Hanover Park man charged with entering Wheeling home, brandishing knife at women

A Hanover Park man who prosecutors say entered a Wheeling home and brandished a knife at the female residents was ordered held on $750,000 bail Tuesday.

Gregorio Salgado, 44, was charged Sunday with home invasion, possession of a controlled substance and resisting arrest. If convicted of the most serious crime, he faces up to 30 years in prison.

A woman who prosecutors say is more than 85 years old and her daughter who is more than 60 years old were sitting in the family room of their home when an unfamiliar man wearing an orange shirt - who authorities say was Salgado - appeared at their unlocked screen door.

He entered the home unsteadily, knocking over several wall photographs in the process, said Cook County assistant state's attorney Jennifer Gates.

"Brandishing a butcher-style knife," said Gates, Salgado approached the younger woman, who jumped off the couch as he ran through the room to a bench below a picture window.

Salgado kept repeating "they are going to kill me" as the women yelled at him to leave, Gates said.

Facing the mother, Salgado raised the knife while the daughter attempted to dial 911, Gates said. When the phone did not work, the daughter picked up her mother's walker and struck Salgado with it, Gates said.

Salgado fled but did not go far, according to authorities, who say Wheeling police arrived moments later and found him sitting in a vehicle.

He dropped the knife after police ordered him to do so, but "attempted to defeat the arrest" by locking his arms when police tried to handcuff him, Gates said.

Gates said police recovered from Salgado 1.6 grams of a substance that tested positive for cocaine.

According to authorities, Salgado has a 2013 aggravated battery conviction and convictions for felony drug possession from 2012 and 1998. He next appears in court on June 7.