Brookfield police have arrested a man who they say may have been involved in a number of car burglaries committed since Jan. 1 in the village.
On Jan. 21 at 3 a.m., Brookfield police, with the assistance of the west suburban Major Case Assistance Team (MCAT), charged Cicero resident Troy D. Ponders, 25, with three counts of burglary.
At the time, according to the report, detectives observed a man, later identified as Ponders, leaving a car parked in a driveway in the 4500 block of Oak Avenue. Ponders was carrying a backpack that allegedly contained a number of vehicle stereos and other personal property.
During the ensuing investigation, police located three vehicles that Ponders had allegedly burglarized in the 4500 blocks of Oak Avenue and Park Avenue.
Brookfield police say they consider Ponders a suspect in other recent burglaries and that the evidence they’ve collected will be submitted to the Illinois State Police Crime Lab for analysis. Further charges are pending those lab results.
According to police, Ponders appeared to have been working alone at the time of his arrest, and had been staying at an unknown location in the Brookfield area recently.
Retail theft
? Riverside police charged Robert I. Mayberry, 37, with a felony count of retail theft after he allegedly tried to steal $224 in merchandise from The Cork, 2720 Harlem Ave., just before 4 p.m. on Jan. 18.
Police received an alarm from the store and responded to find one man leaving the store, while the store’s owner held a man later identified as Mayberry. According to the report, Mayberry loaded seven bottles of various alcoholic beverages into his arms and attempted to flee.
At the time, Mayberry was out on bond for a Jan. 11 retail theft in Chicago and has prior convictions for burglary and retail theft. He was also charged by Riverside police with possession of drug paraphernalia for allegedly having a glass pipe commonly used to ingest controlled substances, on him. Mayberry’s companion, a 35-year-old Chicago man, was not charged.
? Brookfield police charged Melrose Park resident Theresa Krohn, 54, with attempted retail theft after employees at Tischler’s, 9118 Broadway Ave., caught her allegedly stuffing a whole beef tenderloin and three packages of beef tenderloin steaks down the front of her jacket, while a 56-year-old Melrose Park woman allegedly tried to shield her from view just before 4 p.m. on Jan. 17.
According to the report, Krohn told police she was taking the meat to pay for her room for the night. Her companion, who was not charged, denied knowing of Krohn’s alleged intent to steal.
Vehicle theft
? Brookfield police charged two women with possession of a stolen motor vehicle after the two allegedly hopped into a 2003 Toyota parked at the gas station at 8856 Ogden Ave. and drove off at 4 p.m. on Jan. 21.
The owner of the Toyota told police that he had left his car running while he went into the gas station, when two women, later identified as Cheryl A. Demczewski, 20, of Bloomingdale, and Marilyn M. Jilton, 20, of Cicero, allegedly stole his vehicle.
Both the victim and a witness called 911, while the witness followed the Toyota, reporting its location. Police stopped the Toyota near Washington Avenue and First Avenue and took both women into custody.
? A resident of the 4600 block of Vernon Avenue, Brookfield, reported that sometime during the overnight hours of Jan. 20-21, someone stole an orange 2004 Pontiac Sunbird that was parked on the street in front of an apartment building.
Vehicle burglary
? The owner of a 1995 Toyota reported to police that he parked his car in the 4400 block of Forest Avenue, Brookfield, at 8 p.m. When he returned an hour later, he said that his car keys, which were on the front seat, and a blue jacket, on the back seat, were missing from the unlocked vehicle.
? A resident of the 4100 block of Deyo Avenue, Brookfield, reported that sometime between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 17, someone removed a cellphone, valued at $110, and two CDs, valued at $20, from the front seat of a 1988 Lincoln coupe.
Criminal damage
? A resident of the 3600 block of Blanchan Avenue, Brookfield, reported that between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Jan. 17, someone threw a small rock through the front window of her apartment. Police reported finding a small rock on the floor of the room and a 2-inch hole in the window.
? A resident of the 8800 block of Burlington Avenue, Brookfield, reported that at around 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 16, someone smashed the window of am apartment complex door. Police reported finding two pieces of concrete at the scene, and observed that the door was also dented.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside and Brookfield police departments from Jan. 16 through Jan. 21 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
