Three men posing as electric company workers reportedly scammed an elderly Brookfield woman out of $1,000 last week.
According to Brookfield police, the 89-year-old victim reported that at about 3:30 p.m. on Feb. 23 three men appeared at her house in the 9400 block of Jefferson Avenue and told her they were with the electric company and needed to replace her meter.
One man told the woman he needed to go to the basement to check the circuits and she followed him downstairs while the two others stayed upstairs with her husband. One of the men upstairs struck up a conversation about World War II with the homeowner, distracting him.
Meanwhile, his partner apparently entered two bedrooms and removed an envelope containing $1,000 from one of them. After 10 minutes the three men left the home, stating they needed to contact their boss about repairs that needed to be done. One left through the back door, the two others left through the front door.
Stolen dealer car turns up in Chicago
Chicago police on Feb. 22 alerted the management at Joe Rizza Ford in North Riverside that a vehicle traced to them had been located in the 10th District, on the city’s Southwest Side.
The blue 2009 Mercury Grand Marquis was last reported in the possession of the dealership on Jan. 9, according to the police report, and it was unknown when the vehicle had been stolen.
Second shed targeted
A man who reported a shed burglarized in the 3800 block of Grove Avenue, Brookfield, two weeks ago reported on Feb. 22 that a second shed on that property was also hit.
Police are not certain whether the burglary occurred after the first was reported since the owner does not reside at the property. A 1 p.m. on Feb. 22 the property owner arrived to shovel snow and found a padlock to the shed had been cut.
Two five gallon buckets containing brass valve fittings and copper tubing, a Poulan chainsaw, a hydraulic air pump and two lift cylinders for the air pump were missing.
The items were valued at over $1,400.
Drug charges
An 18-year-old Chicago man was arrested in the parking lot of Toys R Us, 7451 Cermak Road, and charged with possession of a controlled substance after police reportedly found two small plastic baggies containing crack cocaine in his coat pocket.
Police responded to the parking lot at 4:05 p.m. on Feb. 27 after receiving a report of three males in a white station wagon trying to enter parked cars. An officer responding to the scene found the vehicle and patted down the three rear seat passengers, one of whom was reportedly holding a large wrist watch in his hands.
While patting down 18-year-old Martez Cox, police reportedly found the baggies of cocaine and a cigarette lighter. The officer also reported finding six empty baggies in his pants pocket.
Police could find no evidence that the suspects had tampered with any vehicles. Cox was charged for drug possession. Four others were released without being charged.
DUI
Brookfield police charged LaGrange Highlands resident Monica F. Davila, 20, with DUI after she reportedly drove her red 2000 Ford Escort into a parked car in the 4500 block of Grove Avenue at 7:37 a.m. on Feb. 24.
When police arrived at the scene they reported finding the driver of the Escort, identified by police as Davila, passed out behind the wheel. She reportedly refused to submit to field sobriety tests, but did take a breath test, which showed her blood-alcohol level to be .131, which is over the legal limit of .08, police said.
Davila also reportedly had a fake ID. In addition to DUI, she was also charged with unlawful possession of fraudulent identification.
Brookfield resident Christopher M. Incavo, 36, faces a DUI charge after reportedly driving erratically in Brookfield while southbound on Prairie Avenue from Washington at about midnight on Feb. 25.
According to the police report, Incavo’s 1994 Ford Explorer blew through the stop sign at Washington Avenue, swerved into the oncoming traffic lane and then struck a curb while making a wide right hand turn onto westbound Burlington Avenue. While pulling over, the vehicle reportedly came to rest on the sidewalk.
Incavo appeared intoxicated, police said, and refused to perform any sobriety tests. In addition to DUI, he was cited for disobeying a stop sign, improper lane usage and failure to wear a seatbelt.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments from Feb. 22 to Feb. 28 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
