about 5 p.m. April 17 while a teenage girl was home alone, police said.
The girl told police she heard the doorbell ring five times and, thinking it was a solicitor, did not answer the door. Moments later she heard glass break and ran to her bedroom to hide. The man fled the home after seeing the girl hiding.
Police described the man as Hispanic, about 38-years-old, bald, and about 5 feet 11 inches tall. He was wearing silver-mirrored sunglasses, a white T-shirt with navy blue sleeves, jeans, and a gold chain. He was also carrying a sweater or some other object in his arms.
The victim further told police the man was slender with a small, thin beard and an unusually large head shaped like an upside down pear.
North Riverside police later contacted the Berwyn Police Department to report a man fitting the description had dumped clothes in a residential neighborhood. Three North Riverside witnesses told police they saw a similiar-looking man run through their neighborhood carrying a backpack toward the rear of a home.
When the man reappeared, he was wearing a green T-shirt and no longer had the backpack. Two residents called the police. A dark T-shirt, sunglasses, black jacket, work gloves, and a blood-stained towel were found in a garbage can in the area, police said.
Officers recovered the items for possible DNA testing. Although witnesses were not able to provide a composite sketch of the suspect, several people said they would be able to identify him if found.
Berwyn police also are searching for a man who pried his way into a home in the 2400 block of South Highland Avenue at about 1 a.m. April 18, police said.
A girl who was alone in the house told police she heard the doorbell ring five times but did not answer it because she already was in bed. Shortly after that, she heard loud banging noises at the back door, and then a a man walked into her bedroom and turned on the light. The man fled when he saw her the girl.
She described the man as Hispanic, in his late 20s, about 5 feet 9 inches tall, about 180 pounds, with some short facial hair. He was wearing a black hoody, a dark baseball hat, black gloves, and appeared to have a fade hair cut on the sides.
Police Chief William Kushner said the department has no reason to believe the same man committed both crimes.
“We’re treating them as two separate, unrelated incidents,” Kushner said.
