Bloomingdale brothers charged with Schaumburg burglaries
Teenage brothers from Bloomingdale faces charges stemming from a July burglary spree targeting Schaumburg businesses, including a bicycle store, several restaurants and a gift shop.
Schaumburg police on Friday charged 18-year-old Nicholas Panoski with six counts of burglary and 17-year-old Frank Panoski with four counts of burglary. If convicted, they could face from three to seven years in prison. Probation is also available.
Cook County Judge Jill Cerone Marisie released the teens on a $40,000 individual recognizance bond, but ordered them confined to their home on the 200 block of Oakwood Lane until school starts later this month. Marisie also ordered the teens into drug monitoring and instructed them to stay away from the businesses police say they targeted.
Schaumburg police Sgt. John Nebl put the number of victims at 11. He said a common element was the use of large rocks or chunks of concrete to break glass windows or doors to gain access.
Nebl said many of the businesses were located near each other in strip malls, and were places where money is often kept in cash registers.
The spree began about 2:30 a.m. July 5, when authorities say the brothers shattered the window of the Bike Connection, located in the 1200 block of North Roselle Road. The defendants took about $100 from the cash register and Frank Panoski took a BMX bike, said Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Moe Ahmad during Friday’s bond hearing.
About 3 a.m. that same day, the defendants smashed a window of Shiseido Lucky Gift on the 0-100 block of Golf Road and took between $150 and $160, along with makeup and a stuffed animal, Ahmad said.
Thirty minutes later, they broke the window of a Taco Bell on the 500 block of Mall Drive but were unable to open the register, Ahmad said.
At 3:45 a.m., they attempted to remove cash from a register at Thai Pepper on the 700 block of Higgins Road, Ahmad said. Surveillance video showed the defendants in the gift shop and the restaurants, Ahmad said.
Police charged Nicholas Panoski, who is currently on probation in DuPage County, with two additional burglaries they say unfolded in a similar manner.
One took place at 1:53 a.m. on July 16, at Rosati’s Pizza on the 1700 block of West Wise Road. The other took place at 7:05 a.m. July 17 at a flower shop on the 800 block of South Roselle Road.
Cook County Assistant Public Defender Daniel Naranjo said both Panoski brothers have been diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum and they currently attend counseling.
They next appear in court on Aug. 30.