'Third Threat' In Burr Ridge Burglaries: Official

BURR RIDGE, IL – Burr Ridge saw an increase in home burglaries last year, with a police official pointing to a new type of burglary.

In 2022, police received 18 reports of residential burglaries, up from 11 the year before. In 2019, the village recorded six.

"Our burglaries are Hinsdale's burglaries, are Oak Brook's burglaries, are Skokie's and the North Shore's burglaries," Deputy Police Chief Marc Loftus told the Village Board last week. "The criminals don't respect boundaries. They don't know about boundaries."

The local department works with others to figure out trends in burglaries. That way they can deploy "saturation" patrols and target areas at certain times to attack the problem, Loftus said.

"Generally, we have dealt with two threats – the regular burglar coming from outside the area to target a wealthy neighborhood and we've seen ruse burglaries," he said.

Ruse burglaries are where one person distracts a homeowner while others enter the house to steal valuables.

"We've seen a third threat added to this – a South American theft group. It's a group of individuals coming in from a couple of countries in South America through visa applications," Loftus said.

They are hitting towns across the country, he said.

"We've seen seven more burglaries than last year," he said. "But we've added a third threat."

Here are statistics from the Burr Ridge Police Department: