NEWS RELEASE

RIVERSIDE POLICE DEPARTMENT 31 Riverside Road, Riverside, IL 60546

14 April 2014
Contact:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Chief Tom Weitzel
tweitzel@riverside.il.us

708.447.2127

Follow RPD on Twitter @pdriverside

RIVERSIDE POLICE ARREST BURGLARY SUSPECT FROM ST MARYS SCHOOL INCIDENT

Same subject arrested by Riverside Police in 2006 for breaking into church and stealing donation box

On Friday, April 11, 2014 at 2:00 p.m., the Riverside Police Department along with the WEDGE gang and drug task force took a suspect into custody for burglary at St. Marys School, 97 Herrick Road in Riverside. On March 19, 2014, the suspect, Anthony Panosh, 31 of Lyons, entered St. Marys School after hours (7:00 PM) with the intent to commit theft. In the March 19 incident, Mr. Panosh was confronted by a custodian in the school when he found him wandering the halls. When the custodian told him to leave, the defendant walked out of the school and got onto a BMX bicycle and rode around to the back of the building and entered through another door a second time. Mr. Panosh then went through boxes inside the school as well as a classroom and was confronted again by a custodian who for the second time ordered him to leave the building. Police were not contacted initially when the incident took place. Once Riverside Police were notified, officers interviewed the witnesses and were able to determine that the defendant was last seen traveling through a hole in the fence behind the church property and Riverside Foods grocery store located on East Burlington. Investigators were able to obtain video surveillance from an area business and when one of the officers viewed the video, he recognized the suspect from a previous arrest in 2006. The suspect was identified by a custodian as the subject who entered the school on March 19, 2014. Riverside Police Department along with the WEDGE gang and drug task force had been searching for Mr. Panosh over the last month as he had not been seen at his current address. On Friday, April 11, 2014, Riverside Police and the WEDGE gang and drug task force located the suspect outside of his grandfathers house in the 2200 block of Gunderson Avenue, Berwyn. The suspect was taken into custody at that time without incident. Once in police custody, the defendant gave a written confession stating that he did, in fact, enter the school on March 19, 2014 looking to steal whatever he could find to support a heroin drug habit.

It was learned during investigation that Mr. Panosh had been arrested by the Riverside Police Department on February 11, 2006. In that incident at 1:56 p.m., the Riverside Police Department received a call of a subject who broke into the church and was stealing from the money collection box that was affixed to the rear church wall. When officers arrived, they found the subject fleeing from the church and chased him finally taking him into custody on a BMX type bike at Burlington and Delapaline Road. Coincidentally, he was riding a BMX type bike when he committed the current burglaries to the Church in 2014. When arrested in 2006, Mr. Panosh was charged with disorderly conduct and criminal trespass to land. At that point, he was also wanted on a bond for a fugitive warrant issued from Berwyn PD for criminal trespass to property. Mr. Panosh had also been arrested by Riverside PD in 2012 when he was found sleeping in a basement storage room at 22 East Avenue. In that incident, police found needles and drug paraphernalia next to him and he was charged with criminal trespass and possession of drug paraphernalia. Additionally, Mr. Panosh has been arrested by Berwyn, Brookfield, and Lyons Police Departments for breaking into churches and/or schools in the past. Mr. Panoshs criminal history includes 30 prior arrests with 11 convictions including assault, invasion of privacy, dangerous drugs, theft, and traffic offenses. Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel stated, I am extremely grateful that one of my officers recognized Mr. Panosh from a previous arrest he made in 2006 and that we were able to obtain video surveillance from a Riverside downtown business that had an outside video camera. Without a doubt, Mr. Panosh targets schools and churches for burglary and theft to support his heroin addiction. It is fortunate that he chose to burglarize the school at 7:00 p.m. when classes were not in session and no children were present. Riverside Police have made suggestions to St. Marys School staff on how to increase perimeter security for the school both during school hours and at nighttime when the custodial staff is on the premises. Mr. Panosh is currently being held in custody in the Cook County Department of Corrections on a $25,000.00 bond. Arrested and charged with one count of felony burglary is, Anthony J. Panosh, 31 of the 4500 block of Pulaski in Lyons.

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Members of the public are reminded that this arrest and complaint contains only charges and is not proof of the defendants g uilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the governments burden to prove his or her gui lt beyond a reasonable doubt.