Bob Berlin & the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office's Top 10 Accomplishments of 2024
2024 proved to be an extremely busy year for public safety in DuPage County. Once again, we sat down with Bob to talk about some of his and the office’s proudest accomplishments in the last year. Here’s what we came up with, with the accomplishments listed in no particular order:
DAILY HERALD: Man gets 83 years in prison for sexual attack on 10-year-old girl
Teodoro Garcia-Lopez, 32 , formerly of Addison, was sentenced to eighty-three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for a 2022 home invasion and sexual assault of a ten-year-old girl. On August 30, 2024, a jury found the defendant guilty of three counts of Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault - Victim Under Thirteen (Class X Felony), two counts of Home Invasion (Class X Felony), two counts of Aggravated Battery (one Class 2 Felony and one Class 3 Felony) and one count of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse (Class 2 Felony).
“Each and every one of us have the right to feel safe in our home,” Berlin said. “Mr. Garcia-Lopez’s violent sexual attack on an innocent ten-year-old girl in her own home destroyed the safety and comfort a home provides, not just for the young victim, but for her family and had a chilling effect on the entire community. No one, particularly a young girl, should be subjected to such a horrific assault.”
SCHOOL SAFETY: DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office cracks down on firearms in schools.
In two separate cases, two juveniles were arrested, charged, and detained for bringing loaded guns to their respective schools:
In September, a Lombard High School student was arrested and detained for bringing a loaded handgun to school. The juvenile, a fourteen-year-old male, was charged with one count of Unlawful Use of a Weapon in a School (Class 3 Felony) and one count of Possession of a Firearm by a Minor (Class 4 Felony).
On September 10, 2024, at approximately 2:15 p.m., a student at Glenbard East High School notified a security officer that he found a loaded 9 mm handgun in a boys’ bathroom. Through the course of their investigation into the matter, Lombard police officers traced the gun to an address in Glendale Heights, later determined to be the juvenile’s home. The juvenile was interviewed and taken into custody a short time later.
In November, a sixteen-year-old male Hinsdale South High School student from Willowbrook was accused of bringing a loaded gun to school. The juvenile appeared at a detention hearing where he was initially ordered to be detained. He was charged with one count of Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon in Public – School (Class 3 Felony) and one count of Unlawful Possession of a Firearm – Under 18 (Class 4 Felony).
CARJACKERS FACE JUSTICE IN DUPAGE COUNTY: DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office Aggressively Prosecutes Vehicular Hijacking Cases
The Bob Berlin and the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office aggressively prosecuted vehicular hijacking cases, securing significant prison sentences for offenders in these cases:
A former Chicago man was sentenced to thirty years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for hijacking a woman’s car at gunpoint from her garage in late 2019. Martavious Robinson, who was a juvenile at the time of the offense, was transferred to adult court at the State’s request. On June 28, 2023, following a two-day trial and approximately four hours of deliberations, a jury found Robinson guilty of one count of Aggravated Vehicular Hijacking, a Class X Felony. Robinson’s co-defendants, Emanuel Embry and Daysean Washington-Davis have each previously entered a plea of guilty to one count of Aggravated Vehicular Hijacking in front of Judge Reidy, who sentenced each man to forty years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
A former Westmont teen was sentenced to twenty years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for shooting a woman in her leg and hijacking her car at gunpoint when he was fifteen years old. Mitch Crawford, 17 (d.o.b. 3/29/2006) appeared at his sentencing hearing after pleading guilty to one count of Aggravated Vehicular Hijacking, a Class X Felony, on February 2, 2024.
ILLEGAL FIREARM POSSESSION PROSECUTIONS: Bob Berlin Aggressively Prosecutes Illegal Possession of Fireams in DuPage County
Bob Berlin continues to crackdown on felons possessing guns illegally in DuPage County:
In unrelated incidents, two men who were both respectively found to be in possession of loaded guns at a Naperville recreation facility were ordered detained. Dijon Lane, 34, (d.o.b. 4/1/90) of the 2900 block of 140th Place, Blue Island, appeared in First Appearance Court charged with one count of Armed Habitual Criminal (Class X Felony), one count of Unlawful Use of a Weapon by a Felon (Class 3 Felony) and one count of Misdemeanor Unlawful Possession of Cannabis by a Driver. Tavell Jackson, 44 (d.o.b. 3/26/1980) of the 300 Block of 7th Avenue, Maywood, appeared in First Appearance Court charged with one count of Armed Habitual Criminal (Class X Felony), one count of Unlawful Use of a Weapon by a Felon (Class 3 Felony) and one count of Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance (Class 4 Felony).
Since August 1, 2023, there have been 23 gun-related arrests stemming from the Naperville Topgolf location, with the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s office prosecuting those cases.
WGN: 38-year sentence handed down to man who robbed suburban convenience store, gas station on same day while on parole
A man who robbed a convenience store and a gas station at gunpoint on the same day in 2021 was handed a 38-year prison in 2024. The defendant, 31-year-old Robert Howard, a former Chicago resident who was out on parole for two armed robberies out of Cook County, was handed the nearly four-decade sentence after entering a blind plea of guilty to two counts of armed robbery with a firearm in late July 2024. Prosecutors said the charges stemmed from two armed robberies that unfolded less than an hour apart on the same day.
COMBATING RETAIL THEFT: Bob Berlin’s Office Prosecutes Migrant Crime Wave In Oak Brook
Throughout 2024, the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office stood with the business community and enforced the law, prosecuting retail thefts throughout the county, highlighted by aggressive enforcement in Oak Brook at and around the mall there.
In January 2024, charges were filed against six migrants in two unrelated retail thefts that occurred in Oak Brook.
In February 2024, charges were filed against five Venezuelan migrants for allegedly stealing more than $2,000 worth of merchandise from two Oak Brook stores. Miguel Ortiz-Griman, 24 (d.o.b. 5/22/1999), Felix Garcia-Diaz, 25 (d.o.b. 1/4/1999), Daniel Fernandez-Rodriguez, 18 (d.o.b. 10/18/2005), Samuel Alvarez-Garcia, 25 (d.o.b. 10/31/1998) and Oswaldo Rivero-Herrera, 33 (d.o.b. 3/20/1990), all of Venezuela with no known permanent address, were each charged with one count of Burglary (Class 2 Felony) and one count of Retail Theft (Class 3 Felony).
FOX32: Homeless Man sentenced to 66 years for sexually assaulting woman on the Prairie path
A homeless man found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman near the Illinois Prairie Path in 2018 has been sentenced to sixty-six years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Robert Davison, 45 (d.o.b. 9/16/1979), appeared at his sentencing hearing in front of Judge Margaret O’Connell, who handed down the sentence. On January 25, 2024, following a three-day-long trial, a jury found Davison guilty of twelve counts of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Assault, a Class X Felony, and one count of Unlawful Restraint, a Class 4 Felony.
CBS NEWS: Suburban Chicago man sentenced to 58 years for home invasion, sexual assault of 92-year-old woman.
Anthony Lane, 55 (d.o.b. 6/6/1968) formerly of Glendale Heights was sentenced to fifty-eight years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for breaking into an elderly woman’s home and sexually assaulting her in November 2021. On January 10, 2024, following a three-day-long trial and approximately two hours of deliberations, a jury found Lane guilty of one count of Home Invasion (Class X Felony) and three counts of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Assault (Class X Felony). On December 6, 2021, Judge Ann Celine O’Hallaren Walsh handed down the sentence.
PATCH: Duo Dog Crew Joins DuPage County State's Attorney's Office
In September 2024, Crew, a Labrador retriever, joined the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office via Duo Dogs, Inc., a St. Louis-based organization that trains dogs to offer emotional support to children.
Crew, just 20 months old, took his oath of office with DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin and other employees standing by. He will be tasked with providing comfort to children who are victims of crimes or who have witnessed a crime.
FIGHT CRIME, INVEST IN KIDS: DuPage County State's Attorney Bob Berlin Nationally Recognized as 2024 Champion for Kids
In March 2024, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids honored DuPage County State’s Attorney Bob Berlin with the Organization’s 2024 Champion for Kids Award at its annual day at the Capitol event held in Springfield. Among other notable accomplishments, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids lauded Berlin for his years long support of solutions that steer kids away from crime and toward successful lives. Berlin, who sits on the Organization’s Illinois Executive Committee, was one of only six recipients nationwide of the 2024 Champion for Kids Award. Sean Noble, Illinois State Director for Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, presented the award to Berlin in front of law enforcement colleagues, legislators and fellow Fight Crime: Invest in Kids members at the Illinois Capitol Building.
BONUS 2024 ACHIEVEMENT: Bob Berlin Sworn In For Four More Years As DuPage County State's Attorney
On December 2, 2024, Bob Berlin and other DuPage County elected officials who appeared on the ballot in the November 5, 2024 General Election were sworn in for their new terms. Bob Berlin received 332,993 votes from DuPage County voters in the election. Bob made the following promise to voters following his swearing in:
I am truly honored that the voters of DuPage County have entrusted me to serve another term as State's Attorney. I assure you I will continue to enforce the law and hold criminals accountable, and use every available resource to keep the community safe and secure. My office will seek justice in every case and we will vigorously defend the rights of crime victims. DuPage County is a great place to live, work, and raise a family, and I remain committed to keeping it that way.
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