91-Year-Old Elmhurst Victim Distracted In Burglary: Police

ELMHURST, IL – A man who took part in an Elmhurst ruse burglary sent a photo of one of the pieces of stolen jewelry to his girlfriend, police said. She apparently liked it.

Arrested recently on charges of residential burglary were Michael John, 45, of Rosemont, and Andy Bimbo, 33, of Elmwood Park. John is believed to be involved in ruse burglaries in Des Plaines as well.

On the afternoon of Jan. 21, a 91-year-old woman in the 400 block of Highland Avenue opened the door to a man, according to a police report obtained by Patch.

The man said he had to do some digging in the backyard, police said. The woman was toward the back of the house with the man when two other men went into a front bedroom, where they stole costume jewelry, two butterfly-shaped rings, two butterfly-shaped earrings and a $100 bill, police said.

The total loss was estimated at $518.

The incident was seen on interior cameras, police said. And officers received help from Skokie police detective Jose Mendez, a ruse burglary specialist who recently assisted local police on another such burglary. He told local police about John.

Elmhurst police found social media photos of John and determined that John was connected to the truck used in the Highland burglary, according to the report.

On Feb. 13, officers from a number of departments trailed John and two other men into Chicago. When officers approached the trio, they tried to drive away, going onto a sidewalk and striking a control box for a traffic light, police said. One of the other men was Bimbo. They were arrested.

In an interview with officers, John, who appeared to be wearing the same clothes as he did during the burglary, said he had not been in Elmhurst in a long time, police said. When he was shown the photo of himself in the woman's home, John sighed and asked for a lawyer, the report said.

John then said he could give Elmhurst police information about other crimes if the officers said how they could help him, police said. The officers told him they would not take any information on other crimes and accomplices until John was honest about the Elmhurst case. He stopped talking.

Officers found that John searched on his phone for "ruse burglary Elmhurst Illinois" a half dozen times in the days after the burglary. Elmhurst Patch reported on the crime shortly after.

A day after the burglary, John texted a woman believed to be his girlfriend and forwarded a photo of the butterfly jewelry, police said.

"That's so cute," she said, according to the report.

He promised to give it to her, police said.

The report said police believe the third suspect may be involved in a Burr Ridge case.

A ruse burglary is where one person distracts a homeowner while another sneaks in to commit burglary. Typically, elderly people are targeted.