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Mount Prospect mom relates harrowing experience of break-in

Bonnie Bridges was 8 miles from her Mount Prospect house when her home-alone 16-year-old daughter called about a stranger knocking persistently on their front door.

Bridges told her daughter not to open the door, then used a cellphone app to turn on the "Canary" camera mounted on her home entertainment center. She had installed the camera - showing a view of the living room facing the front door - to monitor her children if they were to misbehave.

Then, the unthinkable happened. The stranger kicked open the front door.

"That's when I stopped watching and called 911," said Bridges, and her daughter locked herself in an upstairs bedroom and also called police. "We were both calm."

Bridges said she knew how important it was to give information clearly to the dispatchers.

"And then, I was in fear of what I was going to come home to," she said.

What transpired in the next several minutes seemed like an eternity, Bridges said.

When she got home, she found six squad cars parked near her front yard. Officers responded at 12:01 p.m.

The intruder's July 23 break-in and getaway were captured on the surveillance video that Bridges played back for the officers.

Police are now seeking the public's help identifying the man who broke into the house on the 300 block of North William Street by releasing the video at https://youtu.be/ckxTJSc6LUY. Investigators describe the intruder as a white male, 55 to 65 years old, with white hair and wearing a black baseball cap, sunglasses, black T-shirt, black shorts and black shoes.

Bridges' daughter told officers she heard knocking at the front door just before noon. Looking down the stairs, she saw a man she didn't know peering into the front-door window. After knocking multiple times, the man forced open the door and the girl ran into a bedroom and locked the door, police said.

The intruder went up the stairs and attempted to open the first door he came to - the room where the girl had locked herself inside.

Bridges said her daughter screamed "bloody murder," then the man ran through the front door and fled north in a car. The girl had the presence of mind to go down the stairs after the man had left the house to get a description of the car - a mid-sized silver sedan, Bridges said.

A day later, the family had a full security system installed in the house.

Bridges said her advice to everyone now is to call 911 if a suspicious stranger comes knocking.

Anyone who recognizes the man or who has information about the crime is asked to call the Mount Prospect Police Department's Investigations Section at (847) 870-5654.

Anonymous tips can be made to Crime Stoppers of Mount Prospect by calling (847) 590-7867 or texting MPPD and the tip to 274637. Tips made through Crime Stoppers of Mount Prospect that lead to the arrest and prosecution of the offender could be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000.

Mount Prospect police are asking for the public's help in identifying a man who broke into a house July 23 on the 300 block of North William Street. Courtesy of Mount Prospect Police Department
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