Car thieves operating in the near west suburbs in recent weeks struck again in Brookfield overnight on Nov 29-30, stealing a white 2017 Kia Sportage from in front of a residence in the 9100 block of Lincoln Avenue and attempting to steal another Kia parked nearby.

The auto theft victim told police he last saw his vehicle parked in front of his residence at about 1 a.m. on Nov. 30. When he woke up later that morning the car was missing.

Private security camera video obtained by police reportedly showed someone wearing a hooded sweatshirt with the hood up walking westbound on Lincoln Avenue at about 4:10 a.m. 

That person is then seen entering the Kia through the passenger side door, which appears to have been unlocked. Once inside, the offender moves into the driver’s seat and is seen driving away at 4:11 a.m.

That same morning, police received a call from a resident of the 9000 block of Sheridan Avenue, who reported someone had broken into his 2011 Kia Sportage overnight.

The vehicle’s glove box was ransacked and the steering column was stripped, indicating someone had tried to steal the car. Police noted a small amount of blood by the ignition switch and on the outside of the driver’s side door.

Brookfield police did not indicate a connection to the car theft and attempt, but a resident of the 9000 block of Burlington Avenue called on the morning of Nov. 30 to report that someone had stolen a lawnmower from under the front porch of a residence there.

Catalytic converter stolen

North Riverside police responded to a business in the 9100 block of Cermak Road on the morning of Nov. 28 after someone called to report that the catalytic converter had been removed from a Ford work truck parked behind the business.

It was unclear exactly when the theft took place, according to police. The truck had been parked there for “a few weeks.”

Doing doughnuts begets reckless driving charge

North Riverside police charged an 18-year-old Chicago man with reckless driving and cited him for squealing/screeching tires after an officer on patrol at the North Riverside Park Mall, 7501 Cermak Road, reported observing a black 2016 Dodge Charger doing doughnuts in the parking lot south of J.C. Penney on Nov. 28 at about 3:40 p.m.

According to the report, the car’s tires screeched as it did several doughnuts around other parked vehicles. A pair of police squad cars bracketed the Dodge Charger, and an officer arrested the driver.

DUI

North Riverside police charged a 76-year-old Cicero man with driving under the influence after someone called police to report someone driving a silver SUV traveling “at a high rate of speed and all over the road” while eastbound from First Avenue on Cermak Road on Dec. 5 at about 12:15 a.m.

When police located the vehicle around Desplaines Avenue, an officer reported it traveling at an unreasonably slow rate of speed in the left lane of traffic, braking often and swerving across lane markers until pulling to the curb for police.

Once stopped, the driver then reportedly put the Jeep SUV in reverse, and it slowly backed into the North Riverside police squad car positioned behind it.

The driver reportedly admitting drinking wine at a restaurant in Oak Brook earlier that night. He reportedly failed field sobriety tests and was arrested.

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, Nov. 27-Dec. 5, 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