Police: Man armed with sledgehammer, drywall saw tries to force his way into house
A 26-year-old Elgin man is held on $400,000 bail after his arrest this week on charges he forced his way into a house while armed with a small sledgehammer and drywall saw.
Michael A. Montalvo, of the 600 block of Edgebrook Terrace, was arrested after police were called at 1:02 a.m. Monday to the 100 block of Liberty Street in Elgin.
He faces charges of home invasion with a deadly weapon, home invasion causing injury, armed violence, possession of a controlled substance and resisting arrest, according to Elgin police and Kane County court records.
According to an Elgin police report, Montalvo broke into the house through a basement window. A woman inside the house confronted him and pushed him out the front door, sustaining a cut on her chest from the saw. Arriving officers saw Montalvo trying to force his way into the front door while armed with a small sledgehammer in one hand and a drywall saw in the other hand, according to the report.
Police told Montalvo to drop his weapons, which he did, but tried to run away and tossed a bundle from his waistband, according to the report. Officers tackled Montalvo, cuffed him and found the bundle, which contained 17 smaller bags containing heroin, and 10 Alprazolam pills, also known as Xanax, according to the report.
Montalvo told police he grabbed the sledgehammer and saw from his house before going to the Liberty Street location to talk to a man who owed him money, the report said.
At the time of his arrest, Montalvo was on parole after serving half of a 4-year prison term from a 2016 heroin possession case out of Cook County, according to prison records.
If convicted in the home invasion case, he faces a sentence of six to 30 years in prison, with no change of probation.
If Montalvo posts 10% of his $400,000 bail to be released, he is to have no contact with the victims or entry to their house, according to court records.
He is next due in court Dec. 4. He also faces a sentence ranging from probation to up to 15 years in prison on the drug charges.