Brookfield experienced a spree of vehicle burglaries and what looked to be burglary attempts between Jan. 1 and Jan. 6 on the south end of the village. In all, some 25 incidents were reported in which vehicles and/or garages were burglarized, vehicles were ransacked after someone gained entry or where someone tried but failed to gain entry to a vehicle.
Items were reported stolen in 12 of the incidents, which occurred in the 4100, 4300, 4400 and 4500 blocks of Elm Avenue; the 4500 block of Park Avenue; the 4100 block of Vernon Avenue; the 4400 block of Eberly Avenue; the 4000 block of Grove Avenue; the 4400 and 4600 blocks of Maple Avenue; and the 8800 and 8900 blocks of Ogden Avenue.
Vehicles along Elm Avenue were hit the hardest, with 12 residents reporting incidents over that period of time. In most cases, the offender smashed in a window to gain entry. Once inside the vehicle, the offender often removed stereo players from the dashboard, damaging the dashboards in the process.
An offender broke into seven cars parked in the lot at J&F Auto Rebuilders between Jan. 3-4, although whether any items were removed from those vehicles was unclear.
Police did receive a call from a resident in the 4000 block of Grove Avenue just after 4:30 a.m. on Jan. 1 to report someone inside his vehicle, but the offender fled before police arrived.
Robbery
Brookfield police reported a 76-year-old Lombard man was the victim of a strong-arm robbery on Jan. 6 just outside the Brookfield VFW hall, 8844 Ogden Ave. According to the report, the man was standing next to his vehicle on the 4000 block of Forest Avenue when a man approached him from behind and said, “Don’t say anything. Just give me your wallet and you won’t get hurt.”
As the victim turned around the offender, described as a unshaven black male in his late 20s, about six feet tall, with a thin build and wearing a gray winter coat with the hood pulled up and dark pants, grabbed the victim and pulled him between two parked vehicles.
The victim yelled for help and attempted to kick the offender, who reached into the man’s front right pants pocket and took an ID holder before running westbound through the alley behind the VFW hall.
The victim reported that the ID holder contained various identification cards only.
Vehicle theft
A resident of the 3700 block of Forest Avenue, Brookfield, reported to police that sometime between 8 p.m. on Dec. 31 and 11:35 a.m. on Jan. 1, someone stole a silver 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse. At 8 p.m. on Jan. 1, police reported the vehicle had been recovered near the intersection of Cicero Avenue and Huron Street in Chicago.
Graffiti
Brookfield police on Jan. 7 reported eight separate incidents of gang graffiti spray painted on garage doors in the alleys of 3600 Vernon/Sunnyside avenues and the 3400 block of Oak/Park avenues.
Criminal damage
Some person or persons wielding a BB-type weapon damaged a dozen vehicles in Brookfield between Jan. 4 and Jan. 6. Among the vehicles damaged by what appears to have been a BB or pellet gun were a 1996 Chevy coupe in the 3100 block of Arthur Avenue; a 2005 Scion in the 4200 block of Raymond Avenue; two Hondas, a black Chevy Malibu and a 2001 Ford F-150 truck in the 3400 block of Oak Avenue; a 2003 Subaru, a 1993 Buick station wagon, a 2000 Ford van and a 1998 Kia in the 3600 block of Sunnyside Avenue; a 2000 Pontiac van in the 3700 block of Madison Avenue; and a 1995 Buick in the 3500 block of Sunnyside Avenue.
Drug offense
Riverside police charged Summit resident Thomas D. Rozema, 45, with possession of cannabis after allegedly finding 4 grams of cannabis in a change purse bearing his name in the vehicle he was driving after a traffic stop near the intersection of First and Parkview avenues at 9:08 p.m. on Jan. 4. Police originally stopped Rozema for not wearing a seatbelt, and later learned that Sheriff’s Police in Fayette County, Iowa had a $100,000 arrest warrant in his name for possession of a controlled substance and child endangerment. After processing, Rozema was turned over to the Cook County Sheriff’s Police for extradition.
DUI
? Riverside police charged Lesley J. Chmell, 18, of Riverside with DUI and other offenses after an officer reportedly observed her speeding near Herbert and Lawton roads at 2:33 a.m. on Jan. 3.
Police reported that Chmell was combative and refused to take sobriety tests. At the station, she allegedly bit two officers trying to process her and broke both the department’s Breathalyzer machine and booking room camera.
She was also charged with two counts of aggravated battery to a police officer, one felony and one misdemeanor count of criminal damage to property, resisting arrest and various traffic offenses.
? Berwyn resident German Estefania, 49, was charged with DUI by Riverside police after an officer stopped his vehicle while driving southbound on Harlem Avenue at 26th Street because his purple minivan matched the description of a suspected drunk driver phoned in minutes earlier to Illinois State Police.
He failed field sobriety tests and refused a breath test, although he did agree to having a blood/urine test performed. He was also charged with illegal transportation of open alcohol and other traffic offenses.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside and Brookfield police departments from Dec. 29 through Jan. 7 and which 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.
?”compiled by Bob Uphues
