CRIME TIPS (HOW TO STAY OUT OF BLOTTER)

Police are serious on this one and we can corroborate what they have to say this time cause we read the police reports and notice how so many residents can avoid being crime victims just by exhibiting common sense.



Late last week, the La Grange Police Department issued a crime alert, noting that the village and surrounding communities continue to experience a high rate of thefts from vehicles.


Portable hand-held devices such as iPods, GPS devices and cellular phones have been the primary targets. The vast majority of the thefts have been from unlocked vehicles.

Since June, Police Chief Michael Holub says La Grange alone has experienced 83 car burglaries (thefts from cars), 65 of which were from unlocked vehicles.


Police say they've been extremely focused on these crimes. Last week, one of our police officers on the midnight shift stopped and questioned a suspicious pedestrian who had property in his possession that he could not account for. The property was subsequently linked to a vehicle burglary in La Grange.

La Grange is also involved in a regional police task force which shares information regarding these types of crimes.

Its midnight shift patrol officers have made more than 750 "security notifications" to residents who have left windows, doors and/or garages open or unsecured. Officers will continue to leave notices and will also attempt to secure an open garage or car door when vulnerabilities are observed.

The Village urges residents to lock vehicles and garages. Please call the police if you see someone parking a car on your block and walking away (parking in one location then walking to another location to steal something is typical thief behavior).

Other indicators include hearing strange noises or a dog barking excessively. When in doubt, call 9-1-1. Police would rather respond and find nothing out of the ordinary, than to not be called until after a theft has occurred.

For more information, contact the La Grange Police Department at (708) 579-2334.


And when the vandals aren't stealing everything from sunglasses, cigarettes and change to laptops and briefcases, they get into other mischief. Such as:


A week ago Monday, on Nov. 3, police and firefighters responded to a fire call in Gordon Park ... for a portable toilet fire at 12:05 a.m.


Less than seven hours later, police had to show up at 47th Street and La Grange Road (by the 7-Eleven) to remove "a piece of a car" from the street.


The previous night, at about 7:30 p.m. Nov. 2, police responded to the report of a large group of kids in Gordon Park, possibly with a bonfire in a container. When police arrived, they informed th driver of a vehicle parked in the lower YMCA lot was advised not to park there, but three others who started the fire were nowhere to be found.


At 8:50 p.m. Nov. 2, two young lovers with nothin' better to do, teenagers mind you, were caught taking off their clothes in a car parked at Maple and Sixth avenues. Police made sure they were dressed before sending them on their way. Thank you, Mr. Policeman.


Police accompanied a Calendar Court business operator to his car at about 9:30 p.m. Nov. 2 after the man told them he received a strange call and felt funny leaving alone.


Shortly after 10:15 a.m., a 66-year-old church deacon was taken to MacNeal Memorial Hospital in Berwyn after someone called 911 and told the dispatcher he suffered from an unknown problem because he was repeating himself and began swaying during a service.


Also about 11 a.m. that morning, a resident reported finding their fence spray painted in the 1300 block of Mason Drive.


At 4 a.m. Nov. 2, numerous pumpkins were discovered smashed on the sidewalks and streets in the 200 to 400 blocks of Eighth Avenue.


And, at 12:30 a.m. Nov. 2, someone reported there were 15 subjects, all dressed in black, toilet-papering a house just north of 47th Street on Brainard Avenue. When police arrived, they were unable to locate the subjects or the victimized house.


Police responded to a report of four 8- to 10-year-old skateboarders takng garbage out of a can and building a ramp with the can at Ashland and Harris avenues shortly after 7 p.m. Nov. 1.


Police also received reports of kids throwing pumpkins off of porches near 47th and Kensington Avenue at about 8 p.m. Nov. 1, but found no signs of kids or pumpkins, but a block party in progress.


At about 9 p.m. that night, police also responded to a report of kids throwing eggs at cars at La Grange Road and Ogden Avenue. The kids were gone on arrival, but an egged car was located in the Walgreens parking lot. Again, at 10:20 p.m.. eggers were reported at Ogden and Ashland avenues, but those offenders also were gone on arrival.


