Two charged after rash of car break-ins

North Riverside police arrested two teenage boys and are interviewing a 19-year-old Maywood man in the wake of a rash of vehicle burglaries reported in the village on June 25, 28 and 29.

Police made the arrests around 3:30 a.m. on June 28 after officers were called to the 2500 block of 8th Avenue by a resident who reported seeing someone rummaging through his neighbor’s car.

A Riverside police officer detained a 16-year-old Maywood boy shortly afterward, near Cermak Road and 4th Avenue. That boy was charged with burglary and transported to the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center due to prior offenses and an active warrant for his arrest.

A North Riverside officer arrested a 15-year-old Hillside boy near Cermak Road and 2nd Avenue. He was charged with burglary and criminal trespass to a vehicle after police reported finding a credit card and membership card belonging to a woman who lives in the 2500 block of 6th Avenue. Her vehicle had been burglarized that night, police said.

Police are interviewing a 19-year-old Maywood man with a prior record of burglary, who was implicated in the rash of break-ins during their investigation. That investigation is still pending.

On June 25, 28 and 29, North Riverside police reported that 14 vehicles had been broken into during the overnight hours. All of the vehicles appear to have been unlocked.

Among the blocks targeted were the 2300, 2400 and 2500 blocks of 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th and 10th avenues and the 8100 and 8700 blocks on 26th Street.

Items taken from the vehicles included cellphones, laptop computers, cash, loose change, wallets, phone-charging cords and GPS units.

  • A resident of the 3600 block of Forest Avenue, Brookfield, contacted police on June 23 to report that someone had stolen items out of the bed of his 1995 GMC Sierra truck sometime between June 20 and 23.

The man said he had placed five aluminum Mercedes-Benz rims, measuring 18 and 20 inches, in the bed of the truck. At 10 a.m. on June 23, he noticed two of the rims missing.

  • Brookfield police responded to the 4300 block of Arthur Avenue on June 23 at about 6:25 p.m. after a resident observed a man inside his vehicle. The vehicle’s owner said he chased the suspect down an alley but was unable to apprehend him. A neighbor told police another subject appeared to have been serving as a lookout.

Police searched the area but were unable to find either suspect. Nothing was reported missing from the vehicle.

  • Brookfield police responded to the 4500 block of Arthur Avenue on June 25 at about 4:15 p.m. after a neighbor reported that a man opened an overhead garage door and took a black 26-inch Schwinn bicycle. He was last seen riding eastbound on Gerritsen Avenue towards Maple Avenue.

Police were unable to locate a suspect.

  • A resident of the 200 block of Lawton Road, Riverside, called police about 10:15 a.m. on June 25 to report that someone had taken two full sets of Mizuno and TaylorMade golf clubs out of the bed of his pickup truck sometime during the overnight hours of June 20-21.

The total value of the clubs, bags and other items inside the bags was estimated at $13,000. 

Brookfield home burglarized

A Brookfield family came back to town from vacation on June 26 to find that their home had been burglarized.

The victims, who live in the 3200 block of Harrison Avenue, told police they left for vacation on June 19, locking all of the doors and windows. When they arrived home, a pane of glass on the north side door was broken.

About $200 in loose change was missing from a container in a kitchen cabinet but nothing else in the house that was valuable, including flat-screen TVs and a computer, was taken. However, the victims did find that someone had smeared feces across the bathroom on the main level of the home, including the floor and sink.

Felony drug possession

Robert L. Addair Jr., 21, of Berwyn, faces felony and misdemeanor drug charges after police reportedly found five Xanax pills, two bags of cocaine and cannabis and nearly $3,000 in cash inside the glove compartment of his 1994 Buick LeSabre during a routine traffic stop in the 9400 block of Ogden Avenue, Brookfield, just before 1 a.m. on June 27.

Addair was charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession of cannabis.

An 18-year-old Riverside woman, who was a passenger in the vehicle, was released without being charged. Another passenger, an 18-year-old Hinsdale woman was cited for possession of drug paraphernalia.

Addair remains in Cook County Jail with bond set at $25,000. He has a July 3 court date.

Fire at Ehlert Park

On June 23 just after midnight police and fire personnel were called to the west side of Jaycee/Ehlert Park after someone reported that a garbage can was on fire in between two sets of bleachers on the south side of the Little League field.

The fire was extinguished and police do not have a suspect. 

Theft

  • A 63-year-old Justice man contacted police on June 23 at about 6 p.m. after returning to his 1999 Chevy, which had been parked in the main commuter lot near the Riverside train station at 94 Bloomingbank Road. When he started the car, it sounded loud, which was unusual.

He got out and looked under the vehicle, only to find that the catalytic converter had been removed.

  • A resident of the 4300 block of Grove Avenue, Brookfield, called police after she went to the rear of her apartment building to get her bicycle but found it was missing. Police reported that the chain securing the bike, described as a purple mountain bike valued at $100, had been cut.

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, June 23-29, 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