A Rockford man’s argument that he entered a Rochelle townhome to “rescue” a “loved one” who worked as an online escort did not sway Ogle County jurors Wednesday from convicting him of home invasion, armed robbery, and being an armed habitual criminal.

Mark A. Cooper, 48, of Rockford, was charged with invading the townhome of a Rochelle couple in the 100 block of Seventh Avenue shortly after 6 p.m. Feb. 21, 2025.

Cooper chose to represent himself during the trial as well as prior court hearings, declining numerous offers by Associate Judge Anthony Peska to have an Ogle County Public Defender represent him.

On Tuesday, Assistant State’s Attorney Matthew Leisten told jurors that Cooper “knowingly entered” the home with a handgun and struck the husband numerous times before taking the 64-year-old man’s cell phone and wallet.

The husband testified he opened the door to his home after a woman, estimated to be in her 30s, knocked on the front door asking to use his phone.

“She said her car had broken down and her cell phone was dead and wanted to borrow our phone,” the man said. “I thought it would be the right thing to help someone out.”

The man said he and his wife became suspicious after the woman tried three telephone numbers unsuccessfully and then asked him to Google area codes in California for her.

“My wife told her it was time for her to leave,” the man said.

But when the door was opened for her to exit the home, the man said a Black man wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt entered with a handgun.

“He had a gun in his hand and he was holding it in the air,” the homeowner testified. “I grabbed his wrist so he could not point it in my direction.”

He said his wife ran upstairs and the woman chased after her. He said he and the man fought and ended up in the kitchen.

“He was hitting me with the pistol,” the man testified. “He kept demanding my wallet. I did not want to give it up.”

The man said he tried offering the man $20, the cash he had in his wallet, but turned over the entire wallet because he was “physically exhausted from fighting”.

He said the man who beat him and the woman then both left the home and he called 911.

Leisten introduced videos from security cameras outside the home as evidence. The homeowner said security cameras were installed because of drug activity in the neighborhood. In those videos, a woman could be heard screaming after the male, wearing a hooded sweatshirt, entered the home.

Leisten also showed photos of the homeowner’s injuries, which included lacerations to his head. Some of the crime scene photos also showed drops of blood on the kitchen floor.

On cross examination, Cooper asked the homeowner why he opened the door to his home when he didn’t know the woman.

“Your phone pinged with an image. Why did you open the door?,” asked Cooper. “Didn’t it seem odd that she came to your door at 6 p.m. when there were other apartments? Doesn’t it seem odd that she picked your apartment?”

“I don’t know why our house was chosen,” the man replied.

Cooper then accused the man of contacting the woman through an escort service and giving her that address.

“I did not know this woman before that evening,” the man testified, denying he had ever used an escort service and that he did not know the female “before she came to my door.”

Cooper, during his cross examination of the witness, said he entered the home to help the woman, who he called Linsey, because she was an online escort who had been given the address. Cooper said he did not have a gun when he entered the home and entered the home because Linsey was screaming.

“The only person screaming was my wife,” the homeowner replied. “I know you had a gun when you walked in the door.”

Wednesday morning, the man’s wife testified that a Black man entered the home and pointed a gun at her and her husband. She said she started screaming and ran upstairs to the main bedroom with her phone and the woman chased her upstairs, where they fought.

“We were wrestling with each other,” the 65-year-old woman testified. “I believe she wanted to get my phone. I kept her from getting the phone.”

She said she locked the bedroom door when the woman left the bedroom and tried dialing 911 but was too shaken to complete the call.

She said her husband then came upstairs and called 911 after the man and woman left.

“Do you think her coming to your home had something to do with your husband,” asked Cooper.

“No,” replied the woman.

Cooper is Black, but neither witness identified him as the intruder. In his cross examination of the witnesses, Cooper referred to the Black man as himself.

Rochelle Police Sgt. Elvis Baneski said officers did not know who had entered the home until tips were received after the department asked for information about the incident in a Facebook post in March. That post included screenshots from home security videos of the man and woman entering and exiting the home.

Baneski said the department received an anonymous tip identifying the male as Cooper and the female as Linsey Blitch. Baneski said he also received another phone call from someone – identified as a tipster – who wanted to meet at the Rockford Police Department.

That meeting was with Cooper and Blitch, who identified themselves as being the subjects in the Facebook post, Baneski said.

In a recorded video of the interview with Cooper, he claimed the incident was not a robbery, but a “date” that turned violent.

“He [the homeowner] was trying to manhandle her [Blitch],” Cooper said in the interview. “I’m her protection. She had seen him before. I don’t know him.”

Cooper told police the homeowner had the gun and they fought when he tried to take it away from him. He said he then took two phones and left with Blitch.

“I didn’t rob anybody,” Cooper said in the interview. “This guy had an agenda. He was trying to overpower her.”

Cooper said he took the gun and phone and later sold the gun to someone in Rockford.

Cooper only asked one question of Baneski – if what he described in the video as a gun could have been two cell phones.

“No, it’s consistent with a handgun,” Baneski said.

The interview with Blitch was not played during the trial nor entered as evidence. There is an outstanding arrest warrant for Blitch, who is also charged in connection with the case.

Leisten then rested the state’s case. Cooper chose not to call any defense witnesses or to testify himself.

“Do you want to testify,” Peska again asked Cooper, to which he replied “no”.

“Do you wish to evoke your right to remain silent?,” asked Peska.

“Yes,” replied Cooper.

In his closing argument, Leisten said Cooper had targeted the couple’s home, sending Blitch to the door and that the husband “naively” let her into their home.

“All he was trying to do was help her,” Leisten said. “When she was told to leave the defendant barged in with a gun. He’s not there to be a bodyguard. He has no reason to be outside like that unless to commit a crime. They [Cooper and Blitch] were acting in concert.”

In his closing argument to the jury, Cooper said he realized his attire in the home security videos “looked suspicious” but claimed it was cold that night and he was holding a hand warmer, not a gun.

“This was not a home invasion or robbery,” Cooper said. “I don’t deny I hit him. I had no reason for a gun.”

Cooper characterized the neighborhood as being “run down”.

“There was no reason for her to be knocking on his door. He was expecting her,” Cooper said. “I know I look the part, but this was not a home invasion. I did not go there to rob these people. This was a rescue.”

Cooper accused the couple of concocting the home invasion as a “cover up” of the incident.

“Look at the evidence,” he told the jury. “I beg you don’t be set on my appearance. Look deeper in to the situation. That’s all I can ask.”

Leisten disagreed, adding that Cooper’s version of the events that night “evolves constantly”.

“This was not a date ‘gone bad’,” argued Leisten. “This was a home invasion and armed robbery. They [Cooper and Blitch] didn’t wait around for the Rochelle police. They needed a couple of weeks to come up with a story that doesn’t make sense.”

The jury, consisting of six men and six women agreed, coming back with guilty verdicts on all charges after deliberating for about 2 hours and 15 minutes at the Ogle County Judicial Center in Oregon.

Peska ordered a pre-sentencing report for Cooper and set his sentencing hearing for 1:30 p.m. Dec. 9.