NOVEMBER 19-20, 2025 • VOL. 65 ISSUE 4
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Lombard Tobacco Shop Robbery Leads to Officer Shooting See: Page 2: ‘ROBBERY’
PAGE 2 | NOVEMBER 19-20, 2025 | BUGLENEWSPAPERS.COM
LOCAL NEWS Continued From: Page 1, Robbery
DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin announced today that Judge Mia McPherson has sentenced a former Chicago man accused of robbing a Lombard Tobacco shop at gunpoint in late 2022 that led to the shooting of a Lombard police officer to thirty-three years in the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC). Anthony Brown, 34 (1/13/1991) appeared at his sentencing hearing this morning after entering a blind plea of guilty on October 14, 2025, to one count of Aggravated Battery - Discharge of a Firearm at an Officer and one count of Armed Robbery with a Firearm, both Class X Felonies. On December 10, 2022, Brown appeared in Bond Court where bond was denied. He has remained in custody at the DuPage County Jail since that time. On December 8, 2022, at approximately 4:05 p.m., officers with the Lombard Police Department responded to a call of an armed robbery in progress at the Pipes and Tobacco store located at 54 W. Roosevelt Road. Upon their arrival, officers encountered two individuals, later identified as Brown and another man, Pierre Thompson, running from the business. As Thompson approached two officers when they began to exit their vehicle, he opened fire with a gun that had been
Anthony Brown, 34 (1/13/1991) appeared at his sentencing hearing this morning after entering a blind plea of guilty on October 14, 2025, to one count of Aggravated Battery Photo submitted by dupagecounty.gov
modified with a switch to enable it to fire as a fully automatic weapon. One of Thompson’s shots struck one of the officers in the leg. The officer returned gunfire striking Thompson, killing him. Brown was taken into custody by Lombard police officers within seconds of the shooting. Following an investigation into the initial armed robbery call, authorities learned that Brown and Thompson, both wearing masks, entered the business, brandished a handgun and ordered an employee to open the cash register. After taking money from the cash register, Brown and Thompson brought the employee to the back of the store where they encountered the owner of the store. Brown and Thompson ordered the men on the floor and at some point in time hit the owner of the store on the head with the gun before stealing the men’s wallets and cellular phones as well as approximately $600 from a file cabinet in the back of the store. Both men then fled the store.
“Judge McPherson’s thirty-three-year sentence sends a strong message that if you attack the very people who have sworn an oath to protect our communities, you will pay a significant price,” Berlin said. “Every time a police officer reports for duty, they are putting their life on the line, and I commend the responding officers in this case for their courage and professionalism during this extremely tense incident. We are all extremely grateful that the officer shot by Mr. Thompson survived his injuries. I thank Assistant State’s Attorneys Joseph Lindt and Amanda Meindl for their efforts in preparing an extremely strong case against Mr. Brown, who will now spend the next thirty-three years of his life behind bars, unable to victimize our communities again.” Brown was sentenced to thirty-three years in the IDOC on the Aggravated Battery - Discharge of a Firearm at an Officer charge to be served at 85%. He was sentenced to twenty-one years in the IDOC on the Armed Robbery with a Firearm charge to be served at 50%. The sentences will run concurrently.
LOCAL NEWS
NOVEMBER 19-20, 2025 | BUGLENEWSPAPERS.COM | PAGE 3
Stay warm safely: Red Cross heating guidance “Heating equipment is a leading cause of home fires in this country,” said Kellie O’Connell, CEO of the Red Cross of Illinois. “But there are steps people can take to avoid having this happen to them. Help keep your family safe by providing at least three feet of space around all heating equipment, testing your smoke alarms monthly and practicing your two-minute home fire escape plan.” Overall, home fires account for most of the 60,000-plus disasters that the Red Cross responds to each year — and home fire responses are 30% higher during cold months than warmer times of year. HOW TO SAFELY HEAT YOUR HOME According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), space heaters are most often responsible for home heating fires. Follow these
tips on how to safely heat your home:
·If you must use a space heater, never leave it unattended. Place it on a level, hard and nonflammable surface, such as a ceramic tile floor. Don’t place it on rugs and carpets, or near bedding and drapes. ·Plug space heater power cords directly into outlets — never into an extension cord. Turn the space heater off every time you leave the room or go to sleep. ·Keep children, pets and anything that can burn at least three feet away from heating equipment. ·Never use a cooking range or oven to heat your home.
nually by a professional and cleaned if necessary.
