WEST CHICAGO HOME INVADER GETS 20 YEARS

Believed home was that of estranged girlfriend

WHEATON – DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett announced today that Alejandro De La Salle, 30 (d.o.b. 7/26/1977), of West Chicago, was sentenced to 20 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for an early morning home invasion at a West Chicago residence.

Today’s sentence stems from allegations that in the early morning hours of October 9, 2006, De La Salle, armed with a pair of scissors, a roll of tape and a two-foot long cord, broke into what he believed to be the residence of a former girlfriend.  Once inside the home, De La Salle entered the bedroom of an eleven year-old girl he believed was his former girlfriend and attempted to tape her mouth shut.  When the girl woke up and screamed, De La Salle realized that he was not in his former girlfriend’s house and fled the scene.  West Chicago Police arrived at the residence shortly thereafter and immediately requested assistance from Warrenville Police K-9 Unit.  Within minutes Warrenville K-9 officers located De La Salle and took him into custody without incident.

“On October 9, 2006, in the middle of the night, this little girl woke up to a nightmare, an unknown, armed intruder in her bedroom,” remarked Birkett.  “Thankfully, her instinct to scream for help forced her attacker to flee before he could do any further harm.  And with Judge Burke’s sentence today, Mr. De La Salle will be behind bars, unable to claim any more late-night victims, for a very long time.”

On October 23, 2007, De La Salle was found guilty of twelve counts of Home Invasion, one count of Residential Burglary, two counts of Unlawful Restraint, two counts of Aggravated Unlawful Restraint and three counts of Criminal Trespassing to a Residence. 

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