Crime & Safety

Cigarette Causes Deck Fire on South Spring Road

Also, jewelry, tools and wallets stolen, and several storage units broken into.

A fire broke out on the wooden deck of a second-floor apartment on the 500 block of South Spring Road at 11:15 a.m. Oct. 19. The resident said he had been smoking a Camel cigarette and extinguished it outside the back door of his apartment into a partially wet cardboard box. He said he thought it had been fully extinguished, but a short time later, a portion of the deck was burning.

Theft
Someone took a black leather wallet containing a drivers license, bus pass, insurance card and debit card from the lobby of an apartment complex on the 200 block of South West Avenue at 11:30 a.m. Oct. 13.

Someone stole a $30,000 green Leica Smartrover GPS system in a red plastic case from a weeded area off the roadway south of the exit from Roosevelt Road to Brush Hill Road at 4 p.m. Oct. 14. The equipment is used by surveyors.

Someone stole a man's wallet while he shopped at Kohl's, 303 S. Route 83, between 12:30 and 1:15 p.m. Oct. 16. The wallet contained a drivers license, social security card and debit card.

Someone removed four rings and a roll of 25 gold coins from the top drawer of a bedroom dresser of a home on the 200 block of East Huntington Lane sometime between Sept. 17 and Oct. 17. The victim said while she was out of town, her daughter had some friends over and one of them may be responsible.

Someone made three fraudulent charges on the MasterCard account of a victim on the 100 block of Fellows Court between Oct. 11 and 14.

Someone stole a cell phone from a book bag at Sandburg Middle School, 345 E. St. Charles Road, at 4 p.m. Oct. 13.

Someone tampered with four storage lockers on Public Storage property, 297 E. Lake St., betweenΒ  May 20 and Oct. 18. On two of them, the company-owned blue disk lock and security seal was removed and replaced with an unknown padlock. Another had the blue disk removed and a cut master lock hanging on the door. The last locker had the lock missing but the security seal still intact. The report did not indicate what was taken.

Police were called to Jewel, 944 S. York Road, after staff said three men set off the alarm as they left the store at 1:43 a.m. Oct. 19. It is unknown what was taken. They were last seen driving in a silver vehicle westbound on Butterfield Road. Police will examine surveillance video.

Someone placed a boys black and white BMX style bicycle inside the police station lobby. It was discovered at 6:15 A.M. Oct. 19. The bike was placed into evidence to be returned to the owner.

A resident of the 200 block of South Kenilworth Ave. told police that she was organizing her jewelry in her bedroom at 6 p.m. Oct. 17 when she noticed three rings were missing: a white-gold ring with a 1/2-carat diamond solitaire, a gold men's fraternity ring and a men's gold ring with a tiger eye stone and three small diamonds. Total value of the loss is estimated at $600.

Someone took a black Apple iPod from the lab coat pocket of a victim on the 300 block of West Lake Street between 1 a.m. Aug. 20 and 5:30 p.m. Aug. 22. The incident was reported at 4:42 p.m. Oct. 19.

Someone cut the lock on his storage unit on the 200 block of West Lake Street between July 15 and Oct. 18 and removed numerous items. Another lock was placed on the unit, which management removed. Missing are three tires tools, a china pellet rifle and a vacuum.

Someone broke into a van parked on the lot at Extended Stay of America, 550 W. Grand Ave., between 4:30 p.m. Oct. 19 and 9 a.m. Oct. 20. The rear cargo and passenger side doors had been punched and a $1,000 generator and $1,000 drill were removed.

An employee of Gerber, 500 W. Lake St., allegedly wrote herself checks from the business totaling $2,254.22 between June 29 and Oct. 20. The suspect also has charges pending with her former place of business in Hillside for similar activity. An investigation is pending.

Police were sent to a business on the 300 block of South Route 83 on a report of forgery at 3:23 p.m. Oct. 20. An unknown man reportedly withdrew $4,000 from a bank account on Sept. 23.

Someone cut the lock to a storage unit on the 200 block of West Lake Street and took several items between July 30 and Oct. 18.


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