If It's Copper, It's Gone; and Kohl's is a Popular Spot for Thieves

Commercial Burglary

Someone forced their way into a storage room at a business on the 1000 block of South Euclid between 3:30 p.m. Dec. 28 and 6:45 a.m. Dec. 29 and removed about 200,000 feet of new electrical wire of various gauges and colors, six Motorola radios with chargers, a yellow concrete-vibrating machine and a 15 horsepower generator. Total loss is estimated at $77,600. Police also reported that during the same time period, a large quantity of copper pipe and copper fittings worth about $10,000 and additional spools of copper wire and copper scrap were taken from an unsecured underground parking garage at the site.

Theft Arrests

Angelica Rodriguez-Gomez, 38, 595 Gunderson Apt. 404, Carol Stream, was arrested and charged with retail theft at Kohl's, 303 S. Route 83, at 4:44 p.m. Dec. 24. She was seen on surveillance camera removing tags from jewelry worth $24 and placing it into her pockets. She was released on bond.

Taneka Mitchell, 35, 429 N. Oak Ave., Wood Dale, was arrested and charged with retail theft after she allegedly took a houseware item off the shelf at Kohl's, 303 S. Route 83, and returned it for a $53.99 refund at 1:38 p.m. Dec. 26. She reportedly received the money and walked out of the store. She was released on bond.

Carlos Alanis, 45, 901 N. 23rd Ave., Melrose Park, was arrested and charged with retail theft after he allegedly took a bottle of Eternity cologne from Kohl's, 303 S. Route 83, at 8:27 p.m. Dec. 29 He was released on bond.

Theft

A woman was seen leaving Dominick's, 215 S. Route 83, removing a cart full of liquor without paying for it at 7:24 p.m. Dec. 23. When she was approached by store security, she ran. Her vehicle was towed to the police department and is being held for a search warrant.

Someone stole a van from a driveway on the 700 block of South Stratford between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Dec. 24. The keys were inside.

A Wood Dale juvenile, who reportedly is a habitual runaway, was picked up by Elmhurst police after allegedly stealing $88.10 worth of clothing and jewelry from Kohl's, 303 S. Route 83, at 7:04 p.m. Dec. 26. She was picked up by her parents and is scheduled for a juvenile hearing next month.

An Elmhurst man came into the police station at 1:04 p.m. Dec. 27 to report that his account had been fraudulently debited $857.38 to purchase merchandise at a Walmart in Hammond, Ind. He had his debit card in his possession.

A resident of Comstock reported that someone had made 15 to 20 unauthorized transactions to her Harris debit account totaling about $329. The transactions were done online in Arizona, North Carolina and Korea. She had her card in her possession.

The owner of an Elmhurst business came into the Elmhurst police station at 11:15 a.m. Dec. 28 to report that she had given $3,200 to a grant-writing company. She was hoping to receive additional funds to open a new location, but she discovered that the grant writing company was a fraud.

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.