Aurora, Illinois

From the March 21, 2007 Chicago Tribune:

Police in west suburban Aurora are investigating a home invasion this morning in which a homeowner shot at and possibly wounded an intruder, who then fled the scene.

The incident began before 9 a.m. when a young man in a dark hooded sweat shirt forced his way into a two-story single-family home on the 900 block of Zenner Avenue on the city's northeast side.

The 53-year-old unidentified homeowner, who had been awakened earlier by the repeated ringing of his doorbell, answered the door and saw the suspect walking away, police said. The suspect then allegedly walked back to the house and began kicking the front door.

The homeowner went to his bedroom, called 911 and retrieved a small-caliber handgun, police said. The resident heard the suspect enter the home, and he confronted him in the hall outside the bedroom.

The homeowner fired two shots at the man from about 10 feet away, possibly hitting the intruder, who fled the house, police said.

From the SuburbanChicagoNews.com of April 26, 2007

Radio report, overheard conversation lead to burglary charges

A 20-year-old Aurora man has been charged with burglary after an alert citizen put together a conversation he overheard in a hospital emergency room with a news story he heard on the radio.

Police say suspect Daniel Cerda of the 900 block of Rural Street was shot after breaking into a home on the East Side of Aurora on March 21.

According to police, the homeowner had grabbed a gun and called 911 when he heard Cerda at his door. When Cerda confronted him in a hallway, the homeowner fired two shots. Cerda ran away, but after processing the crime scene, police believed the intruder had been shot.

The break in the case came later that afternoon when police received a call from a person who had been in an emergency room at a Chicago hospital and overheard a conversation between Chicago officers and a man who was being treated for gunshot wounds. The man at the hospital heard officers telling the shooting victim — who said he was from Aurora — that his story didn’t make sense. While the witness was driving home, he heard a news story on the radio about shots being fired in an Aurora home invasion. The man called Aurora police and they started an investigation with Chicago police and the hospital.

Cerda was finally located Tuesday, near Liberty Street and Valley Court in Aurora. He had been treated and released at a hospital in Chicago for non-life threatening wounds. Police say further charges are possible.