Cops arrest man who again attempts to break into former house

Riverside police early Monday morning arrested a man who again attempted to break into a house in which he lived two decades ago.

Lawrence M. O’Keefe, 71, of the 6400 block of Joliet Road in LaGrange Highlands, was charged with one count of misdemeanor criminal trespass to land. He was also charged as a fugitive from justice for outstanding warrants issued by Hillside police for harassment and disorderly conduct, police said.

O’Keefe previously threatened to kill Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel and other Riverside police officers. He has previously been arrested for threatening a public official and subsequently pled guilty in 2020 for threatening to kill Weitzel. He had also been arrested for threatening a public officials in Oak Brook and Hillside, according to police.

In this incident, O’Keefe was arrested at Harlem Avenue and Pershing Road in Lyons after he fled the house in a taxi. Inside the taxi were groceries he had purchased before coming to Riverside, police said.

Police at about 1:24 a.m. received a 911 call reporting as a burglary in progress in the 200 block of East Quincy Street.

The homeowner said someone tried to enter the back door again and it was the same man who has been going to the house over a period of time. This is the first time O’Keefe arrived at the house in the early morning hours. O’Keefe was identified by the homeowner as the person who had been trying enter the house via the rear door, police said.

O’Keefe on Jan. 26 at 9:04 a.m. was arrested at the same house after police were called for a burglary in progress. In that incident, he arrived at the house in a taxi, police said.

O’Keefe has been warned numerous times, both verbally and by written trespass ordinance over the last year to not go onto the property, but ignored the warnings, police said.