Police Say Oak Lawn Man Caught Women Burglarizing His Home

are trying to determine if two Chicago women charged with burglary are also responsible for a rash of recent burglaries in the Acorn Glen and Eagle Ridge neighborhoods.

Police arrested the women after they were caught burglarizing a home on the 9500 block of South Moody in the middle of the day on Sept. 22, reports said.

Lydia Stephanie Mexicano and a 17-year-old juvenile accomplice, both of Chicago, were charged with one count each of felony burglary.

The homeowner told police that he came home to use the bathroom around 11:30 a.m. While in the bathroom, he heard a female voice, and he called out, “Who’s there?”

When he received no response, he went upstairs and noticed his son’s bedroom door closed, which he said was unusual. Police said when the homeowner tried to open the door, he was met with some resistance from the other side.

The homeowner was able to push the door open enough to see someone inside his son’s room holding a black bag, the report said. A woman standing behind the door told the homeowner that she and her accomplice lived at the residence, the report said. They had been dropped off by a friend who said they could stay at the house, according to the report.

Police said Mexicano took the man’s son’s gaming console out of the bag and set it down. The homeowner tried to block the women from leaving while he called 911. He was able to pin one of them against the wall when the juvenile grabbed an orange mallet out of her purse and raised it over her head, the report said.

The homeowner told police that he grabbed the mallet out of the 17-year-old's hand, when both women fled past him. They ran downstairs and fell when they reached the bottom of the stairs, police said.

According to the report, the homeowner ran outside in time to see Mexicano going back into his house. She told the homeowner that she may have broken her ankle and that she wasn’t going to run, the report said.

Police apprehended Mexicano at the house. Officers caught up to her accomplice at 95th Street and Moody Avenue, after police received a description of a female traveling on foot wearing a T-shirt with a picture of the Virgin Mary on the back.

Officers said the juvenile wanted to make a statement while they waited for the homeowner to be brought to the scene. According to the report, she told the cops that she was “peer pressured” into committing the burglary. She told police that Mexicano needed money to help support her child.

A neighbor told police that 30 minutes before the reported break-in, two women asked him for money while he was mowing his lawn. The neighbor was able to identify the juvenile.

Officers recovered several pieces of jewelry, watches, iPods, a camera, coins and two cell phones from the 17-year-old's purse, as well as a screwdriver, police said. Cops also found a Nintendo memory card in Mexicano’s pocket, which she admitted taking from the homeowner’s residence, the report said.

Police said both women broke through the screened window of the Moody Avenue house. Both had knocked and rang bells of homes before they found an empty house to burglarize, police said.

Mexicano and the juvenile denied involvement in the other home burglaries. Police said they located Mexicano’s car, parked two blocks away from the Moody Avenue residence, and did not find any property from the other break-ins.

Both women appeared in court the next day.