More Than $2,500 Worth of Items Stolen from Store: Police

The following information was submitted by the Northbrook Police Department. An arrest is not an indication of guilt.

CREDIT CARD FRAUD

Bernard L. Mason, 23, Chicago was charged with aggravated financial identity theft from an incident first reported at 2:45 p.m. on November 12, 2014 in the 1500 block of Lake Cook Rd. In November, the defendant was found with three re-encoded credit cards in his possession. After investigating, detectives learned that none of the actual owners of the cards had authorized Mason permission to use them. The defendant turned himself into detectives on January 15 and was processed and placed into a cell awaiting transportation to Skokie bond court.

THEFT

A woman related at 6:57 p.m. on January 15 she realized she left her purse in the shopping cart after returning home from grocery shopping in the 4100 block of Dundee Rd. When she returned to check the lot she was unable to locate the purse.

DRIVING WHILE LICENSE SUSPENDED

Luis Omar Soto, 26, Highland Park was charged with driving while license suspended and improper lane usage at 1:13 a.m. on January 16 in the 600 block of Waukegan Rd. after being stopped for a traffic violation. Officers learned the defendant’s Illinois driver’s license was suspended.

BURGLARY TO AUTO

A victim in the 900 block of Skokie Blvd. reported at 10:43 a.m. on January 16 offenders removed the spare tire from underneath his 2012 Ford F150 by cutting the chain that secured the tire. No estimate of the cost to replace the tire.

THEFT

Jelena Gasic, 30, Niles was arrested on a theft charge at 10:48 a.m. on January 17 in the 100 block of Skokie Blvd. The defendant, a former employee of the business located there, admitted to three incidents of theft of United States currency between December 1 and January 15. The defendant, a cashier at the business, would conduct the transaction with the customer and later after the customer had left apply a coupon to the transaction then remove the difference from the register. She was processed and released after posting bond.

RETAIL THEFT

Konrad Herba, 36, Chicago was charged with retail theft at 4:29 p.m. on January 17 in the 800 block of Willow Rd. after allegedly removing cookware from a display shelf and exiting the store without paying for the merchandise. Loss prevention followed the offender to the parking lot and pointed the offender’s vehicle out to the responding police officers.

THEFT

A victim reported at 4:10 p.m. on January 17 that her cellular phone was stolen from her purse while at a store in the Mall located in the 1500 block of Lake Cook Rd.

AGGRAVATED IDENTITY THEFT

Nicholas V. Annerino, 19, 2101 Madison Circle was charged with aggravated identity theft at 9:46 p.m. on January 17. The defendant was arrested for cashing several checks from a checking account of a family member and forging that family member’s signature. The Cook County ASA office approved felony charges.

POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE

Isaac Lee, 21, 3643 Salem Walk, Apt. AG was charged with speeding, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of cannabis at 11:51 p.m. on January 12 in the 3500 block Dundee Rd. Officers observed above’s the vehicle northbound on Melvin, then enter the parking lot at 2900 MacArthur, and leave the lot about two minutes later. After pacing the vehicle on Anthony at 38-40 MPH, the vehicle was stopped near 3500 Dundee. An odor of cannabis was detected coming from the vehicle’s interior; with a subsequent search revealing a plastic Tupperware container in the center console. Inside the container was a heat-sealed plastic bag containing a green leafy substance and a plastic Ziploc bag that contained 15 white and yellow pills. Defendant admitted to ownership.

SUSPENDED REGISTRATION

Paul T. Kim, 32, 1800 Smith was charged with suspended registration at 10:15 p.m. January 18 in the 2700 block of Techny. The defendant was stopped by officers for a traffic violation. Officer’s learned that the vehicle’s license plates were suspended for a mandatory insurance violation.

RETAIL THEFT

Akia N. Taylor, 25 and Raynesha N. Figger, 19, both of Chicago, were charged with felony retail theft at 7:23 p.m. on January 19 in the 1500 block of Lake Cook Rd. Complainant was monitoring a section of the store extra closely due to the prior incidents in which the offenders were able to successfully remove the merchandise without being caught. Another employee was monitoring the in-store video surveillance system and observed two black females enter the Upper Level Mall entrance to the store and immediately begin checking items in that section. Later, two additional black females and one black male entered the store from the Upper Level Mall entrance and immediately began checking the same section along with the two defendants. The four women began removing items from the display racks and concealing them. Complainant attempted to apprehend all of the subjects after they exited the store without paying for the items with a total value of about $2,535. All of the subjects ran from the complainant. Taylor and Figger were located in the 1100 block of Lake Cook. Both stated they had been looking at items and decided to take them as they could not pay for them.