Resident Scammed Of $280K Over Phone: Northbrook Police Blotter

NORTHBROOK, IL — The following information comes from the Northbrook Police Department and court records as a record of incidents reported to police and those arrested on criminal charges, which represent accusations by the state that are often dropped or reduced. Updated information may be available from the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court. Everyone arrested is presumed to be innocent unless found guilty in court beyond a reasonable doubt.

ARRESTS

SUSPENDED/REVOKED DRIVER'S LICENSE

• Francisco Rayo Aguirre, of Chicago, is accused of speeding, driving on a suspended license, and was arrested at 5:05 p.m. Sept. 6, in the 500 block of Dundee Road. A court date of Oct. 8 was assigned.
• Kiven S. Cruz Urbina, of Des Plaines, is accused of having a suspended registration, no valid driver's license, operating an uninsured motor vehicle, and was arrested at 8:55 p.m. Sept. 8, at White Pine Drive and Pfingsten Road. A court date of Oct. 17 was assigned.
• Gustavo Melecio, of Chicago, is accused of having a suspended registration, driving while license suspended, operating an uninsured motor vehicle, and was arrested at 5:20 p.m. Sept. 12, at Dundee Road and Wester Avenue. A court date of Oct. 8 was assigned.
• Edgar Vargas, of Highwood, is accused of having a defective headlight, suspended registration, driving while license suspended, operating an uninsured motor vehicle, and was arrested at 8:58 p.m. Sept. 12, in the 1100 block of Skokie Valley Road. A court date of Oct. 8 was assigned.

DRUG POSSESSION

Tyrone R. Agar, of Chicago, is accused of improper lane usage, no valid driver's license, improper use of registration, operation of an uninsured motor vehicle, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and was arrested at 9:53 p.m. Sept. 7, at Willow Road and Salceda Drive. Police had witnessed Agar reportedly abruptly change lanes in his vehicle and travel straight through an intersection while in the left turn only lane. A K-9 unit assisted the arresting officer, and found crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia in the car. A court date of Sept. 9 was assigned.

STREET RACING

Poojithanand Yerra, of Mount Prospect, and Michael C. Miscevich, of Chicago, are accused of speeding (89 mph in a 40 mph zone), illegal street racing, operating an uninsured motor vehicle, and were arrested at 10:39 p.m. Sept. 8, in the 2700 block of Dundee Road. Police said they saw the two traveling at high rates of speed and believed they were racing each other. A court date of Oct. 3 was assigned.

LAST WEEK'S BLOTTER: Victim Wires $300K To Bogus Company — Northbrook Police Blotter

INCIDENTS

CAR DENT SCAM

A citizen told police at 1:59 p.m. Sept. 6, she had a minor accident when her vehicle struck a white Mercedes in the 700 block of Skokie Boulevard. Both vehicles had been backing out of parking spaces. During the conversation with the other driver, two males approached her and offered to fix her damage to her vehicle. The claimed they worked for a mobile repair business and for $475, they could fix it on the spot. She agreed, and the men spray-painted her bumper to her vehicle. When they completed the work, they said the fee was actually $2,200, and they would follow her to a cash ATM. The complainant started to argue with the men until a bystander came up and asked if she needed assistance. The two accepted $100 and left. The complainant later thought it was a scam because the other driver and the men doing the repair all spoke a foreign language.

CRIMINAL DAMAGE TO PROPERTY

A resident in the 2800 block of Beckwith Court called police at 5:09 p.m. Sept. 6, to report someone had used an object to crack his basketball hoop backstop that was in his driveway. The backstop had a small hole near the bottom of it that caused a crack to form throughout the entire backstop.

