A Naperville man was arrested on charges that he broke a window and burglarized a Walgreens store in Naperville just days after being arrested on unrelated domestic battery charges, law enforcement officials said.
Ronald Rueckheim, 55, of the 2100 block of Sunderland Court, is accused of breaking into the Walgreens at 63 W. 87th St. about 5:20 a.m. Feb. 23 by smashing a store window, causing between $500 and $10,000 in damage, a report issued by the Naperville Police Department and the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office said.
One day later, he was arrested on misdemeanor domestic battery and aggravated assault charges stemming from an unrelated incident that occurred Feb. 24. A judge ordered that he be detained in the county jail on Feb. 25.
When police determined that Rueckheim was the suspect in the Walgreens case, he was served in jail with an arrest warrant Wednesday for felony burglary and criminal damage to property charges.
However, DuPage County Judge Joshua Dieden ruled Thursday that he could not detain Rueckheim on the burglary/criminal damage charges because they are non-detainable offenses under state law, according to the report.
“The fact that Mr. Rueckheim is being detained on an unrelated offense is of no consequence in this case,” Berlin said. “In this newest case, Mr. Rueckheim’s most serious charge is the forcible felony of burglary, which is a non-detainable offense under the Safe-T-Act dangerousness standard, unless there is use of force against another person.
“As I said following the implementation of the Safe-T-Act, after hearing the facts and circumstances of a case, a judge, not the legislature, is in the best position to decide if pre-trial release for a defendant is appropriate. I still believe this to be the case and I continue to urge the General Assembly to amend the law and allow judges to use their discretion in every case, similar to New Jersey’s pre-trial release law.
Rueckheim’s next court appearance is scheduled for April 1.
