Crime & Safety
Senior Citizen Breaks Into House To Avoid Freezing: Sheriff
No charges are being filed in the case of a man who sought shelter after crashing his car — and even wrote the homeowners an apology letter.
WILMINGTON, IL — The Will County Sheriff's Office said no criminal charges will be brought against a 66-year-old man who crashed into a snowbank on South Arsensal Road and wandered to a nearby house to seek shelter as temperatures dropped below zero last weekend.
The incident happened late Friday night in the Wilmington area.
Sheriff's deputies responding to a burglary call found the 66-year-old man at the end of the driveway and put him into the back of their squad car as they inspected the house. No one was home and nothing was taken, reports show.
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The man told sheriff's deputies that around 11:30 p.m. Feb. 19, he lost control of his car on Arsenal Road and got stuck in the deep snow. The man did not have a working cell phone and the temperature was around zero.
The stranded motorist tried for several hours to get his car out of the snow, and hoping to flag down another motorist for help, but that didn't work, police reports show.
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Finally, the man decided to walk for help as the temperature dropped below zero.
The man saw a house and went to the door because he saw a Ring doorbell, police said.
"He made every attempt to the homeowner to be alerted that he was outside, to no avail. The man knocked on the doors and eventually broke into the house. He realized no one was home and turned up the heat and began writing an apology letter. Shortly after, he saw deputies arriving on the scene," sheriff's reports show.
According to police, the brother of the homeowner called 911 after seeing someone inside his brother's house, knowing that his brother was not home.
The owner of the house realized what had happened after getting several alerts on his Ring App, police said.
"The homeowner then understood what had happened and declined to file a complaint. The 66-year-old man stated that he would pay for the damage he caused while breaking in. The man’s vehicle was found a little over a quarter of a mile away from the residence in a snowdrift," sheriff's reports show.
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