Arlington Heights police release doorbell video of home invasion
Arlington Heights police on Thursday released doorbell video of the harrowing early moments of a weekend home invasion that left one would-be robber dead and another charged with murder.
The 66-second video, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, shows the two men — wearing face masks and gloves — approaching the house on North Evergreen Avenue just before 2 p.m. Saturday.
One opens the screen door and knocks, and when the homeowner answers, the masked duo walk inside before an apparent struggle ensues off-camera. The camera next picks up the homeowner pushing one of the suspects out of the door, knocking him to the ground and beating him. The suspect runs away, tripping and falling in the street before the video ends.
An unedited version of the video, taken from the homeowner's Ring security camera, began circulating online over the weekend.
Cook County prosecutors on Tuesday charged Bradley J. Finnan, 39, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, with murder and home invasion in connection with the break-in. Authorities say he is the man in the video who was chased from the home by the homeowner. Police later caught up with Finnan in Rockford.
His accomplice, Larry D. Brodacz, 58, of Buffalo Grove, was shot dead by the homeowner during a struggle inside the house, in what authorities said was self-defense.
Finnan is charged under a statute that allows defendants to be charged with murder if they take part in a felony offense that leads to another person's death.