This next report falls under the GROW UP! category:


Two men believed to be in their 20s -- one dressed up as Indiana Jones, the other a devil -- rang a doorbell while out late and a day late trick-or-treating at 11 p.m. Nov. 1, and refused the resident's request to leave the front porch. They were gone when police arrived.


The front windows of a house were broken on the night of Oct, 31 in the 900 block of South Catherine Avenue, it was reported at 11:15 a.m. Nov. 1.

At 11 p.m. Halloween night, a resident of the 100 block of South Stone Avenue reported hearing a loud noise and realized the following day the first- and second-floor of their house was egged.


A special police watch was placed on the 100 bock of Blackstone Avenue a day after Halloween after a 9-year-old girl riding her bicycle said a vehicle which looked like an unmarked squad stopped in the street in front of her at about 12:50 a.m. Nov. 1. After she headed for home, the driver went northbound on Blackstone to eastbound Cossitt Avenue. He was described as having brown hair and wearing a sweathshirt and jeans and could have been the same man seen stealing from a Dumpster. He did not say anything to the girl. But while a neighbor saw what appeared to be someone taking what seemed like a bag out of the trunk and disposing of it.


On Halloween, someone dressed like comedian Mike Meyers was seen walking down the street looking into cars in the 600 block of Spring Avenue shortly before 5 p.m. Police said the 45-year-old man said he was just walking his kids trick-or-treating.

A man who reported his vehicle had been stolen from where he believed he parked it in the first block of Stone Avenue shortly before 6:30 p.m. Oct, 31 later found it at Arlington and Brainard.

The employee of the downtown Starbucks coffee shop, 8 S. La Grange Road, was treated at MacNeal Memorial Hospital in Berwyn. The Brookfield man, who told police his heart was racing, was transported to adnentist La Grange Memorial Hospital for treatment.

MORE COPS AND ROBBERS

A lot of noisy fund-raisers, people falling, having their bicycles stolen, setting things on fire this week, plus stealing and destroying Obama signs -- and we thought the demographic was starting to change in this town. Anyway people, listen to the cops and your good conscience: lock your doors, on your cars and houses, don't leave your garage doors open or your keys in the ignition just in case you want to slip away for a cold one in Brookfield after midnight and tell your kids to do the same. This should be easy by now: lock your bicycles, wear a helmet and knee pads when you're skateboarding. Anything else? Hmm. Oh, and if you don't like the guy, don't vote for him -- but don't rip up his signs.

Heard or seen a crime or suspicious activity you don't see here? Let us know.

A Brookfield woman reported to La Grange police at 5:35 p.m. Oct. 26 that her son's bicycle with a ripped seat stolen a couple weeks ago but never reported stolen, was found chained up to another bike outside of Totally Board, the skate shop at 29 S. La Grange Road. Except they could not prove they owned it and it was locked up to another bike. So the officer told her there was nothing he could do about it.

A 97-year-old woman, Hermina Koca, fell at 601 S. 6th Ave. at about 5:45 p.m. Oct. 26 and was taken to Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital for treatment. Except, as we learned the other day, we can no longer report to you the conditions of accident patients transported to Adventist hospitals (by publicly funded ambulances, mind you), for those of you who like to be in the know. Ya know what? They won't even tell the ambulance drivers when they call back to check on their patient's conditions. That lovely federal hospital privacy law. Go figure.

Also, no condition report was available for an 86-year-old man treated at the same hospital after he was reportedly "bleeding profusely" after falling in the shower room at Victorian Manor, 339 S. 9th Ave., at 9 a.m. Oct. 24. Or an 85-year-old La Grange man who was treated there after he fell down stairs in the 100 block of South Edgewood Avenue at 5:30 a.m. Oct. 23.