PREVENT HOME FIRE TRAGEDIES To help protect your family yearround, test your smoke alarms monthly and practice your home fire escape plan until everyone can escape in less than two minutes — the amount of time you may have to get out of a burning home before it’s too late. FIRE RESPONSE & SAFETY American Red Cross volunteers responded to 13 home fires in Chicago, Dolton, Hometown, Beach Park, Round Lake Beach, and Algonquin in the past week and provided assistance to 63 individuals by
·Never leave a fire burning in the fireplace unattended. Make sure any embers in the fireplace are extinguished before going to bed or leaving home. Use a glass or metal fire screen to keep embers in the fireplace. ·Have furnaces, chimneys, fireplaces, wood and coal stoves inspected an-
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As temperatures drop across the Illinois Region, the American Red Cross urges families to take several steps to heat their home safely.
supplying them with basic items to meet immediate needs after a fire, and additional support in the form of health and mental health services and one-on-one support.
IF YOU NEED HELP If you cannot afford to purchase smoke alarms or are physically unable to install one, the Red Cross may be able to help. Contact your local Red Cross for help. Visit redcross.org/fire for more information, including an escape plan to practice with your family. Download the free Red Cross First Aid app so you’ll know what to do if emergency help is delayed and the free Emergency app for weather
alerts, open Red Cross shelter locations and safety steps for different emergencies. Choose whether you want to view the content in English or Spanish with an easy-to-find language selector. Find these and all of the Red Cross apps in smartphone app stores by searching for the American Red Cross or going to redcross.org/apps. About the American Red Cross: The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families.
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PAGE 4 | NOVEMBER 19-20, 2025 | BUGLENEWSPAPERS.COM
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NOVEMBER 19-20, 2025 | BUGLENEWSPAPERS.COM | PAGE 5
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BUSINESS AND REAL ESTATE
How to Spot the Warning Signs of Winter Damage on Your Lawn Mother Nature can be harsh on a lawn, and it’s up to homeowners to nurse their lawns back to health after they endure the elements. That’s often the case when winter ends and homeowners uncover signs of damage to their lawns. Homeowners cannot begin to repair winter lawn damage until they learn to identify it, and the following are some telltale signs that winter took a harsh toll on a landscape. • Wilted grass: Many things can cause grass to wilt over the course of winter, so homeowners may have to put on their sleuth’s cap to determine why grass that was healthy as recently as late fall is now wilted as the spring bloom begins. Grass that’s adjacent to walkways and driveways might have wilted due to the application of de-icing solutions. Such products can prevent the formation of ice on driveways and walkways. However, when they’re tracked onto the grass by people or animals or blown there by winter winds, grass
can wilt. A deep watering in spring can flush any lingering solution from the lawn. In future winters, homeowners can be as careful as possible when applying de-icing solutions, making a concerted effort to avoid spreading any onto the grass and limited applications to areas of the driveway and walkways that are not close to the grass. • Brown patches: The National Association of Landscape Professionals notes that brown patches in a lawn often develop after heavy snowfall. Such patches tend to develop where large piles of shoveled snow were deposited, so homeowners can inspect alongside driveways and walkways.
Mother Nature can be harsh on a lawn, and it’s up to homeowners to nurse their lawns back to health after they endure the elements.
The NALP advises homeowners to rake away part of the brown patches first. If green tissue is emerging beneath, then the lawn will likely be fine in due time.
plying topsoil to the affected spots.
However, if the area beneath is not green and surrounding areas are already turning green, homeowners may need to rake up dead tissue before ap-
• Gray or pink grass: Another indicator of winter lawn damage linked to snow is gray or pink grass. The NALP reports that this is a byproduct of snow
Once topsoil is spread, some grass seed can be spread and the grass should regain its green glory.
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mold caused by lingering snow. Action may be unnecessary, as the NALP notes these circular patterns often go away on their own. If not, raking the affected areas might be enough to get the lawn on the road to recovery. If the issue continues to linger after raking, a topsoil application and subsequent seeding may be necessary.
These are three common signs of winter lawn damage in areas where snowfall is significant during the coldest months of the year. Homeowners concerned about their damaged lawns are urged to contact a local landscape professional to correct any issues that linger into spring.
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