Three men made off with hundreds of dollars in cash, containers of lottery tickets and more than two dozen cartons of cigarettes during a smash-and-grab burglary during the early morning hours of Oct. 26 at the Shell station minimarket, 3100 Maple Ave.
The same crew also attempted to burglarize Brookfield Liquors, 9034 31st St., and reportedly burglarized a pair of businesses in Countryside.
Police responded to the Shell station minimart at about 2:50 a.m. after getting a call from the business owner, who received a phone alert from the video surveillance system. By the time police arrived the offenders had fled in a dark-colored Dodge Charger.
According to the police report, the vehicle pulled into the gas station parking lot at 2:41 a.m. Three men dressed in dark clothing and wearing gloves and masks are seen on video exiting the car and retrieving white plastic trash bags before breaking out the lower portion of the glass front door with a landscaping brick.
The men then load items into the trash bags and smash open the cash register by throwing it on the ground, taking the cash. They are then seen pushing a safe through the front door and they try unsuccessfully to load it into the car. At 2:44 a.m. the men get back into the car and drive away, leaving the safe behind.
Three minutes later, the Dodge Charger returns and the men again try to load the safe into it but give up before driving away eastbound on 31st Street and into the parking lot of Brookfield Liquors.
According to police, the offenders were able to breach the first set of glass doors at the liquor store but were unable to gain entry to the business.
Countryside police informed Brookfield that the same vehicle and offenders had burglarized a car wash and a gas station in that village. According to police, the license plates on the Dodge Charger were registered to a Chevy SUV.
Gun stolen in car break-in
A man went to North Riverside police on Oct. 30, two days after someone entered his apparently unlocked Honda CR-V, which was parked in the lower-level parking deck at North Riverside Park Mall, 7501 Cermak Road, and stole a Smith & Wesson 9 mm handgun loaded with 10 rounds of hollow-point ammunition.
The victim told police he thought he locked the car after parking it, but there were no signs of forced entry to the vehicle. The victim, who has a valid FOID card and conceal-carry license, said he went to police after realizing the gun was missing.
DUI after driving onto tracks
Brookfield police charged a 23-year-old Elmwood Park man with driving under the influence after he reportedly drove his 2007 Subaru onto the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railroad tracks at Maple Avenue on Oct. 29 at 11:50 p.m.
The alleged offender also reportedly was combative with police, shoving a police officer who arrested him and squaring up to fight the officer while in custody at the police station. He also allegedly flipped over chairs and urinated onto the floor of the interview room. He was also charged with aggravated battery for allegedly shoving the police officer.
Unlawful use of a weapon
A 27-year-old Los Angeles man was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and for not possessing a FOID card or conceal-carry permit after someone called North Riverside police on Oct. 27 at about 2:15 p.m.to report an apparent robbery at Costco, 2500 Harlem Ave.
When police arrived, someone reported that a man driving a black Honda Accord had displayed a handgun in the parking lot near the gas pumps. Police reported locating a black Honda with California plates a short time later near J.C. Penney at the North Riverside Park Mall and took the alleged offender into custody there.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, Oct. 24-30, 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
