Man charged with robbery, home invasion of elderly couple on NW Side

Bond was set at $750,000 Monday for a man charged with robbing an elderly couple during a home invasion early Saturday in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood on the Northwest Side.

Christopher Perez, 23, faces two felony counts of home invasion with a dangerous weapon and misdemeanor counts of resisting or obstructing a peace officer and theft of lost or mislaid property, according to Chicago Police.

About 1:20 a.m. Saturday, Perez climbed through the window of an elderly couple’s home in the 5100 block of West Wellington, police said. He approached one of the residents, an 84-year-old man, and implied he had a weapon. The man and his 81-year-old wife handed over a checkbook, jewelry and wallet with $30 in cash before Perez ran away.

About 9:30 a.m. the same day, 25th District officers saw Perez acting suspiciously in the 4700 block of West Barry Avenue, police said. He ducked behind a car before tossing a black object to the ground.

The officers recovered the object, which was a black pouch containing several pieces of jewelry that had been taken in the home invasion, police said.

Perez, a Belmont Cragin resident, denied owning the jewelry and was arrested, police said. He resisted the officers’ efforts to put him in the patrol car, but was eventually brought under control.

He was next expected in court June 2.

Police did not say whether he is suspected of three similar robberies in the same neighborhood.

On Friday night, an 81-year-old man and a 77-year-old woman were assaulted during a home invasion and robbery in the same neighborhood. One or more male attackers broke into a home in the 5400 block of West Henderson, attacking the elderly residents and stealing a purse before running away.

Another robbery happened Tuesday night in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood. About 9:35 p.m., the robbers entered the home in the 4800 block of West Nelson and threatened to batter the victims while demanding their property, according to a community alert issued Friday by Chicago Police.

The first in the string of attacks happened May 19 in the Irving Park neighborhood. Someone entered a 78-year-old woman’s home about 1:15 p.m. in the 4100 block of North Avers and battered her, police said. She was taken to Saint Francis Hospital in Evanston in critical condition.