Cast Iron Dragon, $84,000 in Tools, a Refrigerator and Girl Scout Money Stolen

Retail Theft Arrests

Ashley Rowzee, 43, 11 S. Whipple, Chicago, was arrested and charged with felony retail theft after he reportedly stole $251.92 worth of Absolut vodka from Dominick's, 215 S. Route 83, at 3:05 p.m. July 14. Police said he also provided them with a false name and was found to have a warrant out of DuPage County on a retail theft charge. He also admitted to stealing from the store the previous day, police said. He was taken to DuPage County Jail.

Theft

Two men and a woman who were with a child left Dominick's, 215 S. Route 83, without paying for $143.84 worth of liquor at 1 p.m. July 6. They left in a red sedan.

A woman was seen on surveillance video loading up her purse with several boxes of Zantac, Prilosec, Abreva and Rogaine worth $668.92 at Dominick's, 215 S. Route 83, at 3:37 p.m. July 7. She left the store in an unknown vehicle.

Someone emptied a Girl Scout checking account of $931.61 in January, but the troop leader didn't report the unauthorized transactions until July 9.

Henry C. Jones, 48, 4642 W. Gladys, Chicago, was arrested and charged with felony forgery after he attempted to cash a fraudulent $3,600 check at Citibank, 136 N. York, at 4:15 p.m. July 9. He also was in possession of a fake $50 bill. He was taken to DuPage County Jail.

More than $84,000 worth of tools has been taken over the past six months from Harts Tractor Co., 249 W. Lake St. The tools, made by CAT, Sakash and SnapOn, are transported back and forth from the business to a work vehicle by employees. The theft was reported July 10.

A dark green, 250-pound, cast iron dragon was taken from a back yard on the 500 block of West Alexander between noon July 8 and 7:45 a.m. July 11.

A man pumped $51.26 worth of gas into a gray GMC Yukon with no rear registration plate at Shell, 103 W. Third St., and left without paying at 7:15 p.m. July 12.

A spare tire worth $250 was taken from a red Ford work van parked on the 800 block of North York Road between 5 a.m. July 12 and 8 p.m. July 13.

A female riding her bike to Kohl's dropped her bag on North Avenue, between York and West Avenue, between 6:20 and 6:40 p.m. July 12. The bag contained a Canon digital camera, Samsung prepaid cell phone, Chase debit card, $10, a lock, state identification and medication. She went back and found the bag, but the contents were missing.

A refrigerator may have been stolen after employees at UPS, 205 E. Butterfield Road, cleaned it out and set it outside to thaw between 9 a.m. and noon July 14. The refrigerator, which was worth $150, was placed next to a dumpster, so it may have been mistaken as garbage, police said.

A HTC Freestyle cell phone, $50 and a house key were stolen from an unlocked locker at the YMCA, 211 W. First St., between 4:15 and 5:45 p.m. July 14.

Three women who visited La La Land, 129 N. Addison, between noon and 1 p.m. July 8, reportedly stole three items from the store, as well as a credit cards from a wallet that was sitting behind the register. The suspects said they were from California visiting relatives in Oak Brook and they needed a gift for their niece. Total value of the missing items is $200. More than $3,100 was charged on the credit card at the Broadview Target. Police have surveillance video of the suspects.

A Radio Flyer Deluxe Steer and Stroll worth $50 was stolen from the front porch of a home on the 600 block of South Fairfield between 12:01 a.m. July 14 and 1 p.m. July 15.

Someone smashed out the front passenger window of a vehicle parked at Advent Systems, 134 Arthur, and removed a black leather purse from inside of a shoulder bag on the floor between 4:10 and 5:15 p.m. July 15. The purse contained a wallet, $80 and a cosmetic bag. Loss is estimated at $400, damage at $250.

Someone smashed out the passenger window of a Toyota Sienna parked at York Commons Park, York and Cayuga, between 5:22 and 6:22 p.m. July 15 and removed a Louis Vuitton purse worth $1,000. The purse contained $250, credit cards, drivers license, sunglasses, house and car keys and other ID and papers. The purse was located a short time later, but the $250, credit cards and sunglasses were missing. Damage is estimated at $1,000.

Not Actually Stolen

A woman reported that someone stole her rental car while it was parked at Extended Stay America, 550 W. Grand Ave., between 10 a.m. July 6 and 2:08 a.m. July 7. It was later determined she had stopped paying for the vehicle and it was repossessed by the rental company.

Identity Theft

A woman came into the police station at 11:36 a.m. July 11 to report someone had used her personal information to file a fraudulent tax return in April. She had not received her refund, so she tried to track it on the IRS website. Eventually she spoke to an IRS employee, who told her the refund had been deposited somewhere else in her name.

A resident of the 300 block of Maple was contacted by Lowe's credit card division and First National Bank representatives, who told him accounts had been opened in his name on July 4. Police called the phone number used on the applications and reached a woman who said the phone wasn't hers, she was on parole, had just gotten out of prison and did not have email or a computer. The accounts were purged by both companies.

Two people entered Wells Fargo Bank, 333 S. Route 83, at 4:34 p.m. July 12 and impersonated another individual by presenting fake ID's to withdraw money. They left the bank without the money and went to Kohl's, where they slipped away from police. It was learned that they had attempted to make cash advances at other branches the same day in the amount of $1,800.

Someone attempted to open several credit cards using personal information from a resident on the 300 block of North Maple on July 4.

A resident of the 400 block of South York Road told police that when he received his bank statement, his wife's name had been removed from the account and a former tenant's name had been added. This occurred sometime between June 7 and 8, police said. An investigation is pending.

Fraudulent transactions were posted July 15 on the TCF Visa debit card of a resident of the 500 block of West St. Charles Road. Charges of $143.19 and $125 were made at a Walmart in Rock Hills, S.C.

Patch reports on law enforcement activity using information provided by official agencies. Persons charged with a crime or issued a citation for violation of a local ordinance are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. If you or a family member are charged with a crime or cited for a violation and the charge or citation is subsequently adjudicated, we encourage you to contact karenc@patch.com and we will do follow-up reporting on the case.