Barrington Hills president warns criminals

Barrington Hills President Robert Abboud has a message for opportunistic criminals looking to prey upon the northwest suburban community.

Don't.

Commenting on the home invasion and armed robbery that occurred Friday on Brinker Road - Barrington Hills' second in four months, Abboud said the village and its police force remain vigilant in their efforts to protect residents.

"We have 1,500 homes and we do 1,500 house checks a month," Abboud said Saturday. He declined to discuss the ongoing investigation, but did say police have notified their residents appropriately.

"If you come into Barrington Hills and you behave badly you're going to have a really bad day," said Abboud. "We have one of the finest police departments in the country."

The victims reported that an Asian man in his mid-20s armed with a black Beretta robbed them at gunpoint at about noon on Friday. He fled in a vehicle he took from the scene. Police later recovered the vehicle near Countryside School.

Abboud calls rising crime symptomatic of the nation's economic decline.

"The reality is that as the economy gets worse, every community has more challenges on a lot of different departmental levels," he said.

On Aug. 16, three men held a couple and their four children at gunpoint for more than an hour in their Barrington Hills home. Police charged Frederick Neal, Leville Starks and Anthony Starks - all of the Rockford area - with home invasion, aggravated kidnapping and armed robbery. All three are being held on $400,000 bond. Leville Starks, 32, and Neal, 34, are also suspects in a similar home invasion that occurred Aug. 22 in Elgin. Neal and Leville Starks are in custody in Kane County. Anthony Starks, 36, is being held by the Winnebago Sheriff's Department on charges of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and residential burglary.