Accusation of Burglary by an Ex-Boyfriend

[WaitingtoExhale]

My friend’s ex-boyfriend filed a police report against her stating that she burglarized his home after she visited him last year. She was not aware of the police report until she was contacted by the attorney’s office representing the insurance company earlier this year. He alleged she owed them moneys for the incident. My concern is that he stated the states attorney’s office is reviewing the case and could issue a warrant for her arrest. She sent a dispute letter responding to a collection letter with vague information on it that she received after the conversation, but their letter was dated before the conversation(I thought that was strange). She has not heard anything since from them and it has been over 3 months. Her attorney advised her to wait until she is served with something. Is that the best thing to do? What is the process? Wouldn't she get served first by the states attorney’s office? This is in Illinois.

Thank you

[cdwjava]

The insurance company can act regardless of what the state's attorney does. It is usually best to wait for any criminal prosecution, but the state might have a few years before it has to file for a criminal case. And, the state may not feel they have the evidence necessary to make the criminal case.

So, there is no specific sequence of events with regards to being served with a civil or criminal action. If she is served with a claim she should respond after she receives advice of counsel (which she will have to pay for). If she is contacted by the police, she should politely decline to speak with the officers and contact her attorney (and if she has no private attorney, she may have to wait to see if she is arrested because then counsel can be appointed on her behalf).

[Conrad Hunter]

One would think that if the police or DA/SA does anything, it would be done promptly before the alleged stolen property could be moved or disposed of. What evidence is there that the property existed and was his legally and that anyone stole the property? Me thinks he filed a claim with his insurance company and law enforcement isn't going to do anything. The state is NOT going to "take a few years" to file criminal charges. This is not some cold case murder. The older any case gets the more difficult it is to prosecute and there needs to be actual evidence, not just he said, she said in some domestic dispute.

The DA/SA brings cases they can win, that serve a public purpose. They have to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. The standard in a civil case is a preponderance of the evidence and I don't see that here either.

[viol8te]

Oftentimes(at least in Chicago,) there can be an arrest warrant or an investigative alert for you and you won't even know about it until you get caught. The ASA will rarely send notification to the offender that there is a pending charge for your arrest.


However, it could be that her ex didn't press charges for the criminal offense, but needed a report for insurance purposes. A report does not always equate to pressing charges.