Suspect charged with eight counts of burglary to motor vehicle
By Dee Longfellow
For The Elmhurst Independent
Early last week, the Independent caught up to Elmhurst Police Chief Michael Ruth who reported that there had been a break in the case of several car burglaries and thefts that had been going on for past three months in south Elmhurst. One way that you could prevent yourself from becoming a victim of car theft is to lock your vehicle up in your garage. At this stage, if you know that your garage door needs a bit of a repair, it wouldn’t hurt to check out companies like Tip Top Garage Doors – Nashville (if you live in and around this area of Nashville) in the hopes of getting this all sorted. You’d rather know that you did your part to keep your car safe than did nothing at all. So regardless of whether you need to get on top of the safety aspect of your garage or use garage floor mats to protect the condition of your flooring, then this is an indication of how important having a garage is for any car owner.
“After the DuPage Sheriff’s Department arrested someone in the [Yorkfield] unincorporated area, we got involved in the investigation because many of the details were similar to other recent incidents here in Elmhurst,” Ruth told The Independent in an exclusive interview.
On Thursday, Jan. 12, Elmhurst officers responded to a call from a resident on the 800 block of So. Linden Avenue, who spotted a male subject inside their garage. The suspect fled and officers were unable to detain him, Ruth said. There had been other reports of burglaries to unlocked vehicles in the area that were already under investigation.
“When we learned about the arrest of the DuPage Sheriff’s office, we looked into the details,” he said. “The circumstances matched those we had been seeing in the south Elmhurst area over the recent months [of November, December and January].”
The offender was identified as Darius Anthony, 23, of the 5800 block of Prospect Ave. in Berkeley.
Elmhurst detectives have recovered several items of burglary and theft proceeds that have not yet been associated with any reported vehicle burglaries. Residents are encouraged to contact the Elmhurst Police Department to document any burglaries or thefts which may have been previously unreported.
“As always, we strongly encourage residents to remove valuables from their parked cars and keep their unattended vehicles locked to prevent theft,” Ruth said.
Anthony has been charged with eight counts of burglary for incidents stemming from the joint investigation. He is currently being held at the DuPage County Jail on a $10,000 bond.
