Just three days after a man posed as a village water department employee to gain entry to a home and rummage through the interior, a three-man crew returned to the same residence in the 2200 block of Burr Oak Avenue in North Riverside, forced their way in and stole a large amount of cash.
According to police, three heavyset Hispanic men wearing high-visibility clothing appeared at the victim’s door on Aug. 16 at about 1:20 p.m., saying they needed to check the home’s utilities for fire prevention.
The victim refused entry, but the trio reportedly pushed their way into the house, with two of them holding the victim down while the third ransacked the home.
The offenders reportedly stole a bag containing thousands of dollars from one room before leaving, possibly in a white SUV. In the Aug. 13 incident where it was unclear whether anything was taken, a two-man crew reportedly left in a white pickup truck with a white bed cover.
Commercial burglary
Police say six people in a pair of stolen Porsche SUVs burglarized at least three suburban businesses, one of them in North Riverside, during the early morning hours of Aug. 21.
North Riverside responded to Pineapple & Co., a liquor store at 7929 Cermak Road, Suite A, at about 6:30 a.m. after being informed of a burglar alarm activation, indicating a front glass break.
Officers arrived to find the front glass door shattered and the interior ransacked. Security cameras reportedly showed the two Porsches – one with no plates and one with dealer registration — pull into the parking lot at 6:22 a.m.
Six people exited the vehicles with one of them smashing the front glass door with a crow bar to gain entry. Once inside the crew stole numerous bottle of liquor from behind the register along with a rack containing all of the store’s lottery tickets. During the burglary, one offender tipped over a rack full of wine bottles, breaking many of them.
The offenders then exited the store and fled in the vehicles northbound on Desplaines Avenue. The same vehicles and five offenders reportedly were involved in the burglaries of a GameStop store and an AT&T store in Hillside. The vehicles were last seen southbound on Mannheim Road after the Hillside break-ins.
The owner of Polar Bear, 7901 Cermak Road, contacted police at about 11 a.m. on Aug. 15 after arriving for work and observing that someone had shattered the rear glass door to the business.
According to police, no entry was gained and nothing appeared to be missing.
Vehicle break-in
Brookfield police responded to the 3700 block of Maple Avenue on the morning of Aug. 16 after a resident called to report that someone had broken into her unlocked vehicle, which was parked on the street overnight.
Nothing was missing from the vehicle and it wasn’t damaged, but there may have been an attempt to steal the vehicle, because police reported a wire, possibly a paper clip, sticking out from the ignition.
Man allegedly took upskirt pics
North Riverside police charged a 30-year-old Chicago man with unauthorized video recording and disorderly conduct after he allegedly used his cellphone to take photos or video up a woman’s skirt inside Kohl’s 2200 Harlem Ave. on Aug. 19 at about 5:20 p.m.
The man reportedly told police that he was buying clothes for his girlfriend and did not take any pictures. However, a store loss prevention employee reporting seeing the man taking the photos and security camera video reportedly showed the offender standing behind the victim, holding his phone between the victim’s legs to get a photo up her skirt.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, Aug. 15-21, 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