Janice M. Jorge, 40, of Oak Lawn, was treated for minor injuries at Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital after the 1999 Pontiac bus she was driving on southbound East Avenue was struck by a BMW Coupe driven by a 25-year-old London man as the man turned left onto Lincoln Avenue from northbound East and Jorge lost control and drove off the roadway. No tickets were issued and the other driver, Rackauskas Benas, was not injured.

A bearded white man in his 20s wearing a red-hooded shirt was escorted off the grounds of the same hospital (5101 S. Willow Springs Road) shortly before 7:30 p.m. Oct. 26, after hospital staff called 911 to let police know there was a disturbance in the ER. He was gone by the time the cops got there.

Later that night, at 10:50 p.m., a "combative patient" caused the hospital to call 911 again, but this time they hung up during the call and then called back saying the patient was secured and they no longer needed assistance. The officers were sent anyway, since a 911 call was made.

Here's that item you've been waiting for, but it's no more exciting than when we first mentioned it: An unknown item was set on fire in the street in front of 216 Sunset, according to multiple 911 calls at around 10:12 p.m. Oct. 26.

This may not be a crime at all: A policeman on patrol found numerous planters and garbage cans knocked over on Calendar Avenue shortly before 11 p.m. Oct. 26. They may have been shoved over by a vandal, or perhaps by the wind.

This could fall under the 'this might not be illegal' category: La Grange assisted Brookfield police in the 4500 block of Blanchan Avenue (one block east of East Avenue) for a "suspicious" subject with a black hoodie and dark pants "passing back and forth in front of a house" at 12:50 a.m. Oct. 26. The guy could not be found when police drove by.

Another "suspicious" guy, wearing a bulky dark-colored sweat jacket was seen riding back and forth in the area of 49th Street and the 700 block of South 11th Avenue shortly before 2 a.m. Oct. 26. He was not found either.

Finally, three "suspicious" men were seen walking back and forth in front of a house before one of them went inside the same house in the 900 block of South Stone Avenue at 3:45 a.m. that night. Police checked it out and determined one of the men lived there and had a couple friends over at the time. Case closed.

Reminds us of the report a detective told years ago about the "suspicious-looking" guy in Wheaton walking down the street with a gas can in his hand. When questioned, he was walking to the nearest gas station because his car ran out of gas. Or the group of men a Carol Stream woman told police were standing still for a long time in her neighbor's lawn on a cold night in December -- who turned out to be a very stationary Joseph and two of the three Wise Men.

But really people, if you see something out of the ordinary, always call the police. It may just be somebody up to no good.

Peace was restored without incident after a 20-year-old woman got into an argument with her 21-year-old ex-boyfriend and her new 26-year-old guy at the Villa Venice condo complex at 50th Street and 7th Avenue about 2:15 a.m. Oct. 26. Police were called to quell a disturbance after a neighbor reported hearing a woman yelling, possibly at the complex.

A 14-year-old boy was found riding his bicycle in the area of Elm and Stone avenues at 4:15 a.m. Oct. 26 was brought home to his mother in the 300 block of South Waiola Avenue.

A 5-year-old BMX bicycle belonging to a La Grange Park boy was stolen from outside the La Grange Theatre, 80 S. La Grange Road, while he was inside watching a matinee from 1:20 to 3:45 p.m. Oct. 25. The serial number and make of the bicycle was unknown, said police, who also noted the bike was UNLOCKED. Enough said.

Another bicycle worth $229 was reported stolen, this time from a garage in the 700 block of South Madison Avenue, on the night of Oct. 21.

A set of mailboxes at a 6-unit apartment building in the first block of North Brainard Avenue was damaged when someone pushed the boxes down and rendered the locks inoperable, it was reported to police at about 5:10 p.m. Oct. 25. No mail was reported stolen.

A 12-year-old girl who got separated from another girl while the pair were out riding their bicycles near Elm Park after 5 p.m. Oct. 25 was found by police at Elm and Brainard avenues.

