Brookfield police responded to a burglary in progress at Smokey World Smoke on Ogden Avenue early Tuesday morning. 

The owner of the business was remotely viewing the incident and reported that multiple people broke in through the front window and stole the ATM machine from inside. At the scene, police found a van running with its lights on. It had been driven up onto a snow pile on Elm Avenue just North of Ogden Avenue. 

Police found the ATM machine in the unoccupied van.

The business owner reported that two suspects, wearing black jackets and black pants, fled on foot eastbound. 

Police from the surrounding area were searching the area for the offenders and the police on scene cleared the business, which had the front door/window smashed in. Two people were observed running near the area of the Burger King at 1st Avenue and Ogden Avenue in Lyons Township, and a perimeter was set up in that area. 

Within a few minutes, a resident on the 4000 block of Vernon Avenue reported a person, wearing dark pants, gray hoodie and black vest, was in the alley and trying to enter his backyard. The resident stepped out and said the person walked along his south property line and continued eastbound. Police later found him at a gas station and arrested him.

Scam thwarted at City Suburban Service 

Brookfield police received a report from a business owner Tuesday morning who suspected potential fraud at her place of business, City Suburban Service Inc. 

The woman reported that on Jan. 16, she received an email from liveworld1345@gmail.com requesting a direct deposit update for her employee. 

She immediately became suspicious because the employee only receives paper checks. 

She contacted the employee, who advised her that he never made a request for change. In the email request, the subject provided their new bank information, including a card number for a “Walmart Money Card.” The business owner requested a call to complete the transaction. She was then contacted by a male who hung up after she said the call would be recorded. 

The woman advised that no changes were made and the business or employee are not out of any money. The officer checked the number which appears to be a pre-paid phone out of LaPlata, Maryland.

Brookfield man found dead in an apartment

An unidentified man was found dead in his Maple Avenue apartment last Tuesday.

He had been last seen the day before and was reported missing by someone who had received multiple complaints from other building tenants about a bad smell in the building. They also received a call for a wellbeing check.

Police found the body face down next to a bed.

There were no signs of forced entry, no signs of foul play, and no suspicious circumstances observed.

These items were obtained from the Brookfield Police Department reports dated Jan. 15-22 and represent a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Anyone named in these reports has only been charged with a crime and cases have not yet been adjudicated. We report the race of a suspect only when a serious crime has been committed, the suspect is still at large, and police have provided us with a detailed physical description of the suspect as they seek the public’s help in making an arrest.  

Compiled by Amina Sergazina