Two charged with home invasion and animal cruelty after man attacked, dog shot dead near Naperville

Two people are facing multiple felony charges after a man was attacked and his small dog was killed during a home invasion Monday near Naperville.

Nicole S. Smith, 40, of the 1500 block of Watkins Lane, Naperville, and Andre C. Bridges, 35, of the 1300 block of North Annie Glidden Road, DeKalb, are each charged with home invasion causing injury, home invasion with a firearm, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, and aggravated animal cruelty, according to DuPage County court records. All the charges are felonies.

On Wednesday, a DuPage County judge ordered they be detained pretrial.

Petitions for detention filed by prosecutors allege that Smith and Bridges knew the victim.

The petitions state that around 12:20 p.m. Monday, the victim heard the buzzer for the main entrance to his apartment building on the 30W000 block of Capistrano Court near Naperville. He went out of his apartment to see who was buzzing, leaving his door unlocked.

The petitions state it was Bridges, who asked to be let in to use the bathroom, but the victim refused.

When the man returned to his apartment, Smith was inside, according to the petitions.

The victim told police Smith sprayed him in the face with bear repellent, then he hid in the bathroom and tried to call 911. He heard a gunshot.

When the man came out several minutes later, he discovered his dog, a 3-year-old Maltese-Yorkshire Terrier mix, had been shot to death.

The man told police that his dog and Smith’s dog both came from the same litter. He said he had recently been trying to “distance himself” from Smith and Bridges.

Smith and Bridges are due back in court Aug. 24.