Man arrested in brutal Elgin home invasion

Elgin police have arrested one man in connection with an Aug. 22 home invasion in which the homeowner was pistol whipped, children were bound and gagged and his wife jumped from a second-floor bathroom window to alert police.

Police said the five people who broke into the home between 11:10 and 11:24 p.m. that Friday night used duct tape to bind the hands and feet and cover the eyes and mouths of three children - ages 8, 6 and 5 - and a 63-year-old woman.

Two gold rings with diamonds, gold hoop earrings, a wristwatch and a gold and diamond tennis bracelet were stolen, homeowners told police.

Donell J. Lyle, 22, of 1055 Hunter Drive, Elgin, was charged in court Wednesday with two felony counts of home invasion and one felony count of armed robbery, police said.

Police said the five intruders, including one with a handgun, entered the home by kicking in the laundry room door of a home in the 3600 block of Old Bridge Lane in Elgin's Highland Woods subdivision.

The 44-year-old homeowner realized what was happening, grabbed a baseball bat and began swinging it at the offenders.

Lyle, who police said was carrying a loaded 9 mm handgun, struck the man with the baseball bat twice, causing a six-inch cut to the top of his head.

Meantime, his wife jumped 14 feet from the window of a second-floor bathroom and ran to a neighbor's home where police were called.

The only child in the home who was not bound was a 2-year-old, police said.

When police arrested Lyle this week, police said he gave them details of the home invasion that only someone who was there would have known.

Lyle told police that he and the four others were there to rob the house and "steal anything they could sell on the street," police said.

Lyle's bond was set at $50,000 and he was sent to the Kane County jail Thursday morning.

Anyone with information on the case should call the detective division of the Elgin Police Department at (847) 289-2600.