A Chicago man has been charged with burglary and fighting with officers, stemming from an incident Saturday at Oakbrook Center.
Zachary Silagi, 30, of the 800 block of South Plymouth Court, was charged with one count of Burglary (Class 2 Felony), one count of Retail Theft (Class 3 Felony) and one count of Resisting or Obstructing a Police Officer Causing Injury (Class 4 Felony), according to information from the office of DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin.
On March 2, 2024, at approximately 8:13 p.m., Oak Brook police officers were dispatched about 8:15 p.m. Saturday to Nordstrom, 10 Oak Brook Center, for a report of a man suspected of stealing and was fighting with loss prevention officers, Berlin’s office said.
Silagi reportedly entered Nordstrom with bags from a Target store, selected various items and went to a fitting room. The report states that when Silagi exited the fitting room, he had no visible merchandise on him, but the Target store bags he brought with him were full with approximately $1,300 worth of clothing and men’s cosmetics.
Silagi reportedly attempted to leave the store without paying for the merchandise and was stopped by loss prevention officers at which time Silagi began fighting with those loss prevention officers. When an Oak Brook police officer stationed at the mall arrived to assist, he continued fighting, causing injury to the loss prevention officers and the Oak Brook police officer assigned to the mall. Additional Oak Brook police arrived at the scene and took Silagi into custody.
At a Sunday court appearance, Judge Alex McGimpsey denied the State’s motion to detain Silagi pre-trial.
“The allegations that Mr. Silagi entered Nordstrom, helped himself to $1,300 worth of merchandise, and then got into a physical altercation with authorities as he attempted to leave without paying are outrageous,” Berlin said in a statement.
Oak Brook Police Chief Brian Strockis added that the behavior exhibited by Silagi won’t be tolerated in Oak Brook.
“If you come here to steal and think you can evade arrest by resisting, you’re wrong,” he said. Resisting arrest puts officers and the individual at risk of serious injury, and I’m grateful that did not occur in this incident.”
Silagi’s next court appearance is scheduled for April 1 for arraignment in front of Judge Mia McPherson.