A special watch was requested in the first block of Drexel after an Obama for President campaign sign displayed on someone's lawn was discovered destroyed at about 10:20 p.m. Oct. 25. Three days earlier, another Obama sign -- this one valued at $10 -- was reported stolen, possibly the night before, from a yard in the 700 block of South Spring Avenue. Not to be outdone, some McCain for President signs also were reported stolen or torn up in the 1200 block of Forest in neighboring La Grange Park.

A police officer was sent to the parking lot of Cossitt School, 115 W. Cossitt Ave., after a group of six or seven children was seen congregating there after 10 p.m. Oct. 25.

Derrick Moore, a 46-year-old homeless man, formerly of La Grange, was arrested for simple battery after he allegedly flicked a lit cigarette at a police officer after the officer confronted him for screaming profanities at families and children at Starbucks, 38 S. La Grange Road, at about 10:25 p.m. Oct. 25. The unidentified officer was not injured.

In an unrelated incident at about 2:15 p.m. that day, a 42-year-old Riverside woman drove her 9-year-old daughter to Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital for emergency treatment after the two were playing around on the sidewalk in front of Starbucks, 38 S. La Grange Road, and her daughter tripped over her long shoelace and fell, striking her forehead on the building. Witnesses said the girl was bleeding from the head after the accident.

No injuries were reported when a La Grange woman's car was struck by another vehicle by the Chase Bank at La Grange Road and Calendar Avenue shortly before 3 p.m. Oct. 25. The woman provided police with the name of the possible offending driver, but no vehicle data. Two days earlier, a vehicle was struck in the 500 block of South Kensington Avenue, sometime during the day.

A laptop computer was reported stolen from a vehicle in the 100 block of South Park Road sometime before it was discovered missing at around 9 a.m. Oct. 25, police said. At approximately 1:40 p.m. that day, a concrete saw was reported missing from a truck parked in the 900 block of South Kensington. Earlier that morning, at about 4:20 a.m., La Grange police assisted La Grange Park police at Nazareth Academy, 1509 W. Ogden Ave., after a school bus with a dome light on inside and another bus were found to have been rummaged through by an unknown thief or thieves and 20 minutes later in the 300 block of North Brainard at Park, where an open garage door and a vehicle inside with its door open led police to believe someone had burglarized it and stole compact discs from inside. A day earlier, a briefcase was reported stolen from a vehicle in the 400 block of South Ashland Avenue at about 11 a.m. A vehicle parked inside a garage also was reported burglarized at about 10 p.m. Oct. 24 in the 300 block of South Park, but its contents were just ransacked. And on the night of Oct. 21, a computer was stolen from an unlocked vehicle in the 700 block of South Madison Avenue.

Whether related or not to the Oct. 25 burglary, a computer case was reported found on the side of a building in the 800 block of South Madison shortly before 11 a.m. Oct. 22.

An undisclosed amount of petty cash and audio equipment was discovered missing from various locked rooms throughout St. Francis Xavier School, 145 S. Waiola Ave., it was reported about 2 p.m. Oct. 22.

Two suspicious men of possibly Indian descent visited a house for sale in the 900 block of South Madison about 1:40 p.m. Oct. 25, asking the female owner if they could rent it out for seven months. The woman told police the man acted odd, but left his name and number and both left in a car with Texas licence plates. The men could not be located by police. The homeowner asked police not to call the man, but police cautioned her to call them if the man returns and refuses to leave.

Police responding to loud noise complaints shortly after midnight on the morning of Oct. 25 discovered the La Grange Public Library was hosting a fund-raiser in the 700 block of South Seventh Avenue at Cossitt Avenue and asked the music be turned down. Police were also called to the same location four hours earlier for the same reason.

Local ordinance tickets for violating curfew were issued to three 15- and 16-year-old Tinley Park girls after they were found in a vehicle at Peck and Goodman avenues about 1:20 a.m. Oct. 25. The girls and two 15-year-old La Grange boys not cited were subsequently released to their parents and so-called youth contact cards were made out.

