A 20-year-old Brookfield man has been charged with three counts of criminal damage to property after allegedly spray painting two vehicles and the overhead door of a garage owned by a neighbor.
Police responded to the 9000 block of Sheridan Avenue on Feb. 23 at about 5 a.m. after getting a call from the alleged offender, who told them he witnessed the vandalism from an upstairs bedroom window. He told police he saw two people wearing black hoodies leaving the scene through the alley behind the 3700 block of Grand Boulevard.
According to the police report, the vehicles had circular patterns sprayed on them with blue paint. They also found a garage door with the word “scum’ spray painted in blue. The vehicles belonged to the owner of the garage.
Police also noted that they had responded several times in years past to mediate neighbor disputes between the “witness” and the victims.
When police went to inform the victims about their vehicles and garage, they showed an officer surveillance video from a camera mounted on their garage. In the video someone who looked like the offender is seen walking up to the garage and vandalizing it.
Police reportedly asked the alleged offender if they could view the crime scene from his bedroom window. While in the room, they noticed a pair of sneakers that looked like the ones on the person who spray painted the garage and were able to match the pattern on the soles to footprints in the snow next to the garage.
Confronted with that evidence and the video, the man reportedly confessed to the vandalism.
Riverside condo break-ins
Riverside police are investigating daytime break-ins last week at two condominium units inside a large complex at Longcommon and Herrick roads on Feb. 19.
According to the police reports, the incidents took place while the owners were at work, and entry appeared to have been gained at two different entry doors to the complex by prying them open.
Once inside the complex, the offender pried open a rear door to a unit in one section of the building and ransacked it, taking several items, but leaving behind others of value, including a cellphone, a camera and model automobile.
Meanwhile, police were also notified that the front door of a unit in another part of the building had been forced open. Drawers were open inside the condo, and papers were scattered across the floor.
The owner expressed surprise at the items that were missing – hair care products, soup and a few other items. Valuable electronics and other items were left undisturbed. The break-in occurred between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
One witness reportedly noticed a white vehicle occupied by a man wearing a hooded sweatshirt outside the complex at about 10:30 a.m.
Riverside police responded to a condo building in the 3600 block of Harlem Avenue after a condo association president called to report a break-in on the afternoon of Feb. 18.
The rear door to one of the condo units was pried open. Most of the rooms appeared undisturbed, but drawers were open in the master bedroom and in the bathroom. The condo owner told police he didn’t have anything of value in the unit except for electronics, which were not taken.
OD victim revived
Brookfield police and paramedics used Narcan, an opioid antidote, to save the life of a 33-year-old Mount Morris man who was suffering the effects of an apparent heroin overdose in a room at the Brookfield Motel, 8809 Ogden Ave., on Feb. 23 at about 11:45 p.m.
Police arriving at the scene found the victim on the floor, unresponsive and not breathing with his lips turning blue. Police administered two doses of Narcan, which did not revive the man. Paramedics arrived and gave the man Narcan intravenously, which was able to counter the effects of the heroin. They subsequently transported the victim to LaGrange Memorial Hospital for treatment.
No gunshot, just a truck
Brookfield police responded to the 9100 block of Plainfield Road on Feb. 24 at about 8:10 p.m. after someone called to report possible shots fired.
Police did find a 66-year-old Berwyn man standing next to a running semi-tractor truck parked in a lot at the location. The man told him his truck was having trouble starting and had backfired.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, Feb. 15-24, 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
