DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett and Naperville Police Chief David Dial announced that Miguel Pineda, 30 (d.o.b. 7/07/74) of 4341 W. Henderson in Chicago was arrested on March 4th on charges of Home Invasion in connection with a November 11, 2002 incident that occurred in Naperville.  Following the break-in at the home, the brutal beating of a 63 year old man and the theft of cash and several household items, the crime remained unsolved.  DNA evidence recovered at the scene later identified Pineda as a suspect, and with the assistance of the U.S. Marshal’s Office, Pineda was located on March 4th at a Chicago apartment and was taken into custody.

It is alleged that at approximately 5:00 p.m. on November 11, 2002, Pineda forcibly entered a single family home on the 300 block of River Bluff Court in Naperville.  He is further alleged to have pushed the 59 year old female resident to the floor and bound her ankles and eventually her hands.  Three additional persons then entered the home, and the four demanded the combination to the home’s safe.  When her 63 year old husband came home he was confronted by the intruders, dragged into a bedroom, beaten, and both his and his wife’s lives were threatened as they badgered him to reveal the combination to the safe.  After they got the combination, cash and various items were taken, and the intruders fled the home in the couple’s car.  Eventually the wife was able to break free, find and free her husband and then called 9-1-1.

In late December of 2004, DNA recovered from the scene of this crime identified Pineda as a suspect.  Charges of Home Invasion were approved by the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office and a warrant for Pineda’s arrest was authorized by Judge Perry Thompson, with bail being set at $100,000 full cash.  The suspect was located with the assistance of the U.S. Marshal’s Office, and Pineda was apprehended at an apartment in Chicago on March 4, 2005.  During the course of the arrest, the defendant’s leg was broken during a fall from an apartment window.

Pineda appeared in bond court on Saturday, March 5th where Judge John Kinsella ordered Pineda’s bail to stand at $100,000 full cash.

Home Invasion is a Class X felony, and if found guilty, the defendant faces a penalty of 6 to 30 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

In August of 2002, legislation proposed by State’s Attorney Birkett was signed into law, mandating that all convicted felons, regardless of the nature of their crimes, submit a DNA sample.  Consequently, the state’s data base was greatly expanded.  “This case is yet another example of the tremendous tool the DNA data base has become in solving crimes,” commented State’s Attorney Birkett.  “But for this legislation, this crime would’ve gone unsolved.”

State’s Attorney Birkett praised the Naperville Police Department for their outstanding investigation as well as the DuPage County Sheriff’s Crime Lab for their role in identifying this defendant.  The case remains under investigation while the remaining three suspects are sought by the Naperville Police.

Pineda is next scheduled to appear in court on March 28th at 9:00 a.m. in courtroom 4000 for arraignment.

Members of the public are reminded that a complaint contains only charges and is not proof of a defendant’s guilt.  A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the government’s burden to prove his or her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.