Someone used landscaping pavers to shatter the glass front doors of two businesses at the strip mall in the 8300 block of Cermak Road in North Riverside during the early morning hours of March 7, making off with cash from one of the businesses.
Police responded to the strip mall at about 8:15 a.m. after a passerby reported seeing the damaged doors at Tamale Hut Café, 8300 Cermak Road, and Sprint, 8350 Cermak Road.
Surveillance video from Sprint reportedly showed a man wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, black gloves and black “jogger” pants breaking the glass front door with a landscaping paver at about 3:10 a.m.
The man ran to the showroom counter but does not take anything, goes behind the counter and then comes out, picks up the paver and exits through the broken door. The Sprint store’s owner told police nothing was missing from the business.
At Tamale Hut café, the cash register was found open with change left inside, but cash missing. Nothing else was missing from the restaurant proper, but cash kept in a bag in the restaurant office also was discovered to be missing.
White supremacist fliers
Someone called Brookfield police on March 16 at about 6:35 p.m. to report that “Nazi fliers” had been placed on vehicles in the 4000 block of Vernon Avenue.
Police located one of the fliers with the title “No White Guilt” at the top of the page and including a list of online links to white supremacist websites. The responding officer observed several of the fliers in the area but was unable to locate anyone distributing them.
Caught dumping
Brookfield police ticketed a 66-year-old Brookfield man for illegal littering/dumping after receiving a call that someone had deposited a large cabinet and drawers behind a residence in the 3200 block of Elm Avenue on March 15 at about 7:30 a.m.
According to police a similar incident had occurred the previous week. Police obtained surveillance video showing the offender carrying a large cabinet and drawers down the alley. Officers located the items farther down the alley.
When confronted by police, the offender reportedly admitted placing the items in the alley by the residence without the owner’s permission. Police told the man to retrieve the items and advised him how to have them disposed of properly.
Vandalism
Brookfield police responded to Field 4 at Ehlert Park, Elm and Congress Park avenues, on the morning of March 12 after a public works employee called to report that the gate on the south side of the field had been knocked down. A strip of tar paper, probably from the roof of a dugout, was also on the ground, next to the gate.
Officers checked surveillance video from cameras at the park and observed that on March 12 at 3:46 p.m., the gate was intact and three males were observed to be on the baseball field.
At 3:47, the gate is down and the males are gone. Since the camera rotates, it did not catch the actual act of vandalism, police said.
Package stolen
A resident of the 4500 block of Grove Avenue, Brookfield, called police on March 13 at about 3:35 p.m. to report that a package left for her by UPS that morning in the foyer of her building had been stolen.
The package reportedly contained a pair of Vince Camuto shoes valued at $280.
Someone at the door?
Brookfield police responded to the 4600 block of Maple Avenue on March 12 at about 1:35 a.m. after a resident called to report that it sounded like someone was trying to break into the apartment building through the rear door.
Officers could find no one at the scene and no obvious signs of forced entry. Inside a common hallway, however, police could hear movement coming from one of the units. They made contact with the occupant, a woman, who told them she had locked herself out of the building temporarily, but had since located her keys.
No gun, yet
Brookfield police on March 11 turned away a 59-year-old Broadview man who had come to retrieve a firearm that had been confiscated from him earlier, because an order of protection against him had expired.
Police confirmed that the order of protection had, indeed, expired. However, police pointed out to the man that his Firearm Owner’s ID card had been revoked by the Illinois State Police.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, March 7-17. 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
