Make your garage a tougher target
* Keep your outdoor lights on.
* Install motion detector lights.
* When your motion detector lights activate, check out what triggered them.
* Reinforce and lock your overhead and side garage doors.
* If you have an electric garage door opener, never, ever drive off until the door is completely closed.. and stays closed.
* Lock up all bicycles inside the garage.
* Write down the serial numbers of all bicycles, lawnmowers, power tools, and other items of value stored in your garage.
* Use old linens to cover items of value stored inside your garage.
* If possible, when parking your vehicle inside your garage, angle your vehicle so that it prevents the side door from being opened.
* If you see individuals garbage picking in your alley, call 911. Most garage burglars pose as garbage pickers when "casing" their next target. An overdeveloped sense of guilt causes many people to wrongly look away when they see someone picking through alley trashcans. Garage thieves rely upon that reaction. Consequently, few residents get a good look at criminals who are actually checking out which garages they’ll later visit.
* If you see someone carrying valuables down an alley or sidewalk, call 911. Don't assume the person actually owns that TV or other items. It's possibly a burglary in progress. Notify the police and let trained officers make the necessary judgment call.
If you see a burglary at your house or someone else's, and it is still in progress or the criminal is still in the vicinity, call 911. If the burglar has left the vicinity, call 311.
18th and 23rd Districts
Car break-in
A 2003 Ford was damaged by a thief who then stole the car stereo ($350) and miscellaneous CDs ($120). The thief broke the side window and made off with the goods sometime March 16-23 while the car was parked in the 1000 block of W. Belden Ave.
Laptop vanishes
A burglar forced open the front door of a house in the 100 block of W. Belden Ave. sometime March 19-23, while the residents were out of town. Taken was a laptop ($1,900), which had been left on a table visible from the front window.
Money & music
A burglar forced open the back door of an apartment in the 1700 block of N. Sheffield Ave. Wednesday, March 23, breaking the lock and badly damaging the threshold. He took $500, costume jewelry ($200), 250 CDs and 20 DVDs.
Twin Anchors' double doors
An offender pried open the outer door of the Twin Anchors Bar, 1655 N. Sedgwick St., at 3 a.m. Monday, March 21. A burglar alarm sounded, summoning police. Responding officers found that the outer door was broken but the inner door was still intact, with nothing stolen. The offender had fled.
City sticker stolen
After receiving a ticket for "no city sticker," a man discovered that someone had entered his ’88 Toyota and peeled his city sticker from the windshield while it was parked in the 00 block of W. Superior St. The theft occurred March 10.
Caught
A 2004 Jeep was parked in the 2200 block of W. Geneva Terr. at 3:25 a.m. Sunday, March 20. A witness saw a man steal two tires from the Jeep and then drive off southbound on Clark St. in a green Mercury Tracer with a certain license plate. The witness flagged police, who then spotted and stopped the car at Division and Sedgwick streets at 3:30 a.m. The police approached the Tracer and saw a new Goodyear tire on a Jeep rim in the back seat of the vehicle. They took the offender into custody.
A further search of the vehicle revealed a second tire in the hatchback area and a lug wrench on the front passenger seat. The witness identified both the offender and the Tracer at the scene of the traffic stop. Police located the Jeep and observed a tire missing from the rear door mount. The suspect was transported to District 18 for processing.
Briefcase swiped
A taxi-driver parked his cab in the 1000 block of N. Orleans St. between 1:45 and 2 a.m. Monday, March 21, to visit a restaurant. He returned to discover his black briefcase missing from the front seat. It contained a camera and various documents. The driver said he had locked the door, but the car was not damaged by the offender’s entry.
Stolen passport
Someone broke a window of a ’94 Toyota parked in the 800 block of N. Orleans St. on Tuesday, March 22. From the back seat he took a purse containing $50 and an Indian passport.
Stolen voucher
A construction worker was using a gambling machine at Arlington OTB Corp., 901 W. Weed St., at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, March 22. He told police that a man came over and took from the machine $350, in the form of a voucher, when the complainant was not looking. The offender then cashed the voucher at the exchange desk and exited the establishment.
Missing: $23,916
The owner of Dunkin’ Donuts, 200 E. Ohio St., called police when a manager charged with making deposits of currency failed to make the expected deposit — of $23,916 — on Sunday, March 20. The manager failed to report to work after this date, and his roommate said that he has moved out of the apartment.
Construction site
A construction site in the 800 block of N. Larrabee St. was burglarized between 4 p.m. March 17 and 7 a.m. March 18. Taken were 170 feet of steel angles ($2,300).
19th and 20th Districts
Gunfire strikes car of teens
Gang members fired upon a car at Lawrence and Western avenues at 10:51 p.m. Thursday, March 10, nearly striking its two teenage occupants. The victims were heading north on Western Avenune when the offenders’ vehicle, a white four-door Honda, pulled across their car. The rear offender pulled out a chrome pistol and fired four shots at the victim’s windshield, causing four small holes and spraying the victims with glass fragments. Police believe they have a partial license plate to aid in identifying the offenders. The offenders were described as three bald white-Hispanic males, age 18-20’s.
