Shocking daylight home invasion during virus lockdown is stopped by Chicago homeowner who fatally shoots one of the masked intruders inside and then chases the other to his front yard
A homeowner stopped an attempted break-in during coronavirus lockdown by fatally shooting one of the two intruders and beating the other.
Doorbell footage released by Illinois police shows Bradley Finnan, 38, and Larry Brodacz, 58, approaching a home in Arlington Heights, North Evergreen Avenue in Chicago at around 1:55pm on Saturday afternoon, wearing masks, gloves, baseball caps and black jackets.
The video footage shows one intruder saying 'Hey, how you doing boss?' before they both barge inside at which point screams can be heard from within.
The homeowner's wife told police she saw the men with guns in her foyer before Brodacz chased her upstairs, the Chicago Tribune reported.
A distressed female voice - believed to be the homeowner's wife - can be heard in the footage screaming 'Hey!' repeatedly.
The wife hid in her children's bedroom but Brodacz allegedly smashed through the door, snatching the couple's son and daughter before pinning them on a bed and pointing his gun at them.
When the children's mother begged him not to shoot, Brodacz pulled his gun on her and pushed her to the floor, authorities said.
It is believed that the struggle outside between Finnan and the homeowner took place while Brodacz was terrorising the rest of the family within.
Brodacz left the room only when he heard the homeowner shouting his wife's name from inside of the home. The homeowner had found his wife's gun in the master bedroom, where a struggle ensued with Brodacz, the Chicago Tribune said.
The male homeowner told police he fired his wife's gun but it missed Brodacz. At some point during the struggle he said Brodacz pulled a knife from his waistband and began to approach him.
At this point the homeowner fired his wife's gun again, shooting Brodacz in the abdomen as he advanced towards him. Brodacz was pronounced dead at the scene by police, who had been called by the couple's 14-year-old child.
The video footage shows the barefoot homeowner, dressed in a red t-shirt and shorts, shoving Finnan out the door. He pins him to the ground and punches him repeatedly, landing a series of blows.
The homeowner can be heard shouting for help towards landscapers across the street. Finnan is able to escape the homeowners' grip, and trips into the street as the homeowner races back inside.
The Cook County state’s attorney’s office court records say that Brodacz and Finnan’s scheme was deliberated hatched to coincide with the state’s stay-at-home order amid the coronavirus pandemic, The Chicago Tribune reported.
Arlington Heights Police arrived shortly after Finnan fled and found the homeowner's wife in front of the family home screaming that her husband was inside and fighting someone with a gun.
The Daily Herald reported that police met the male homeowner, who was bleeding from a head wound allegedly inflicted by Bodacz and carrying a gun, as he walked down from the second story and told them he had shot the offender.
Officers discovered two 9mm cartridge cases, a knife, a .25 caliber semi-automatic handgun loaded with seven, .25 caliber rounds, and the wife’s 9mm handgun in the master bedroom.
Finnan from Chattanooga, Tennessee, was later found by police at his mother's home. He allegedly told police he knew Brodacz through a previous job at a car dealership.
He told investigators Brodacz claimed to have $200,000 in boxes at the home 20 years ago and believed it was there, according to the Daily Herald, and that he knew Brodacz from a car dealership where the both worked.
On Tuesday he was charged with felony murder and home invasion after allegedly being one of the two armed men.
Finnan is being held in Cook County Jail without bail following a bond hearing. He has been charged under a statute that allows defendants to be charged with murder if they take part in a felony offense that leads to another person's death, even if the defendant was not directly involved in the killing.
