Chicago man sentenced to 31 years for Darien home invasion
Joseph Covington | DuPage County State's Attorney
DARIEN, Ill. - A Chicago man was sentenced to 31 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to breaking into a Darien home and holding a woman at gunpoint in 2019.
The home invasion took place around 9 a.m. on Nov. 26, 2019 at a residence on Belair Drive. The victim was a woman who was home alone from college.
She heard a knock at the front door and, looking out her bedroom window, she saw a man in an orange utility vest and a black ski mask in the backyard. Turning around, she saw another masked man in dark clothing pointing a black and silver handgun at her.
The intruder forced the victim downstairs at gunpoint, where she encountered three more masked men demanding to know where money was kept in the house.
The victim’s mother repeatedly called her daughter's phone, prompting the intruders to force the victim to answer and assure her mother that everything was fine. The mother, sensing something was wrong, contacted a neighbor to check on her daughter. When the neighbor arrived and the victim opened the door at the intruders' instruction, the neighbor managed to pull her out of the house and called 911.
Police and a K-9 unit arrived at the home, tracking the suspects' escape route through neighboring yards. Along the way, officers discovered a loaded .40 caliber handgun and clothing items believed to belong to the suspects.
A short time later, officers arrested Joseph Covington, who matched the description of one of the intruders, in a nearby Taco Bell parking lot.
Covington pleaded guilty in DuPage County court to one count of home invasion in April.
"I cannot begin to imagine the unspeakable terror the victim, who was home alone from college at the time, must have felt when she saw a masked man in her backyard and then was confronted by another armed, masked man in her bedroom," DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in a statement. "Our homes are our sanctuaries, and we all deserve to feel safe and secure at home."