La Grange police assisted Brookfield police to break up a fight inside Brixie's Bar & Grill, 9526 W. Ogden Ave. -- just one block east of La Grange -- shortly before the bar's 4 a.m. closing time Oct. 25. Assistance was provided shortly before 2:45 a.m. the previous morning in the parking lot of the same establishment.

An unidentified Lyons Township High School student from Western Springs told police he was threatened by a fellow student by West Field at Cossitt and Gilbert avenues at 4 p.m. Oct. 24.

No tickets were issued when a semi-truck driver knocked down a Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad crossing gate at La Grange Road and Hillgrove Avenue about 8:15 a.m. Oct. 24. No injuries were reported, but the truck driver kept driving down southbound La Grange Road until police pulled him over at La Grange and East 55th Street. The railroad was called to repair the gate. However, a 14-year-old boy who police caught illegally walking around the railroad gates at Cossitt and Sawyer avenues at 8:25 p.m. that evening was issued a citation.

A $1,200 check belonging to a La Grange man was reported found by a Goof Samaritan walking along the railroad tracks along Burlington Avenue at Kensington at 10:30 a.m. Oct. 23. The check was handed over to the Police Department to locate the owner.

A 51-year-old homeless man was ordered to stay out of the downtown La Grange Road train station, 35 S. La Grange Road, after a 56-year-old Oak Park man told police the homeless man became confrontational and shoved him, then left on southbound La Grange Road. The victim was not injured, but the aggressor was located at Harris and Ashland avenues and told if he returns he would be brought up on criminal trespass charges.

Also, a 44-year-old man who refused to leave the same station after asking people for money about 6:30 a.m. Oct. 23 was advised by police to return closer to his scheduled departure time.

A white man with glasses and red hair, wearing a tan shirt with khaki pants and holding a blue and white umbrella was reported soliciting without a required village permit in the 1000 block of South Ashland at 11:10 a.m. Oct. 24.

COPS AND ROBBERS

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE LA GRANGE P.D.

Over the last month the Village of LaGrange and surrounding towns have experienced several burglaries to motor vehicles occurring between the hours of 7 PM and 6 AM. The offender(s) are primarily targeting unsecured vehicles with items left out in plain view including, but not limited to the following: purses, GPS units, radar detectors, laptop computers, loose change, etc. Residents are reminded to secure their vehicle(s) at all times and remove items from plain view located inside the vehicle(s). If anyone should observe any suspicious subjects in the neighborhood please contact the LaGrange Police Department at the emergency number of 911 or the non-emergency number of (708)579-2333. Any non-emergency questions can be directed to Inv. Robert Wardlaw or Inv. Dave Rohlicek of the LaGrange Police Department.

OTHER POLICE NEWS

Other than a string of seemingly related burglaries or attempted burglaries to vehicles about town these past few days, some errant vandalism and a myriad of accidents with injuries over the past few weeks, about the most interesting incidents of late concern a hangout some local teens apparently consider a home away from home -- and last but not least, a case of some folks getting their figurative lederhosen in a bunch.

Our latest item involves a special watch La Grange police have put out for an abandoned house at 7 S. Sawyer Ave., an East Side residence where it was reported shortly after 10 p.m. Oct. 20 that a group of teens were going in and out of, drinking and, er, fornicating, according to reports.

Burglaries took place in the 500 block of South Waiola Avenue on the morning of Oct. 19, and on the night of Oct. 16, in the 1000 block of South 7th Avenue and the 100 blocks of North Ashland and Madison avenues. Items were taken in all but one of the incidents. Attempted burglaries occurred in the 400 block of South 7th Avenue in La Grange and the 600 block of North Park Avenue in La Grange Park on the night of Oct. 19, the 300 block of South Waiola Avenue on the night of Oct. 18 and the 100 block of Madison Avenue on the night of Oct. 15. Most of the break-ins were reported the following morning. In the Waiola Avenue incident on Oct. 19, two unlocked vehicles were entered and had items taken from inside between 2 and 2:30 a.m.

