Burglar Buys Lottery Tickets At Lambert 1957 Gas Station In Joliet, Orange Jeep Faces Forfeiture: Complaint

JOLIET, IL — Jared Haberman, a 42-year-old Chicago man who was the subject of a late November Joliet Patch story involving overnight burglaries in Joliet's west side neighborhoods, now faces a vehicle forfeiture involving criminal activity in neighboring Crest Hill.

This week, the Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow filed a civil forfeiture seeking to confiscate the 2021 Jeep Cherokee belonging to Haberman in connection with a burglary to a motor vehicle on Oct. 30 in Crest Hill.

According to the court filing, Officer Lewis of Crest Hill police was sent to the 1900 block of Cora Street for a motor vehicle burglary. The victim reported that the burglar arrived in an orange 2021 Jeep Cherokee and "stole something from his Lincoln MKZ and he was currently following the offending vehicle northbound on Broadway Street intersecting Theodore Street."

Earlier, the victim received notification around midnight from the security cameras at his home on Cora Street and saw the orange Jeep in the roadway and the lights of the victim's vehicle going on as if someone had closed the door. After the victim checked his vehicle, he received a notification from his Discover credit card revealing that $100 was spent at the Lambert's gas station at 1529 N. Broadway St. in Joliet, court documents show.

The victim drove to Lambert's gas station and asked the clerk if anyone made a recent $100 purchase. While at Lambert's, the victim noticed a white man look up and walk out of the gas station. The victim followed the customer to his 2021 Jeep Cherokee, confronted him and took a photograph of his license plate before the man drove off, the complaint indicated.

The victim tried following after the Jeep, but ultimately lost track of it near Interstate 55, as did the Crest Hill police.

Later, the Crest Hill police interviewed the clerk at Lambert's 1957 gas station, and the employee explained that he saw the white man enter the gas station and sit by the ATM and the lottery ticket machine for 30 to 45 minutes. The man bought lottery tickets and scratched them off.

A review of Lambert's video surveillance showed the Jeep Cherokee pulled into the gas station parking lot from eastbound Theodore and parked at one of the pumps, court documents indicate. A man matching the description of Haberman exited the Jeep and walked into the gas station.

"Haberman is seen using approximately seven different credit cards to purchase one lottery ticket at a time, stopping between transactions to see if the ticket is a winner or loser and then discarding the losing tickets, which were later collected and valued at $50 each," the forfeiture filing reads. "Haberman is seen stopping and looking toward the cashier area, and then immediately heads toward the exit."

According to court files, Crest Hill police issued a bulletin to other area police agencies and it "yielded additional burglary reports in Joliet and New Lenox matching the offending vehicle." The Jeep was later found in Joliet and towed away by Crest Hill police pending the issuance of a search warrant to obtain evidence of burglary to a motor vehicle and unlawful use of a credit card, court records state.

This week's forfeiture filing at the Will County Courthouse notes that Haberman's Jeep Cherokee is scheduled for a forfeiture hearing on Feb. 11. The State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow has asked that Haberman's 2021 Jeep Cherokee be ordered sold at public auction, destroyed or delivered to a law enforcement agency within Illinois.

Related Joliet Patch coverage:

• 1950s Joliet Gas Station Offers Historic Route 66 Nostalgia: Photos
• Joliet Burglar Targeted Several Overnight Victims Along Reed And Mason: English