Woman, ex-boyfriend charged in staged home invasion, dog's death

A Maine Township woman and her ex-boyfriend have been charged with staging a home invasion at her residence, Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart announced Friday.

The woman, Mehwish Memon, 30, of the 9400 block of Bay Colony Drive near Des Plaines, and the ex-boyfriend, Syed Hassan, 38, of the 2800 block of South King Drive in Chicago, were arrested Tuesday and charged with home invasion, aggravated unlawful restraint and filing a false police report. They were also charged in connection with a Skokie investigation, in which a dead dog, marijuana and a gun were found in Memon's husband's vehicle.

Memon's bail was set $200,000 and Hassan's at $400,000 during their appearances at the Skokie courthouse Thursday.

Cook County deputies were called to Memon's home about 11:20 p.m. Dec. 30. They were responding to report that an armed man in a black ski mask had forced his way into the home.

According to the report, the man punched Memon in the face and then bound her and her 32-year-old husband's hands with packaging tape and beat the husband with a stick.

However, during the investigation, deputies learned that the woman had conspired with the masked intruder, who turned out to be Hassan, to commit the home invasion, the sheriff's office said.

Detectives also learned that Memon had filed a false domestic battery report against her husband on Dec. 16, later dropping that charge, the news release said. Before Memon called 911 to make the report, Hassan had slashed the tires of her husband's vehicle, the sheriff's office said.

The news release said Memon had given Hassan a key to her husband's vehicle, and Hassan, with Memon's knowledge, had shot a dog and placed its body in her husband's vehicle along with the gun and marijuana.