An 11-year-old La Grange boy was treated at Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital after he was allegedly struck by a vehicle after running between cars in traffic on the evening of Oct. 10. A 1993 Pontiac Grand Am being driven by Esmeraldo Hurtado Lopez, 44, of Chicago, was northbound on La Grange Road just north of the crosswalk at Calendar Avenue just before 6 p.m. when the boy, Graeme D. Day of 15 S. 6th Ave., Apt. 1, allegedly struck the front of the vehicle. Witnesses told police they saw the boy cross to the east after running in between southbound vehicles in traffic when he came in contact with the Grand Am in far right-hand lane. The boy allegedly told police he did not see the northbound traffic moving at the time. DeLopez received a moving violation ticket as a result and is scheduled to appear in traffic court at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 13.

A 41-year-old Hillside man was treated at Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital after his car was rear-ended by a truck after he braked for crossing pedestrians at LaGrange Road and Ogden Avenue on the morning of Oct. 4. Police reports indicate Paul Fitzpatrick was traveling westbound on Ogden approaching La Grange Road and was struck from behind as he slowed down at the yellow traffic light shortly before 10:15 a.m. The truck driver, Dariusz Lisowski, 29, of Palos Hills, told police he was traveling in the same direction and thought Fitzpatrick's car was going to turn northbound onto La Grange Road. Damage was sustained to the car, but not the truck -- whose driver received a moving violation ticket with traffic court at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 13.

Several cases of vandalism also were reported in recent days in La Grange. The most recent was a lock stolen from a back yard gate of a residence in the 300 block of South La Grange Road on the night of Oct. 19. On the night of Oct. 18, a car was keyed as it was parked outside a house in the 200 block of East Elm Avenue and sometime over the previous day, someone wrote with yellow pen on a car parked in a driveway in the block just south of the La Grange Public Library (However, that resident told police the damage could have occurred the night before outside of Brixie's Saloon at Ogden and Blanchan avenues in Brookfield). Also, someone wrote in black pant on the south side of a sign at Back to Bed, 115 N. La Grange Road, the initials "SANR" on the night of Oct. 17.

Three boys were seen but never caught in Elm Park at Brainard and Elm avenues when a woman's car was hit with an egg as she drove past the park shortly after 8:15 p.m. Oct. 18.

And Halloween isn't even here yet.

On the morning of Oct. 18, employees came to Village Hall to find flowers pulled out of their pots on the building's front steps. The flowers were replaced by Public Works crews that day.

Two male blacks, roughly 5-foot-10 to 6-foot tall, wearing all black clothing with black hoodies over their heads were seen running near Sawyer and Calendar avenues following a possible burglary in progress in the 100 block of Washington Avenue shortly before midnight Oct. 17.

Pieces of scrap copper valued at about $700 were reported stolen between 3:30 and 4 p.m. Oct. 15 from a work site in the first block of South Waiola Avenue after some boarding was torn off a building. The theft was reported the following afternoon.

No arrests were made after a woman in the 300 block of Bluff Avenue told police she received telephone and text message death threats from her boyfriend between 5:30 and 6 p.m. Oct. 19. However, while the messages may have been received in Oak Park, the victim was referred to counseling with the Constance Morris House for abused women in La Grange.

A 6-year-old child was treated at Adventist Hinsdale Hospital after several 911 callers told police she was discovered unresponsive by the swingset at Waiola Park shortly before 1 p.m. Oct. 18.

A 66-year-old woman was treated at Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital after police said she fell outside of the Blueberry Hill Restaurant at Harris Avenue and La Grange Road about 1:45 p.m. Oct. 18.

Firefighters responded to a smoking stove in a home at 201 N. Stone Ave., shortly before 7 p.m. Oct. 16.

