Man gets 15-year prison term for home invasion

A man was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison for a violent Glendale Heights home invasion aimed at kidnapping a bank employee.

William A. Hancock, 28, of Lempster, N.H., pleaded guilty to felony home invasion for his role in the July 17, 2006, break-in.

The ringleader, Gregory J. Martin Jr., 26, pleaded guilty Dec. 19 to home invasion, conspiracy and attempted escape. The former Woodridge man faces six to 45 years in prison at his sentencing April 18.

His wife, Larisa Martin, 30, formerly of Woodridge, received a six-year term for being the getaway driver.

No one was injured in the harrowing crime on Fullerton Avenue. The family, frightened from an attempted break-in two days earlier, slept together that night in a master bedroom.

A 28-year-old daughter awoke at about 5 a.m. and saw two men wearing wigs, surgical masks and latex gloves and toting pillows heading her way. One held a gun, the other a meat cleaver.

They kicked in the bedroom door and ordered the four family members to get on the bed and be quiet. But the daughter quickly dialed 911 on her cell phone. The intruders fled.

Prosecutor Helen Kapas-Erdman said the defendants planned more than a simple burglary. She said they planned to kidnap the female homeowner -- a senior employee at a Downers Grove bank who had keys -- and force her to help them burglarize the institution.

Days earlier, the woman told police she thought someone once followed her home and, on another occasion, tried to break into her home.

Police nabbed Gregory Martin the morning of the home invasion hiding on the Glendale Lakes Golf Course, which abuts the home.

Authorities said they recovered a loaded semiautomatic pistol, handcuffs, a stopwatch, a meat cleaver, two wigs, a surgical mask, gloves, rolls of gray duct tape and medical tape, and discarded clothing on the course.

DuPage Circuit Judge Michael Burke presided over the plea deal. Hancock, who authorities said was cooperative, will be eligible for parole after serving half the prison term.