Brookfield experienced a rash of burglaries last week, nine in all, in which offenders targeted homes, garages and vehicles. Seven of the nine occurred between July 27 and July 29 in the north and centrals part of the village.
Two homes were hit by burglars last week, one in the 9300 block of Jackson Avenue on July 28 and the other in the 330 block of Park Avenue between July 31 and Aug. 2.
The owner of the Jackson Avenue home said he was at an amusement park during the day. While he was gone between noon and 11:30 p.m., someone gained entry to his home by breaking a basement window. Missing items include 100 Blu-Ray DVDs, a Playstation 3 game system and 10 games and 30 X-Box 360 games.
Meanwhile, the owners of the home on Park Avenue told police they spent the weekend at Chicago Bears training camp in Bourbonnais. When they came home Sunday afternoon, they found two basement windows with their screens cuts. Over $300 in cash and numerous pieces of jewelry were taken from the home, police reported. Police also reported that a bedroom window was missing its screen and frame.
Three garages in Brookfield were burglarized last week during the overnight hours of July 27 and 28, none of them showing signs of forced entry.
In the 3500 block of Harrison Avenue and the 3600 block of Harrison Avenue, the offender gained access through unlocked service doors. In the 3500 block, the offender then gained access to an unlocked 2005 Dodge van and pulled out the stereo from the dashboard.
In the 9400 block of Washington Avenue, the offender apparently found a garage door opener in an unlocked car parked in the alley and used it to gain access to the garage, taking paint ball equipment and a miter saw.
Also that same night, someone smashed out windows of two vehicles, one in the 9500 block of Monroe Avenue and the other in the 3300 block of Sunnyside, stealing an iPod and a global positioning device.
On July 28 in the 9500 block of Jackson Avenue, a woman said she was away from her car for 15 minutes while loading laundry into it at about 9 a.m. When she came back with a second load of laundry, she found the rear driver’s side door ajar and a cellphone and loose change missing.
Finally, on July 31, someone entered an unlocked 2007 Ford Mustang parked in the 4000 block of Raymond Avenue and removed two pairs of sunglasses.
North Riverside garage break-ins
North Riverside police also reported two garage burglaries last week, both appearing to have happened during the overnight hours of July 30 and 31. In the 2400 block of Hainsworth, someone pried open a garage service door, and then shattered the windows of two cars parked inside, making off with a car stereo and several power tools.
In the 2300 block of Northgate Avenue, someone gained access to an unlocked garage, shattered the window of a 2008 Mustang parked inside and took a Yamaha acoustic guitar from the vehicle.
Police also reported finding fresh pry marks on five other garages in the neighborhood.
Would-be robber foiled
A woman who tried to rob a 31-year-old Chicago woman of her purse at the North Riverside Park Mall, 7501 Cermak Road, on July 29 gave up and walked to a getaway car.
The victim told police that at about 12:45 p.m., she was in the south lot near J.C. Penney belting her child into a car seat when she was pushed from behind. The victim fell into the car and the offender started pulling the woman’s hair and lunging for her purse.
With the victim yelling for help, the offender walked away and got into the passenger seat of a tan four-door Pontiac Grand Prix or Grand Am with temporary plates. The car fled toward 26th Street.
Criminal damage, trespass
Riverside police have charged Chicago resident Patrick H. Doherty, 45, with criminal damage to property, criminal trespass and assault. According to a police report, Doherty broke a window at his ex-girlfriend’s home in the 100 block of E. Burlington on the night of July 31, entered her garage and tried to kick a police officer trying to arrest him.
He was also cited for possessing a small amount of marijuana, police said.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments from July 27 to Aug. 2 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. These cases have not been adjudicated.
– Compiled by Bob Uphues
