Thieves Hit Elmhurst in All Sorts of Ways

A number of vehicle burglaries have been reported in Elmhurst over the past couple of weeks. Residents are reminded to keep their cars locked and do not leave anything of value inside.

A Coach wallet, credit cards, drivers license and $300 were reported stolen from a 2009 Infiniti parked in the 200 block of North York Road between 1:45 and 2:05 p.m. on Nov. 28. Police said the driver’s side window was broken, causing $200 damage.

A man staying at Extended Stay America, 550 W. Grand Ave., told police he was sleeping when he heard a noise at 4:43 a.m. Dec. 5. When he looked outside, he saw a man in the bed of his truck attempting to pry open the tool box. Missing from the truck was a GPS unit and a leaf blower. The victim also had another truck in the lot; there were pry marks on the door locks of both trucks.

Someone entered a 2000 Nissan Altima parked on the 100 block of East Fullerton and removed a brown Guess wallet worth $200 between 10 p.m. Dec. 7 and 12:08 a.m. Dec. 8. The thief gained entry by removing a piece of cardboard from the rear vent window, which had been broken a week ago at the same address. The wallet contained a drivers license, credit and debit cards.

Someone broke into the box portion of a work truck parked on the 500 block of North Michigan between 4:30 p.m. Dec. 7 and 7 a.m. Dec. 8 and removed a gas-powered concrete compactor worth $2,400, two gas-powered concrete saws worth $1,350 apiece, and an electric hammer drill worth $700. The vehicle was parked behind the residence in a gravel parking lot.

Someone smashed out the drivers window of a red Pontiac G6 that was parked on the 400 block of West Fremont between 7 p.m. Dec. 7 and 10:30 a.m. Dec. 8. The victim's daughter was unsure if anything had been taken.

Also reported were arrests for retail theft, identity theft, commercial burglary and more.

Retail Theft Arrests
Eddie Salazar, 18, 17W202 Red Oak St., Addison, and a 17-year-old girl were arrested and charged with retail theft at Kmart, 265 S. Route 83, at 9:12 p.m. Dec. 3. They were released on I-bond.

Tina M. Corwin, 30, 2539 Elder Lane, Franklin Park, was arrested and charged with retail theft and possession of drug paraphernalia after police pulled over her gray Ford F150 after she was allegedly identified by employees at Dominicks, 215 S. Route 83, as having taken items from the store at 12:51 a.m. Dec. 7. She also was allegedly driving a vehicle that was taken without the owner's permission, and was wanted on four warrants. She was taken to DuPage County Jail.

Commercial Burglary
Someone broke into a storage locker at a business on the 200 block of East Lake Street and removed $9,630 worth of items between 9 a.m. Oct. 12 and 10:07 a.m. Dec. 3.

Theft
Someone broke into a trailer parked in the 100 block of West Grand Avenue between 5:15 p.m. on Nov. 23 and 7:50 a.m. on Nov. 25, and took $4,500 worth of maintenance equipment. Items reported stolen were a lawn mower, new Kawasaki engine and a backpack blower.

A resident in the 400 block of West Montrose called police to report someone was using his Discover card to make fraudulent purchases over the last few years. He believes as much as $1,000 in bad charges had been made to the card.

A woman in the 400 block of West Butterfield reported someone took several items of jewelry from a bag she had hidden in her closet while a cleaning crew came to her apartment. She told police she specifically put the bag in her closet because the crew was coming between Nov. 20 and Nov. 24. No one else was in the apartment during that time, she said.

A grocery store employee at Jewel, 944 S. York Road, reported seeing a male suspect with a “large bulge in the suspect’s front sweat shirt pocket” exit the store around 5:45 a.m. on Nov. 26 and set off the alarm system. The suspect left in a silver vehicle.

A 2000 Honda Civic was reported stolen from a parking lot of an apartment in the 100 block of East Lake Street sometime between midnight and 12:15 p.m. on Nov. 28.

A pedestrian cross walk sign was reported stolen from the 100 block of East Brush Hill near Elmhurst Memorial Hospital. The sign was taken between 12:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 28.

Three 2012 Buick Enclaves had air bags stolen from their steering wheels between Nov. 23 and 25 from a business in the 300 block of West Grand Avenue. Each vehicle was unlocked at the time, police said. Total value of the air bag is estimated at $2,100.

Someone stole the rear license plate off of a vehicle parked on the 700 block of West Lake Street between noon Nov. 28 and 8 p.m. Nov. 30.

Someone stole a 3-foot-tall blue and orange Chicago Bears sign worth $50 from the front yard of a home on the 400 block of Argyle between Nov. 21 and Dec. 1.

Someone removed the catalytic converter from a vehicle parked at Lexington Square, 400 W. Butterfield Road, between 6:30 a.m. and 6:45 p.m. Dec. 1. The victim told police her car was in good working condition when she parked it, but when she was driving home, the exhaust system sounded much louder than normal. Her husband noticed the missing part. Cost of repair is estimated at $1,700.

A resident on Atrium Way reported to police at 9:55 a.m. Dec. 3 that she received a call from someone requesting her personal information, including credit card numbers and social security number. She said the number came up "Scam Number" on her caller ID, but she supplied all of the personal information to the caller. After the call, she realized she had made a mistake and canceled her bank cards.

Someone removed an Apple iPod Touch valued at $200 from a treadmill in the weight room at York High School, 355 W. St. Charles Road, between 1:25 and 2:30 p.m. Dec. 2.

A man purchased a dune buggy from an individual on Oct. 15, 2010, and sold it to X Motorsport Inc, 530 W. Grand Ave., in May. He was recently contacted by X Motorsport because the dune buggy might have been stolen. The serial number plate had been removed and the stamped serial number on the frame had been ground off. The matter is being investigated.

Someone stole a debit card from a gym locker at York High School, 355 W. St. Charles Road, at 6:40 a.m. Dec. 6. The card was used at a 7 Eleven in Elmhurst. Loss is about $50.

Someone removed a cell phone and an iPod from a gym locker at York High School, 355 W. St. Charles Road, between 3:30 and 6 p.m. Dec. 2. The locker door was pried open.

Someone opened a phone account and a JC Penney account in a resident's name and charged $813 and $2,043, respectively, on Dec. 1.

Someone charged $637 on a victim's account at Kmart, 265 S. Route 83, at 8:02 p.m. Nov. 25. The victim reported that her purse was stolen in Schaumburg.