FLEEING AND ELUDING

• License plat recognition cameras at Willow and Shermer roads alerted police at 11:11 p.m. Sept. 6, there was a stolen 2019 black Infiniti eastbound on Willow Road. The officer observed that vehicle stopping at a red light. As the officer pulled up behind the vehicle, the vehicle fled through the red light. The officer attempted to stop the vehicle, but the vehicle fled from the officer.
• Police saw a white motorcycle without a license plate attached to it at 7:58 p.m. Sept. 8, at Dundee and Landwehr roads. The officer attempted to stop the motorcycle. The motorcycle quickly accelerated and started weaving in and out of traffic to evade the officer. After the motorcycle traveled through a red light, the officer deactivated his emergency lights.
• Police saw a white Lexus without license plates traveling at a high rate of speed at 10:08 p.m. Sept. 10, at Willow Road and Westleigh Drive. The officer activated his emergency lights to stop the vehicle. The vehicle turned off its headlights and sped away from the officer. The officer lost sight of the vehicle a short distance later.

TELEPHONE SCAM

• A Chapel Drive resident reported at 3:19 p.m. Sept. 7, receiving a phone call in April from someone claiming to be with a credit card company. He advised the complainant that he was with the fraud department and noticed that an account was created to do illegal activities in China. During the phone call, the complainant was transferred to someone posing as a law enforcement officer in that country. That person said he needed to provide him money to make the illegal charges go away. Over a few months, the complainant sent over $280,000. When the complainant tried calling the law enforcement officer, the phone number was not working any longer. That is when he knew it was a scam.
• A Dundee Road resident reported at 10:54 a.m. Sept. 9, she had received an email from Microsoft indicating her account would be locked soon. She contacted the phone number on the email and spoke to someone with a heavy accent. He advised her to purchase several gift cards and provide him the numbers. He claimed she would be reimbursed once the cards were purchased. The complainant purchased $6,200 worth of various gifts as instructed and provided him the card numbers. When the person asked the complainant to withdraw money from her investment account, she knew it was a scam.

RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY

Police responded to a residence in the 200 block of Astor Place at 7:19 a.m. Sept. 8, because a neighbor found a broken rear basement window that had been pried open. Once the officers arrived, they spoke to the homeowner’s family over the phone. They indicated the alarm had activated earlier in the morning and the security system recorded someone suspiciously walking around the rear of the residence. The officers walked through the interior of the residence, but the person had already fled from the house. The bedrooms were ransacked, and it appeared that various watches and jewelry were stolen.

PICKPOCKET AND CREDIT CARD FRAUD

A citizen reported at 3:16 p.m. Sept. 8, while shopping at a grocery store in the 800 block of Willow Road, she was approached by a female. The female asked her where an item was and then walked away. Later, the complainant noticed her wallet was missing from her purse. The wallet contained money, credit cards and her IDs. When she checked with her credit card companies, she learned a fraudulent transaction occurred just after the theft at a pharmacy store in the amount of $2,000.

RETAIL THEFT

• The loss prevention staff at a grocery store in the 800 block of Willow Road reported at 1:27 p.m. Sept. 9, they had seen a male loading bottles of alcohol into reusable bags inside a shopping cart. The staff recognized the man from previous thefts. After the man loaded up the shopping cart, he quickly started pushing it towards the exit. When the man walked outside without paying, the staff ran up and grabbed the shopping cart. When they told him to stop, the man ran away, leaving the stolen alcohol behind. The amount of stolen alcohol recovered was worth $600.87.
• The staff at a grocery store in the 800 block of Willow Road reported 8:14 p.m. Sept. 12, three people — a male and two females — had entered the store and walked to the liquor section. They grabbed three bottles of alcohol and walked toward the exit. All three walked outside without paying for any of the items. They fled in a gold Hyundai.

FORGERY

The staff of a manufacturing business in the 3000 block of MacArthur Boulevard reported at 8:26 a.m. Sept. 11, they had noticed their banking account had been debited $46,441.38. After reviewing the statement, they realized someone had cashed a forged check in Louisiana with their logo and account information on it.

IDENTITY THEFT

A Church Street resident reported at 7:47 p.m. Sept. 11, someone had gained access to her account and a joint account with her husband. The person made three withdraws totaling just over $19,030.52, and ordered a new debit card.