4 charged in burglary at Westmont car dealership
Three men and a juvenile have been charged after a burglary at a car dealership in suburban Westmont.
WESTMONT, Ill. – A juvenile charged with burglary and assaulting a police officer at a suburban BMW dealership last December was found guilty on all counts Wednesday.
DuPage County Judge Anthony Coco found the juvenile guilty after a two-day bench trial on the following charges: two counts of armed violence, one count of burglary, one count of possession of a stolen motor vehicle, one count of aggravated assault with a motor vehicle and one count of aggravated assault on a police officer.
The cases against the juvenile’s co-defendants, Angel Martin, 23, of Dolton, Semaje Wheeler, 18, of Chicago and Brian Garrett, 19 of Chicago, are still pending.
At about 4:27 a.m. on Dec. 31, Westmont police officers received information about a burglary in progress at Laurel BMW located on Ogden Avenue.
Two officers responded to the dealership, where they encountered two individuals, later identified as the juvenile and Martin, exiting the showroom and entering a white Acura with two other occupants, later identified as Wheeler and Garrett, authorities said.
After arriving at the dealership, the juvenile and Martin were allegedly armed with a pry bar and attempted to enter the building on the east side, but were unsuccessful.
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The two then allegedly joined Wheeler and Garrett in the Acura and drove to the west side of the building.
They exited the vehicle again and allegedly attempted to enter the building with the pry bar.
Prosecutors said that Martin eventually grabbed a landscaping rock and threw it through a pane of glass in the garage bay door.
The juvenile and Martin then allegedly entered through the broken window.
Once alerted to the arrival of police, prosecutors say the two exited the building and entered the Acura to flee.
Officers blocked the driveway with their squad car, and exited the squad car. As the Acura attempted to flee, the officers drew their weapons and ordered the offenders to stop and exit the car, prosecutors said.
The defendants still attempted to flee in the Acura, which was allegedly driven by the juvenile, by driving directly at one of the uniformed officers.
At that time, the officer discharged his weapon, striking the juvenile in the chest and grazing Martin — who was sitting in the front passenger seat, prosecutors said.
As the vehicle approached, the officer ran out of the path of the vehicle and used his free hand to push the vehicle to avoid injury.
The vehicle then allegedly fled east on Ogden Avenue to northbound IL-83 near 22nd Street in Oak Brook, prosecutors said.
The vehicle crashed into a ditch, and the four suspects fled on foot. They were apprehended a short time later.
The juvenile was taken to a hospital for medical attention, and remained there until he was discharged into the custody of authorities.
During the investigation, authorities learned that the Acura had been stolen on Dec. 21, 2021, out of Lake County.
As officers processed the scene, they located three firearms inside the Acura; a Glock 23 40 caliber with an extended magazine, a Poly 80 gun with a round in the chamber and a Glock 17 9mm with a fully loaded 24-round magazine.
Additionally, officers found a Glock 19 with an extended magazine just outside the Acura near the driver’s side door, prosecutors said.
Three of the firearms had switches, which could render the firearms fully automatic.
Officers also located a 50-round drum magazine that was nearly full, 28 key fobs for various vehicles and two pry bars inside the car.