Crime Alert Warns of Local Burglaries

In the first crime alert issued by Wilmette police since mid September, the department informed residents of several recent burglaries and burglary attempts.

The alert, which was sent out Thursday afternoon, provided information on several recent auto, home and commercial burglaries, and asked residents with information concerning these crimes to contact the Wilmette Police Department.

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Wilmette-Kenilworth Patch has previously reported on some of these incidents but not on others. The following crimes were included in the alert:

Attempted Residential Burglaries

An unknown offender cut a nine inch by six inch hole in a window screen at the rear of a residence located in the 100 block of Central Park Avenue sometime between 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Nov. 7.

A Wilmette woman reportedly told police that she witnessed a man attempt to break into the basement window of her home, located in the 2000 block of Central Avenue, at approximately 9:30 p.m. on Oct. 25. According to the report, as the woman pulled her car into the driveway of her home, she saw a man trying to force open a basement window with only his hands. When the man saw the woman, he stood up, ran north up her driveway and disappeared behind her garage.

The woman called her husband, who was in the home, to come out and escort her from the car. Her husband reported seeing or hearing nothing unusual while he was home. The offender was described as a tall man wearing a hood and dark clothing, and as “very fast”

Attempted Commercial Burglary

$1,200 worth of construction materials were reported stolen from outside a warehouse located in the 3600 block of Lake Avenue sometime between 4 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Oct. 20. According to the police report, the warehouse owner said that the missing items included six pieces of copper gutters valued at $200, 15 aluminum windows valued at $300, four eight-foot steel I-beams valued at $400 and four pumps valued at $300.

The owner told police that he is a victim of theft and illegal dumping on a weekly basis, police said. The offenders may have gained access to the warehouse by using a heavy object to force open an exterior door handle.

Auto Burglaries

An unknown offender stole a $200 Apple iPod and $15 to $40 cash from a car parked in the 300 block of Gregory Avenue sometime between 5 p.m. on Oct. 25 and 9 a.m. on Oct. 26.

A coin purse, loose change and 20 anti-depressant pills were reported stolen from two vehicles parked in the 3500 block of Forest Avenue sometime between 9:30 p.m. on Oct. 26 and 10:30 a.m. the following day. Both vehicles belonged to the same victim. No damage was reported. During the police investigation, a second victim flagged down officers to report that her car had also been broken into on the previous night, but she did not think anything had been stolen.

Residential Burglary Arrests

Two Chicago men allegedly forced entry to a residence in the 2600 block of Greenleaf Avenue during morning hours of Oct. 23 and walked around, filling a plastic tote with jewelry, computer equipment and other items before bringing the stolen items to their vehicle. No one was home at the time of the burglary. 

Chicago police stopped the two men in the 5700 block of West Carmen Avenue “a short time after the burglary” and reportedly recovered the stolen property. Police reported that shoe impressions found at the Wilmette residence matched the footwear of the two suspects. Both men are scheduled to appear in Cook County Circuit Court in Skokie at 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 6.

A Chicago man allegedly broke into two Wilmette townhomes in the 500 block of Ridge Road Oct. 31 and stole laptops, camera equipment and jewelry. The man had been released on parole less than a week earlier after serving five years of an 11-year sentence for burglary, police reported. 

A resident of one of the burglarized townhomes told police that someone had stolen five laptop computers, a camera, electronic equipment, jewelry, clothing and an athletic bag form the residence. As more officers arrived on the scene, a neighbor approached police and state that she had seen an unknown man sitting in the bushes lining a nearby alley. When police investigated, they reported finding the offender hiding in the bushes, surrounded by the stolen items.

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