Woman who drove getaway car pleads guilty in Rolling Meadows home invasion
The last of four defendants, and the only female charged with a 2016 Rolling Meadows home invasion that injured the 75-year-old homeowner, pleaded guilty Thursday to a lesser charge of robbery.
In exchange for her guilty plea, Sarah Wendy, 24, was sentenced to 180 days in Cook County jail and two years probation, prosecutors said.
The Glenview woman will spend the first year on intensive probation which includes zero tolerance for drugs or alcohol. In addition, she must pay $709 in fines and comply with all mental health evaluation recommendations, prosecutors said.
Authorities say three men — Vladimir Georges of Palatine, Robert Cutler of Hoffman Estates and Justin Cortes of Chicago — knocked on the back door of the Rolling Meadows woman's home about 9:25 a.m. June 28, 2016, claiming they were collecting money for a church. The woman refused to let the men in and attempted to shut the door, according to prosecutors. They say Georges, 23, grabbed her arm, threw her to the floor, warned her not to scream and demanded money. Entering behind Georges, Cutler, 32, proceeded to the woman's bedroom, prosecutors said. They did not say what role 22-year-old Cortes played in the home invasion.
The three men left and the woman called police, giving them descriptions of the intruders. Within minutes, police encountered the car driven by Wendy, whose occupants matched the woman's descriptions. Disregarding police attempts to get her to stop, Wendy drove on before crashing the vehicle near Woodfield Mall. Inside the car, police found a pillowcase with the woman's jewelry and mail addressed to her, prosecutors said.
Georges, Cutler and Cortes pleaded guilty to home invasion last month. Georges was sentenced to 19 years in prison, Cutler was sentenced to 12 years in prison and Cortes was sentenced to eight years in prison.