CHICAGO — Two men have been charged in connection with a series of burglaries targeting elderly people on the South and Southwest sides, police said.
Michael Rivera, 49, of the 6500 block of South Keating Avenue, and John Miller, of Hammond, Ind., were arrested Thursday after the two were caught committing a "ruse burglary" — a burglary targeting an elderly victim — in the city's Ashburn neighborhood.
About 10:45 a.m. Thursday, Rivera and Miller knocked on the door of an elderly woman's home in the 3700 block of West 87th Street, police said. Miller claimed to be a "public employee" and distracted the woman as Rivera went inside and took cash from the home.
Illinois State Police and CPD officers staking out the house and arrested Rivera and Miller, according to a police department statement.
A joint investigation linked the pair to three other similar burglaries in the Mt. Greenwood and Chicago Lawn neighborhoods, police said.
Miller was charged with two felony counts of residential burglary and one felony count of impersonation of a public employee. Police charged Rivera with two counts of residential burglary and three counts of impersonation of a public employee.
Rivera and Miller were expected to appear in bond court Friday, police said.
