Indiana Man Nabbed With Illegal Pot, Weapon During Northbrook Traffic Stop

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

Alexandra Botthof, of Fox River Grove, is accused of failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, driving while license suspended, suspended registration, operation of an uninsured motor vehicle, and was arrested at 11:39 a.m. April 12, in the 1200 block of Cedar Lane. Police had responded to a non-injury auto crash where Botthof had run off the roadway and struck a tree. A court date of May 7 was assigned.

UNLAWFUL USE OF A WEAPON

Alonzo J. Cruz, of Whiting, Indiana, is accused of disobeying a no left turn signal, illegal transportation of open cannabis, unlawful use of a weapon, and was arrested at 9:14 p.m. April 13, in the 1000 block of Waukegan Road. Police had stopped the vehicle for a traffic violation and spoke to Cruz. The officer could smell the odor of burnt cannabis coming from inside the vehicle. Cruz said he did have some cannabis open inside the vehicle. The officers found two unsealed baggies containing a leafy substance that appeared to be cannabis, as well as a loaded 9mm handgun in a pocket of the driver’s seat. Cruz did not have a valid Illinois FOID card. A court date of May 7 was assigned.

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INCIDENTS

IDENTITY THEFT

A Bridlewood Lane resident reported at 10:37 a.m. April 11, someone had used her personal information to create an unauthorized account with People's Gas. She recently learned of this account when she received a $1,000 from People's Gas on a property in the city of Chicago that she has no affiliation with.

THEFT

A resident in the 4400 block of Lindenwood Lane called police at 4:13 p.m. April 11, to report someone had cut his tarps that were covering his outdoor furniture and stole some of his patio chairs.

CRIMINAL DAMAGE TO PROPERTY

Throughout a week's time, the Northbrook Police Department reported on April 12 finding several windows smashed at a closed church in the 3700 block of Dundee Road. It appeared rocks were thrown through the windows of the building on different days of the week. The maintenance staff were contacted, and they boarded up the damaged windows.

PICKPOCKET THEFT

CREDIT CARD FRAUD

It was discovered on April 15 that a Village of Northbrook credit card number was used in Kentucky and Indiana at auto repair centers for the purchase of tires. The staff was still in possession of the credit card, but didn’t know how someone retrieved the number to facilitate the fraud. A total of $11,485.02 was illegally charged on the card.

FACEBOOK ACCOUNT TAKEOVER

A Horizon Lane resident reported at 7:28 p.m. April 15, someone had hacked into her Facebook account and changed the account and profile. The complainant tried several times to change the account back to her settings, but was not able to.

THREATENING ONLINE MESSAGES

A Landwehr Road resident called police at 8:38 p.m. April 15, to report receiving threatening message on his Instagram account. The message was nonspecific ranting about Jewish people. The complainant supplied the account message to the Northbrook Police Department to determine who sent the message.

COMPUTER SCAM

A Ridge Road resident called police at 6:19 p.m. April 16, to report he was contacted by someone claiming to work for an antivirus company specific to his computer. He told the complainant there was an issue with his computer and he needed the complainant to take $10,200 out of the bank to fix the issue. After taking the money out, the complainant was instructed to deposit the funds into a cryptocurrency machine and supply the person with account information. The complainant deposited the money, and the person said, “You have just been scammed!” The complainant tried calling the person back, but he never answered. He was unable to retrieve the money he lost.

EMAIL SCAM

An Aspen Road resident called police at 8:21 p.m. April 16, to report they had received an email from PayPal. The email indicated that there had been a series of suspicious purchases under his account. Since the complainant didn’t have a PayPal account, he called the phone number listed on the email to discuss it with them. The supposed representative advised him of the fraud and instructed the complainant to deposit $22,000 into a cryptocurrency machine under a certain account and purchase over $50,000 from two different gold companies to fix the issue. The complainant did as he was instructed, but later realized he was scammed.