Mattoon Police Make Arrest on Home Invasion and Burglary Charges

Mattoon police have arrested a St. Cloud, Minnesota man on counts of home invasion and burglary.

24-year-old Tyree Neal was arrested just after 12:30pm Sunday in the 600 block of East Rudy in Mattoon. Police allege that at about 4am Sunday, Neal unlawfully entered a residence in the 2500 block of Prairie Avenue, where he confronted a female resident of the home and held her against her will.

Neal is then alleged to have stolen items from the residence, including firearms, and shoved the resident down a flight of stairs prior to leaving the residence. The female suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

While police were investigating the incident, it was discovered that a garage of a separate residence had been burglarized. The owner of that residence reported he noticed his gate standing open and, upon investigating the matter, discovered someone had been inside his detached garage and removed items. Investigations led police to Neal's residence in Mattoon, where a search warrant was served by Mattoon police and the Coles County Crisis Response Team.

During the search warrant, items that were stolen from the residence of the home invasion and from the garage burglary were located. Neal was not located at his residence. Neal was later located at a residence in the 600 block of East Rudy, where he was taken into custody.

During a search of that residence, the stolen firearms were located.

Neal was taken to Coles County Jail.