Firefighters were busier than normal on Oct. 17, when they responded to a gas leak in the street at 46 S. Waiola Ave. just prior to 10:25 a.m. Nicor gas comany workers were dispatched to the scene to cap the leak. Also that day, firefighters extinguished a car fire in the 100 block of North Ashland Avenue at about 10 p.m. There were no injuries and the call was handled in less than 15 minutes. And in the 1000 block of Meadowcrest in La Grange Park, firefighters from La Grange assisted in responding to a smell of gas at a home at about 11:45 p.m.

And to end this on an upbeat note:
Police made sure loud noise complaints they received from neighbors of St. Cletus Church well after 10 p.m. on the night of Oct. 18 were addressed. Seems the Oompah music from the parish's annual Oktoberfest was a bit too loud.

ALL FIRED UP FOR F.D. OPEN HOUSE

Three La Grange children will again get their names emblazoned on the passenger side windows of the Fire Department's two engines and ladder truck after next weekend's Fire Prevention Week Open House.

The names of winners, culled from entries in a first to third grade coloring contest, will be announced during the open house, to be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4 at the Fire Station, on Burlington Avenue between Ashland and Kensington avenues.

In addition to getting their first name and last initial and grade level set in a decal on the firetruck windows for a full year, mb financial of La Grange will provide each child a $25 U.S. Savings bond.

Because of insurance liability issues, children can no longer climb on firetrucks like they did back in the day. So after the firetrucks get the name decals pasted on them, each child's family is invited to the station to take pictures with their kids by the truck with their name on it.

"It's a little thing we're doing to get the community more involved in what we do," said Fire Leiutenant Dave Rapp. "I think the families and the kids think it's a real neat thing."

He said it is just as important for children to know their local firefighter/paramedics as the local police officers, cause they can look to them for help if they are ever in need.

One of the most popular attractions at the Open House is when folks get to witness two live room fires, as firefighters set two different types of blazes in the two "houses" built out of plywood, steel studs and drywall and allow kids to shoot water at them with a real fire hose -- and, of course, the assistance of real firefighters.

Rapp said visitors get to see the fire and how it spreads from a "fourth wall" inside view almost as if they were watching a movie or TV show filmed. One fire spreads in a faux bedroom with a mattress and the other replicates a living room with couches and a TV set.

Other attractions include the department's technical rescue specialists rappeling off the firehouse roof, hazardous materials technicians suiting up and stopping a chemical leak using a 150-pound chlorine storage cylinder and firefighters using the Jaws of Life to extricate a would-be accident victim from inside a crashed-up vehicle -- all the while viewing Fire Department apparatus such as Engines 1111 and 1112, ladder truck 1119 or ambulances 1114 and 1115

Hot dogs will be served from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and refreshments will be served all day.

Prizes including CO detectors, smoke detectors and fire extinguishers will be given away and balloons and other gifts will be provided by mb financial bank, located at the southeast corner of Burlington and Kensington avenues in La Grange.

Representatives will also be on hand from Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital, the La Grange Police Department, the Park District of La Grange, Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad (which runs freight trains through the East Side of town), ComEd and Nicor. IHB, says Rapp, has a "fabulous" display on their Operation Life Saver program.

Patrol Officer Eric Berg and the LPD's resident canine, Dak, were scheduled to be there, and while their appearance is promoted on Open House flyers, they are currently involved in an out-of-town investigation and may not make it, says Rapp.

Children were already treated to Fire Department visits to their classrooms, in preparation for Fire Prevention Week scheduled from Oct. 5 to 11. Last week, firefighters stopped by St. Francis Xavier and the Park District preschool.

"We certainly hope people and kids walk away having enjoyed themselves ... but also knowing we do much more than put out fires," Rapp said.

COPS AND ROBBERS

The past week or so has not sparked too much serious crime in and around La Grange. Here's a sampling of a few of the police and fire reports of late:



A fence alongside a home occupied by a Village of La Grange department head in the 700 block of South 10th Avenue was started on fire by an unknown vandal, it was reported shortly after 8 a.m. Sept. 28. The fence was extinguished before the Fire Department arrived.

An 18-year-old Brookfield man taunted by a group of fellow teens who tried to start a fight with him while he played basketball in Gordon Park behind the old YMCA was able to run to safety at a nearby fast-food restaurant at about 525 p.m. Sept. 27. The teens fled before police arrived.

The contents of a wallet were stolen from the bedside of an 83-year-old La Grange man while he was being treated at Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital, 5101 S. Willow Springs Road, between Sept. 22 and 25. The stolen driver's license and insurance cards were reported to police at 4:40 p.m. Sept. 27.

Two unknown subjects were reported to be lying on the sidewalk at La Grange Road and Hillgrove Avenue shortly before 12:30 a.m. Sept. 26, but were gone when police arrived.

A stolen vehicle was reported parked for a few days behind Wyckoff Studios, 602 W. Burlington Ave., at about 5 p.m. Sept. 25. The vehicle was reported stolen from a La Grange resident in the 300 block of South Kensington Avenue.

A resident in the 200 block of Washington Avenue reported hearing someone telling her barking dogs to be quiet on the morning of Sept. 25. Believing someone had broken in downstairs, she locked herself in an upstairs bedroom until the arrival of police -- who found a basement and back door open, but nothing missing.

A 10-year-old boy suffering from an anxiety disorder allegedly attempted to stab a La Grange Area Department of Special Education employee with a pen, then ran southbound toward Ogden Avenue after she picked him up from school in the 200 block of South Waiola Avenue at 8:22 a.m. Sept. 25. The boy was located, but the disposition of the case was not immediately known.

A 48-year-old man who allegedly admitted to police he went to Sawyer Park in the 0-100 block of Lincoln Avenue reported he was beat up and robbed of $80 cash and his bicycle by three subjects about 5:45 p.m. Sept. 24. After the incident, the victim got into a vehicle and left and his bike was located in an alley in the 1oo block of Sawyer Avenue. The victim refused medical
attention and would not cooperate any further with police, according to reports. The suspects had two outstanding warrants in Washington and California, which reports indicated were not serviceable in Illinois.

Police were belatedly notified Sept. 24 that an unknown vehicle struck a guardrail in the alley behind the Desplaines Valley Council of the Boy Scouts of America headquarters, 811 W. Hillgrove Ave., on Sept. 4. Damage was estimated at more than $500.

A brick was thrown through a window in the 900 block of South Madison Avenue, it was reported at 8:45 p.m. Sept. 23.

A suspicious person and truck was spotted inside the fence of La Grange Material, 223 Tilden Ave., shortly before 2:15 a.m. Sept. 22. When police arrived, they found the padlock of the yard cut, but nothing missing or out of place inside.

A day earlier, at 9:21 a.m. Sept. 21, a vehicle was reported burglarized in the 900 block of South Ashland Avenue.

Sometime during the night of Sept. 19 & 20, a mailbox was knocked down in the 0-100 block of Wood Lane. A similar incident reportedly occurred at a neighbor's house down the street, but went unreported until then.

A young girl and a friend were riding their bicycles in the 700 block of Madison Avenue at about 7:40 p.m. Sept. 20 when a black Chevrolet Tahoe pulled up to them and a 16- to 18-year-old inside told them he was going to kidnap them. The vehicle then drove northbound on Madison towards 47th Street, but they did not get his license number.

Landscapers were reported working in the 500 block of Spring Avenue 15 minutes prior to the 8 a.m. minimum start time allowed on Saturdays by village ordinance on the morning of Sept. 20. When an officer arrived, they were gone.

Someone smeared dog feces on a car window in the 100 block of South Catherine Avenue, it was reported at 8:05 a.m. Sept. 20.

Later that morning, at 11:12 a.m. Sept. 20, a driver allegedly lost control outside of Fantastic Sam's, 16 E. Burlington Ave., and ran the front end of his vehicle into the building and store window. The driver, 16-year-old Christopher A. Canales, was transported to Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital for treatment and cited for driving without a valid license and speeding.