NEWS RELEASE

RIVERSIDE POLICE DEPARTMENT

31 Riverside Road
Riverside, Illinois 60546

March 19, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Chief Tom Weitzel

708 447 2127 tweitzel@riverside.il.us

Riverside Police Charge Teenagers with Damage and Trespassing from BB Gun Incident
Increased use of replica guns worries Police Chief

On Monday, March 16, 2015 at 9:00 p.m., Riverside Police were called to a home in the 200 Block of
East Burlington reporting that their window had just been shot out. When the first officer arrived, he
noticed that there was a bullet hole in the window and was not sure whether it was from a real firearm
or not. He was only able to determine that the weapon was a BB gun once the pellet was recovered
from inside the home. As he was investigating this case, the 911 center got an additional call from the
100 Block of Herrick reporting juveniles attempting to burglarize a garage. Officers broke from the first
call and responded to the second call as these houses were within one block of each other. When
officers arrived, they were able to take three juveniles into custody who were fleeing from the garage
area. Riverside Police were assisted by Lyons Police in the apprehension of these juveniles.
The juveniles were brought into the police station and their parents were contacted. While in police
custody, police recovered two replica handguns. They were both replica black Glock 9 millimeters
without any orange markings and exact replicas of a real handgun that is commonly used by police.
During the investigation, it was learned that the juveniles were walking in the area of where the pellets
were shot at homes, street lights, passing by and moving vehicles. The only damage police found was
on two separate homes, one in the 200 Block of East Burlington and one on the 100 Block of Herrick.
A male 17-year-old juvenile resident of Riverside was charged criminally with criminal damage to
property for both instances. The Riverside juvenile was in possession of the replica BB guns when
stopped by police. A second 17-year-old male juvenile, a resident of Forest Park, was charged with
trespassing. The trespass charge is a local ordinance violation. It was determined that the third
juvenile was not involved in the damage and not charged.
Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel stated, This is the fourth incident in the past 9 months involving
a replica BB gun. Take into consideration that when these boys in the latest incident fled the scene,

they were running from East Burlington to Herrick carrying the replica handguns. Police just cannot
really stop and say, Excuse me, is that real? Additionally, when these incidents are reported to the
911 Center, it is reported as a man with a gun as residents cannot distinguish whether the weapon
being carried is real or a toy. Chief Weitzel went on to say, My fear is that sooner or later someone is
going to walk into a situation where a resident feels that the gun is real and it could escalate into a
violent confrontation. I am also fearful that one of my officers will have to make a split second decision
and I would not want to see a violent encounter in which officers had to discharge their firearm.
Closer parental supervision is also needed in these situations along with common sense. Three of the
four prior incidents in Riverside involved multiple juveniles.
The prior incidents in Riverside included a June 11, 2014 incident in which a Brookfield Zoo Police
Officer observed a man carrying in public view what appeared to be a handgun. The individual had
walked in front of Riverside Brookfield High School at which time the Zoo Police notified Riverside. The
suspect was taken into custody at Park Place and Lincoln without incident and charged. An eighteenyear-old male resident of Brookfield was charged with disorderly conduct. The second incident
occurred January 20, 2015 on the 100 Block of Kimbark Road. In that incident, a juvenile flagged
down a patrolling officer and said that a sibling had shot herself with a BB gun pellet and it lodged near
her forehead. The juvenile, who was an 11 year old, was taken to the hospital by Riverside paramedics
for treatment and Riverside Police followed up with the parents. The third incident took place on the
weekend of January 23, 2015 where police received multiple phone calls of BB Airsoft pellets being
shot from a residence in the area of Barrypoint and Millbridge. In that incident, several male juveniles
between the ages of 13 and 14 were petitioned by the juvenile court for disorderly conduct under the
village ordinance. In each of these cases, Riverside Police confiscated the weapons.
Chief Weitzel is researching the possibility of passing legislation that would hold the manufacturers
liable and mandate that they paint their gun a separate color than black. Chief Weitzel stated, This is
really a problem that is associated with the behavior of individuals using replica weapons. This is not a
Second Amendment issue.

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