Early morning robbery
An armed robbery in the 1800 block of W. Roscoe St. netted an Indiana driver’s license and a credit card. The victim was walking at 1:30 a.m. Sunday, March 6, when a black male wearing a black ski-mask approached from behind. The offender turned the victim around and said, "Give me your money." The offender had his hand close to his pocket, holding a silver object which appeared to be a gun. The victim responded that he had no money, but the offender demanded his wallet anyway and the victim complied. The offender fled on foot. The victim canceled his credit card.
Students robbed at knifepoint
Five Hispanic male teens robbed three males walking home from Lane Tech at 12:25 p.m. Friday, March 18. The first offender displayed a knife and said, " Give me your money or get cut." The victims cooperated, turning over $12, a black wallet with miscellaneous IDs, and a DVD. The offenders then fled in a ’93 maroon Ford four-door. The incident took place in the 2200 block of Waveland Ave.
Two robberies: Five minutes
Two very similar robberies occurred on Friday, March 18, just about a block apart. In the first, in the 2600 block of N. Mildred Ave., two women were walking at 10:05 p.m. Two offenders approached and said, "Give us your money or we will shoot you." One woman surrendered $50, at which time the offenders said, "Walk away. Start walking." The offenders got into a black Cadillac and fled eastbound on Wrightwood.
In the second, a man and a woman were walking southbound in the 2600 block of N. Wilton Ave. at 10:10 p.m. Two offenders approached, displayed a gun, and said, "Cooperate or I’ll shoot you. Give me your money." The offenders then grabbed the woman’s purse and said, "Don’t make me look through your purse. Give me your money or I’ll shoot you." The two offenders then fled in a black Cadillac toward Wrightwood and Mildred. The couple lost $180.
In both crimes, the suspects were described as black males, about 25, with dark complexions and average build, wearing black jackets.
Strong arm robbery
An intoxicated man was robbed at 5 a.m. Thursday, March 17, in the 3600 block of N. Wayne Ave. The offender said, "Can I have some money?" "No," responded the victim. The offender then grabbed him by the neck, took his wallet, broke the victim’s cell phone so he could not call police, and fled. The victim lost $180, IDs and credit cards.
Robbery at 2:10 a.m.
Two women were robbed at 2:10 a.m. Saturday, March 19, in the 700 block of W. Oakdale Ave. Two male offenders approached. One grabbed the purse of a victim and threw her to the ground. Both offenders then fled on foot. They were both described as white, 140 lb., 18-25; one was 5’10", one was 6’ and blonde. The victims lost $180, IDs and credit cards.
Witness follows robber
A witness managed to follow the get-away car of a robber and get a partial license plate number on March 21. The robber approached a woman in the 1500 block of W. School St. at 3:25 p.m. that Monday and said, " Give me your purse." He pushed her and was able to remove her bag containing clothes and keys. The offender then took off in a gold 2002 four door GMC Envoy with damage on the front passenger side. A witness followed and recorded Ilinois temporary plates reading E277245.
Nearly $9,000 loss
Expensive electronics were stolen Tuesday, March 15, from an apartment in the 3700 block of N. Janssen Ave. after the rear door was forced in. Taken was a Panasonic 37" plasma TV ($3,000); two Linn speakers ($1,000 each); an Escient FireBrand Music Director ($3,000), and amps ($625). Fingerprints were located on the speaker stands. Oddly, there was a dog at home during the crime.
Additional burglaries
Here is a sampling of very recent burglaries on the North Side. Listed is the block in which the crime occurred, the date, and a partial list of items stolen. The police urge everyone to take heed and increase the security of their homes before it is too late.
2400 W. SUNNYSIDE AVE., March 16, PlayStation and $300
4600 N. LEAVITT ST., March 16, PlayStation, $50, clothes, digital camera, 90 DVDs, 15 video games, laptop, rosaries, 20 pairs of boxer shorts and two suitcases
4100 N. PAULINA ST., March 16, two golf clubs, digital camera, diamond jewelry
2400 W. CULLOM AVE., March 18, Smith and Wesson revolver, Rolex watch, $3,000, wedding rings
3800 N. WAYNE AVE. (garage), March 16-19 snowblower
2500 N. MARSHFIELD AVE., March 21 $300, watch and chain
3600 N. PAULINA ST., March 21 wedding band, $20, and diamond ring
700 W. OAKDALE AVE., March 21 laptop
4400 N. ROCKWELL ST., March 22, jewelry, 25-50 CDs, 25 DVDs, answering machine, alarm clock, Dell MP3 jukebox, laptop, clothes hamper, and corkscrew
1000 W. SUNNYSIDE AVE., March 21, laptop, DVDs
2800 N. CLARK ST., March 18-22, one gold clock, cell phone, CDs, Walkman, watches, jewelry, two neckties, one ink pen. |
