BURGLARIES, THEFTS CONTINUE

As La Grange police continue to investigate possible links among a series of garage and home and yard burglaries predominantly in the neighborhood south of the downtown business district, reports of similar crimes continued to be made this past weekend.

Although no arrests have been made, residents are certainly being vigilant by alerting police whenever they see a suspicious car or person in a neighborhood when such sightings just seem out of place.

Such is the case of a suspicious unoccupied vehicle in the Sedgwick Park parking lot at 47th Street and Bluff Avenue shortly before midnight Aug. 11. Police looked for, but did not find the owner of the vehicle. Or such things as someone noticing open garage doors in the 700 block of South Spring, the 11oo block of Arlington Street and the 400 block of South Peck avenues on the morning of Aug. 9 or in the 800 block of Ashland Avenue shortly after midnight that day. Keep it up, folks. The cops might catch someone yet.

A possible Cubs fan with a bad attitude may also be on the prowl. Seems someone stole a Chicago White Sox flag and flagpole which had been attached to a house in the 600 block of South 10th Avenue. The theft was discovered just before 10 a.m. Aug. 11.

Three and a half hours later, over at the Masonic Home, 441 S. 9th Ave., three bicycles were reported stolen from a bike rack. One of the bikes was locked, said police. A purple Schwinn, also unlocked, was reported stolen at 7:30 p.m. the previous day from the 300 block of South 6th Avenue. And on the morning of Aug. 7, a boy's silver Schwinn Dyno bicycle with yellow, red and blue writing on it was reported stolen from the first block of South Spring Avenue.

But -- police also report -- an unidentified bicycle was found in a front yard at 821 S. Madison Ave., at 7: 40 a.m. Aug. 10.

Three wooden pallets worth a total of $150 were reported stolen from behind Trader Joe's, 25 N. La Grange Road, after the theft was discovered at about 4:45 p.m. Aug. 7. A witness provided a possible license of a driver in a dark-colored minivan who was seen loading the pallets into his vehicle.

A front window was shattered at Urban Sole, 72 S. La Grange Road, at about 5 p.m. Aug. 10. However, vandalism it may not have been. A nearby store owner claims it was likely from rumbling trucks and an ongoing restaurant renovation next door.

An unidentified male victim told police their cell phone was stolen after they were jumped by an unknown offender while walking near Sawyer Park at Lincoln and Washington avenues shortly before 1:30 p.m. Aug. 7.


On to more serious matters
Someone forced entry into a residence in the 900 block of South 6th Avenue, it was reported at about 12:15 p.m. Aug. 10. A day earlier, at 11:20 a.m. Aug. 9, someone discovered a cut screen and a cracked double-pane window in the rear of a home in the 300 block of South 8th Avenue. And shortly after 12:30 a.m. Aug. 8, someone in the 200 block of East Harris Avenue came home to find all of their house doors open.

Home invasion
Two days earlier, at 11:55 p.m. Aug. 7 (that's last Friday night), a resident of the 600 block of South 10th Avenue noticed a man trying to get into the front door of a home and then flee. The stocky, estimated 5-foot-8 suspect, last seen running westbound on 49th Street, was wearing a white or grey hat and blue jeans. He was believed to be in his late 20s or early 30s. However, police called to the scene were unable to locate him.

Other odds and ends

Bat heroes
Village employees helped free an injured bat which somehow got stuck in a residential window well in the 400 block of South Sixth Avenue at 5:15 a.m. Aug. 12.

Oops!
A resident of the first block of South Ashland Avenue was also freed, after locking himself outside of his home -- on the rear balcony -- shortly after midnight Aug. 9.

GET ready to rumm-ble!
An unidentified Lyons Township High School student and his friends were followed home by 18 fellow LT students after police said they were harassed in the central business district by some students from the rival Riverside-Brookfield High School.

Sudsy morning
Seems those no-good household cleaner-wielding pranksters are up to their tricks again. Soap was found in the downtown fountain -- creating, of course, lots of bubbles -- at about 1140 a.m. Aug. 6. The fountain is located halfway between Palmer Place and the parking deck.