The following information was obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside and Brookfield police departments from Jan. 18 through Jan. 23 and represents a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Unless otherwise indicated, anyone named in these reports has only been charged with a crime. The cases have not yet been adjudicated.
Anyone thinking about leaving his vehicle while warming the car up on cold winter days may want to think again after two vehicle thefts that occurred in Brookfield last week.
On Jan. 22, just before 7 a.m., Brookfield police received a call from a man staying at the Pioneer Motel, 8835 Ogden Ave., who said someone had driven off with his gold 1993 Buick LeSabre, which had been warming up outside his motel room.
The man went inside for approximately 10 minutes while his car was running, and came back out to find it missing. Tire tracks in the snow indicated that the thief may have fled eastbound on Ogden Avenue.
Later that same day, around 3 p.m., the car was found by an officer in the 4100 block of Grove Avenue.
On Jan. 23, a guest at the Brookfield Motel, reported that he left his white 1995 Ford Escort station wagon running in front of his room around 10:30 a.m. When he exited the room, he saw his car turning eastbound onto Ogden avenue, being driving by an unknown male. That car had not been recovered as of Jan. 24.
Possession of controlled substance
? Riverside police charged Brookfield resident Lawrence O’Keefe, 55, with a variety of offenses including disorderly conduct and possession of a controlled substance after an incident at just after 10 a.m. on Jan. 20.
Police reported receiving several 911 calls about a naked man running outside in the area of Akenside and Delaplaine roads. When police arrived the man, who was nude except for a pair of black socks, said he took his clothes off because he thought he was on fire.
The man indicated that he had been inside a house in the 400 block of North Delaplaine Road, and when police entered they found a glass pipe, white powder, a screw driver with residue and a pill bottle on the kitchen table. Inside the bottle, police reported finding a white rock-like substance that field tested positive for cocaine.
Zero tolerance
? Brookfield resident Leonardo Campos, 20, was charged under the state’s zero tolerance ordinance after being stopped by Brookfield police at 1:32 a.m. for speeding in the 9000 block of Ogden Avenue.
According to the report, after pulling into the CVS parking lot at 8911 Ogden Ave., Campos exited the vehicle with a bottle and walked away. When asked to return, he allegedly tossed the bottle, later found to be a half-full beer bottle, away. Police also reported recovering a bottle of beer and a beer bottle cap from the front seat of the car. Campos did pass field sobriety tests, although a breath test indicated a blood-alcohol level of .118, which is above the legal limit.
In addition to the zero tolerance citation, he was cited for speeding, having no valid driver’s license, no insurance and illegal possession of alcohol.
Fleeing/eluding
? A 16-year-old Chicago boy was charged with several offenses by Riverside police after leading an officer briefly on a car chase at 8:50 p.m. on Jan. 19. According to the report, the boy was traveling 65 mph northbound on First Avenue. An officer briefly gave chase, before the car turned east onto I-290.
Riverside alerted the state police, who reported spotting the car traveling on the expressway over 100 mph. After running the plates, police contacted the owner of the car, who turned the boy in to police custody. The boy was charged with having no driver’s license, driving without lights on, disobeying a traffic control signal, no insurance and speeding in addition to the fleeing and eluding charges.
Burglary
? Some time in the overnight hours of Jan. 22-23, an unknown person or persons burglarized two vehicles parked in the 4200 block of Deyo Avenue, Brookfield. In both cases, the driver’s side window of the vehicles were smashed in and radar detectors were removed.
Attempted scam
? A Brookfield couple were the targets of a so-called “gypsy scam” on Jan. 19 around 11 a.m.; the offenders were apparently unsuccessful in their attempts.
A resident of the 3300 block of Oak Avenue reported that she heard her husband talking with two men on the front porch of their home at that time. One of the men walked through the living room into the dining room, where the woman asked who he was.
The man told her, “You remember me. I’m Kowalski, your old paper boy. I’d like to shovel your snow for $5.”
Initially, the woman agreed, but when the man repeatedly asked her to get a bucket for some salt, she became suspicious and ordered the man out of the house. The man, his cohort and a possible third subject left in a white sedan.
?”compiled by Bob Uphues