POLICE BUST 5-TIME BURGLAR

Police in both La Grange and Brookfield have been doing a fine job lately cracking the endless stream of vandalism, thefts, burglaries and home invasions that have been plaguing our communities in recent months.

Just this week, La Grange investigators were quick to the punch in breaking a case of five residential and vehicular break-ins in recent weeks with the Sept. 21 arrest of 19-year old Anthony Harris, of Chicago on five felony counts of burglary.

A resident called police early in the morning Sept. 20 to report two suspicious people in the 100 block of East Maple Avenue.

After a short foot chase of the suspects in the 300 block of South 7th Avenue, Harris was apprehended near 6th and Goodman avenues with some property he could not account for. A search of the area to determine the origin of the proceeds was conducted by La Grange officers with the assistance of Brookfield, La Grange Park, Countryside and Western Springs police.

A canine unit from the Darien Police Department also responded to the area.

A comprehensive search was conducted and the officers and investigators located burglaries in the first block of South Catherine Avenue and the 300 blocks of South Catherine and 7th avenues.

Harris was interrogated at the La Grange police station and two additional crime scenes were identified.

Evidence and property related to the burglaries has been recovered. The evidence included, but was not limited to purses, cell phones and other electronic devices.

However, Police Chief Michael Holub stated these latest cases may not be linked to others in the village earlier this summer.

"Although we have experienced previous burglaries or thefts in La Grange over the past several weeks, we do not believe Anthony Harris is involved in any of those prior cases," he stated.


Now, some happy news
A dog to remain nameless was reunited with its owner following a potentially tragic set of circumstances shortly before 4:30 p.m. Sept. 18. Seems the pet was being walked when it slipped away from its owner's grip and ran into traffic at 47th Street and 9th Avenue, obviously unaware there was a painted crosswalk right there. The dog was struck by the vehicle and became stuck beneath it, but eventually freed himself. Whew. Close call.


Unrelated thefts
Sometime between 11 p.m. Sept. 21 and 8:45 a.m. Sept. 22, a 2-foot-high-by-10-inch wide faux cement decorative lion on a square base was stolen from a front porch in the 200 block of South Kensington Avenue. The figure was valued at $50. Kid's bicycles were reported stolen from a front yard in the 200 block of South Kensington and the front porch of a home in the 100 block of South 8th Avenue, both on Sept. 18

Miscellaneous items were taken when a vehicle was burglarized in the overnight hours of Sept. 21 in the 900 block of South Catherine. Also that night, several articles were shuffled around inside a possibly unlocked vehicle as it was parked in the 300 block of South 6th Avenue, but nothing was reported stolen. In the overnight hours of Sept. 15, two vehicles were burglarized in the 800 block of South La Grange Road.
A white MacBook laptop computer and black IPod were stolen when burglars forcibly entered a locked door of a home in the 100 block of Edgewood Lane in the overnight hours of Sept. 20 and rifled through an entire room while the residents were away.

A resident of the 200 block of South Kensington also reported a burglary to his home after returning from vacation shortly before 9 a.m. Sept. 21, but it was unknown if entry was gained. A ladder taken out of an open side door of the garage was found propped up against the back of the house.

Yet another resident, this time in the 200 block of South Spring Avenue, told police that they heard a noise outside about 1:15 a.m. Sept. 20 and saw two subjects running through yards. Upon investigation, they found their basement window well uncovered and several paver bricks stacked on the side. No entry was gained.


Some (other) crimes go unpunished
A boy was spotted on the roof of the AT&T building at Calendar Court and Ashland Avenue throwing rocks at cars shortly after 4:30 p.m. Sept. 18. He later told police hr was waiting for hos father, who works there, to get off for the day.

That night, at about 9:30 p.m., someone called 911 from a cell phone to report a group of kids who somehow made their way up to the roof of Cossitt School, 115 E. Cossitt Ave. (this seems a regular occurrence), and decided to start playing dodgeball with another group of kids down below. They were seen leaving the area when police arrived.

And we thought summer was over. A group of kids seen bombing cars with eggs from just west of La Grange Road at Ogden Avenue shortly before 10:30 p.m. Sept. 18 could not be located.

The driver of a Waste Management truck was not ticketed when he rear ended and knocked over a fire hydrant in the first block of Beech Avenue at Shawmut Avenue in La Grange Park shortly before 7:30 a.m. Sept. 22. The Fire Department took care of the downed hydrant.

At around 8:30 a.m. Sept. 22, a broken window was discovered at the north side of the former Rich Port YMCA, 31 E. Ogden Ave. Plywood over the window was pried off and the outer of two windows was broken, but no entry was gained.

The unknown driver of a red Corvette was doing burnouts on the street in front of a house in the 700 block of South 12th Avenue on the morning and in the early evening of Sept. 20. In the evening incident, the car turfed the front lawn as well. A special watch was requested as the homeowner believes the trouble is related to a vandalized vehicle reported to Western Springs police two days earlier.

A post was reported on fire in a park at 53rd and Spring avenues shortly after 9 a.m. Sept. 19 and a car was reported on fire at Washington and Lincoln avenues shortly before 4:30 p.m. Sept. 18.


People crimes and what-not
An unknown woman seen walking in the middle of La Grange Road traffic between 47th and 55th streets during the early evening rush hour Sept. 22 prompted several 911 calls from passersby, but police never located her.

A 54-year-old homeless man from Elgin was told to go find another place to stay after he was found establishing residency under the Ogden Avenue bridge along Tilden Avenue and adjacent to the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad tracks at 5:40 p.m. Sept. 18. A day earlier, at about the same time, a 63-year-old homeless woman was sent elsewhere after someone complained she was panhandling outside of the Hallmark gift store at 4 W. Burlington Ave.

A 36-year-old Aurora man who called police to report he had been stabbed during a fight at Bluff and Harris avenues at about 8 p.m. Sept. 18 ended up refusing medical treatment when offered. Multiple 911 calls alerted cops to the fight, which was broken up by the time they arrived.

A 17-year-old Lyons Township High School student was treated for injuries when she hit her head while in the Vaughn Building on the North campus, 100 S. Brainard Ave., it was reported at 10:30 a.m. Sept. 18.

Someone claimed they were jumped by two teens around 47th Street and 9th Avenue at about 8 .m. Sept. 17. The suspects were described as about 18 years old, each one wearing a white short, white hat and blue jeans and the other wearing a Navy blue polo shirt with a design on it. They were last seen in the 700 block of South 8th Avenue.

Two 23-year-old women were cited for simple battery after they got into a fight with each other behind a building in the 1000 block of South La Grange Road at about 3:40 p.m. Sept. 16. Cited were Danielle Zychowski of Justice and Ashley Ortega of Willow Springs.