Here's How Hinsdale Purse Theft Went Down: Cops

HINSDALE, IL – A Hinsdale sandwich shop employee stole a purse from a nearby unlocked car that was running, but he was arrested soon after, police said.

David Thomas, 45, of Chicago, was charged with felony burglary without causing damage. He was taken to the DuPage County Jail.

Patch obtained the full police report through a public records request.

On the afternoon of Nov. 29, a woman left her 2021 Land Rover Velar in a parking lot south of Silk Road Cleaners, 11 S. Lincoln St.

When she returned, her purse on the front passenger seat was gone. It contained a DeMellier purse, a Louis Vuitton wallet, a vehicle fob, an iPad, credit cards and $300 to $400 in cash, police said.

The iPad was pinging in the area of the theft. An officer found the purse standing upright behind a dumpster on the edge of the parking lot, but everything but the fob was missing, police said.

Before finding the purse, police had seen an employee of neighboring Fontano's Subs throwing garbage in the dumpster, police said.

The employee, identified as Thomas, at first denied entering the car. He said a white homeless man with scraggly hair had been behind the dumpster, according to the report.

The restaurant consented to a search. An officer found the purse’s contents behind tomatoes in a freezer, police said.

When questioned further, Thomas admitted to taking the purse, police said. He said he did so when a woman entered the shop and announced that someone had left a car door wide open in the parking lot.

Police were told that Thomas had worked at the restaurant for a month.