'Bruce Springsteen,' Fake Lawyer Scam Residents: MGPD Blotter

MORTON GROVE, IL — The following information comes from the Morton Grove Police Department as a record of police activity. Readers are reminded that an arrest by the police does not constitute a finding of guilt, criminal charges — representing merely accusations by the state — are often dropped or reduced and all persons named are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

INCIDENTS

THEFT
Someone stole a bike from the Metra station at 8501 Lehigh Avenue, police were told on June 4.

FRAUD
A Cleveland Street resident reported on June 4 that someone sent them an email with a link to a fake Apple store website, to which they provided personal information. Police did not specify any reported loss.

THEFT
A patron at Menards at 6301 Oakton St. told police on June 7 they left their wallet at the store and it was missing when they returned.

THEFT
An employee at a business in the 7900 block of Caldwell Avenue reported on June 7 that they had gotten a fraudulent email which appeared to come from their boss. It asked the employee to buy multiple gift cards from Walmart and iTunes and reply with the codes. Police did not say if the employee did.

THEFT
An Oleander Avenue resident reported on June 11 that someone had sold them a fraudulent clone of a cell phone on the "Offer Up" app for an unspecified loss.

CAR BURGLARIES
Nine vehicles were reported burglarized on June 12 in the 5600 to 5900 blocks of Emerson Street and Capri Lane. On June 14, three vehicles were reportedly burglarized.

VANDALISM
Someone spray-painted graffiti on village signs and Metra property in the 8700 block of Lincoln Avenue, police learned on June 14.

THEFT
A patron at Austin Park in the 8300 block of Marmora Avenue reported on June 14 that someone stole a beach bag by reaching through an open window in their parked vehicle.

VANDALISM
Two mailboxes in the 9100 block of Waukegan Road were spray-painted with graffiti, police learned on June 14.

IDENTITY THEFT
A Church Street resident reported on June 17 that someone had opened up an unauthorized Verizon account using their personal information.

THEFT
A resident in the 6200 block of Oakton Street reported on June 20 that his sister, who lives in Mongolia, made a purchase on Amazon and had it shipped to his business, which had moved from Morton Grove to Elk Grove Village. Amazon said the packages were delivered but they were never received and could not be located at either location.

SPRINGSTEEN SCAM
A Church Street resident reported on June 23 that they had been contacted via text message by someone claiming to be Bruce Springsteen. After exchanging messages, the resident agreed to send "Springsteen" $11,00 in order to assist him in recovering an "investment in gold he made in Dubai." The resident also provided the bogus Boss with $500 worth of iTunes gift cards for "senior citizen phone bills."

GRANDCHILD SCAM
A resident in the 8800 block of Parkside Avenue reported on June 25 that they had received a phone call from a woman purporting to be their granddaughter. The caller claimed she had been in an accident, was in jail and was in need of money for bail. The "granddaughter" put a fake lawyer on the phone, who convinced the resident to go to Best Buy in order to purchase $4,000 worth of gift cards. The resident went to Skokie, where the store limited them to buying $2,000 in cards at a time. The resident called up the fake lawyer and provided the gift card numbers before going to another store location. The Best Buy employee there would not allow the resident to buy another $2,000 card and explained the nature of the scam.

ARRESTS/CITATIONS

Edelia Reynoso, 49, of the 5100 block of Conrad Street in Skokie, was arrested on June 11 and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol after she was involved in a traffic crash near the intersection of Dempster Street and Mason Avenue. She showed signs of being intoxicated, and when she was taken to the hospital she was found to have a blood alcohol concentration of 0.397 – near a fatal level and five times over the legal limit.

Brian J. Pearse, 35, of the 5400 block of North Artesian Avenue in Chicago, was arrested on June 16 in the 6300 block of Oakton Street and accused of shoplifting a 12-inch saw from the Menards.

Miguel A. Flores-Ortega, 38, of the 200 block of North Avenue in Highwood, was arrested on June 17 near the intersection of Dempster Street and National Avenue and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. Police pulled him over for speeding and suspected he was intoxicated before asking him to take a breath test that indicated he had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.15, nearly twice the legal limit.

Earl J. Crenshaw Jr., 36, of the 3600 block of Howard Drive in College Park, Georgia, was arrested on June 20 near the intersection of Oakton Street and Lehigh Avenue and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. Police got a call about a man passed out behind the wheel and found him sleeping while parked at the intersection with his vehicle running. Police suspected he was drunk and a breath test indicated a blood alcohol concentration of 0.12.

Dimiss E. Jaji, 42, of the 4600 block of Keeney Street in Skokie, was arrested on June 25 for driving without a valid license and on an active arrest warrant issued by DuPage County for with failure to appear in court in connection with a burglary charge.

Yi Seob Park, 73, of the 9400 block of Bay Colony Drive in Des Plaines, was arrested on June 26 near the intersection of Dempster Street and Oleander Avenue and charged with driving under the influence after he was pulled over for an unspecified traffic violation.

Earlier: Caregiver Accused Of Forgery; Sod Thrown By Neighbor: Morton Grove Police Blotter, May 19 - June 8

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