North Riverside police are warning residents to be aware of a phone scam apparently involving calls to residences from prisoners at Cook County Jail in Chicago.
Police documented at least two instances in the past week, both following the same method of operation. On March 10, a North Riverside resident reported getting a call at 4:50 p.m. from a number that his caller ID identified as “prison.”
The man didn’t answer that call, but received another, ID’d as “private” at 7:25 p.m. The person on the other end of the phone said he was a Sgt. Rodriguez from the Cook County Sheriff’s Police and that a female involved in an accident had the North Riverside resident’s phone number on her person.
The caller stated that the resident should dial star-72 and then a Chicago phone number to get more information. When the resident asked the caller his name again, the caller replied “Sgt. Williams.” Suspicious, the man called North Riverside police, who told the man it was a scam. The same resident received a third call later that evening telling him to dial star-72 and another Chicago phone number.
Police also reported that a female resident received a similar call on March 12 and had dialed the number she was given. When there was no response, she called police.
The star-72 scam has been used by prison inmates in Illinois and other states for years. An unwitting victim dialing star-72 and then a phone number can activate a call-forwarding feature. Prisoners successful in convincing someone to dial the number can have collect calls forwarded directly to their phone via the victim’s phone number. The victim, who may not know for weeks that he has been duped, is stuck with the bills and can only cancel the forwarding by notifying the phone company.
Disorderly conduct
A Hauser Junior High eighth-grader was petitioned to juvenile court for disorderly conduct after reportedly making a threatening statement that was overheard by a faculty member. According to police, a teacher stated she heard the 14-year-old boy allegedly state, “I’m going to do something major before the end of the school year.” The teacher also reported hearing the boy use the words “gun” and “Columbine.”
When interviewed in the presence of his mother later that day, the boy reportedly told police he was referring to pulling a major prank and denied any references to guns or Columbine, a Colorado high school where, in 1999, two students went on a shooting rampage, killing 13 people and wounding 24 others before committing suicide.
Riverside Assistant Police Chief Thomas Weitzel said that because of incidents like Columbine, “those statements are going to be taken seriously. The school did the right thing.”
Burglary
A resident of the 3500 block of Sunnyside Avenue, Brookfield, reported that during the overnight hours of March 5-6, someone smashed the passenger window of a 1993 Chevy pickup parked in the alley behind his house and stole a canvass bag containing miscellaneous tools, an 8-inch black-and-white TV, eight pairs of work pants, overalls and a jacket. Total value of the loss was estimated at greater than $120.
A man participating in a bowling league at the Brookfield Bowl, 3415 Maple Ave., Brookfield, reported to police that while he was inside bowling on March 11, between 7 and 9:40 p.m., someone smashed in the driver’s side window of his 1996 Toyota Avalon, which was parked in the bowling alley lot, and removed a Sirius satellite radio receiver valued at $180.
DUI
Riverside police charged Berwyn resident Petr Albert, 32, with driving under the influence and other offenses after an officer reported finding Albert unconscious and slumped over the wheel of his 1992 Oldsmobile in front of the Riverside Public Library, 1 Burling Road at 1:17 a.m. on March 11.
According to the report, Albert had his foot on the brake of the car, which was running and in gear. For two minutes, an officer tried to rouse Albert by knocking on the window, since the doors to the car were locked. When Albert did come to, he reportedly began “dancing” in his seat. Taking his foot off the brake, the vehicle began to move forward and toward the parkway, but stopped about 20 feet away.
When police finally got Albert out of the car, they stated that he appeared intoxicated and refused all sobriety tests. In addition to DUI, he was cited for improper lane usage, improper parking on a roadway, having no proof of insurance and having no driver’s license on his person.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments from March 3 through March 12, 2007 and represent a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Unless otherwise indicated anybody named in these reports has only been charged with a crime. The cases have not been adjudicated.
-Compiled by Bob Uphues