Victim Wires $300K To Bogus Company: 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

DRIVING ON A SUSPENDED/REVOKED LICENSE

• Donald R. Dehne, Jr., of Lincolnwood, is accused of failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, driving while license revoked, and was arrested at 11:21 a.m. Aug. 30, in the 900 block of Western Avenue. A court date of Oct. 8 was assigned.
• Twanda Grimes, of Riverside, is accused of speeding (58 mph in a 40 mph zone), driving while license suspended, operating an uninsured motor vehicle, and was arrested at 10:32 p.m. Sept. 2, at Willow and Landwehr roads. A court date of Oct. 8 was assigned.

NO VALID DRIVER'S LICENSE

Vicente Chavez, of Wheeling, is accused of having an expired registration, no valid driver's license, and was arrested at 7:05 p.m. Aug. 31, at Dundee Road and Oakleaf Terrace. A court date of Sept. 20 was assigned.

RETAIL THEFT

Ramune Fotiev, of Chicago, is accused of retail theft, and was arrested at 3:02 p.m. Sept. 1, in the 100 block of Skokie Boulevard. The loss prevention staff of the store said they saw her place two pieces of clothing and footwear in her bag. When she walked to the register, she only paid for some of the items and not the clothing. The staff stopped Fotiev outside the store and found the stolen clothing in her bag. The stolen items were valued at $556.91. A court date of Oct. 10 was assigned.

SPEEDING

Amreen Jalal, of Skokie, is accused of speeding (90 mph in a 45 mph zone), operating an uninsured motor vehicle, and was arrested at 8:10 a.m. Sept. 2, at Landwehr and Dundee roads. A court date of Oct. 3 was assigned.

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE

Ernesto Duarte-Campa, of Chicago, is accused of improper lane usage, no valid driver's license, driving under the influence, and was arrested at 1:23 a.m. Sept. 3, at Dundee Road and Skokie Boulevard. A court date of Sept. 20 was assigned.

FAILURE TO APPEAR IN COURT

Samuel R. Pizzolato, of Elk Grove Village, had a warrant out of LaSalle County for failing to appear in court on a FOID card violation, and was arrested at 9:23 p.m. Sept. 4, at Willow and Shermer roads. He was taken into custody and turned over to the LaSalle County Sheriff's Office.

LAST WEEK'S BLOTTER: Thief Steals Handicap Placard From Unlocked Car — Northbrook PD Blotter

INCIDENTS

CRIMINAL DAMAGE TO PROPERTY

A contractor reported at 7:42 a.m. Aug. 30, someone had spray-painted on the floor of a house under construction in the 1100 block of Longmeadow Road. Several windows were smashed throughout the house as well.

DECEPTIVE PRACTICE

A Ridge Drive resident reported at 9:18 p.m. Aug. 30, she had received a message on her computer to contact Microsoft due to an issue. She called the number listed on the message. She was told her computer issues were due to illegal pornography that was on her computer. The unknown person asked her to deposit $30,000 into a Bitcoin machine in Wheeling. The complainant, not knowing what to do, withdrew $20,000 from her account and brought it to Wheeling. She deposited the money into the Bitcoin machine while the person stayed on the phone with her. When he asked for more money, that is when she knew she was being scammed.

THEFT

• A resident in the 1000 block of Butternut Lane reported at 9:07 a.m. Sept. 3, someone had stolen a delivered package off of her porch. The package contained clothing she had purchased on Amazon.
• The staff at a food distribution business in the 500 block of Academy Drive called police at 11:22 a.m. Sept. 4, to report they had received a purchase request from a company they have done business with in the past. The request was for two orders totaling $95,200. The orders were to be shipped to a Chicago address, which is different from the normal address in Utah. After the goods were dropped off in Chicago, the Northbrook business sent the bill to their customer. The customer said they never put in an order and someone must have scammed the business. After looking into all the specifics of the order request, it was clear the order was fraudulent.

COMPUTER FRAUD

A resident in the 1400 block of Shemer Road reported at 11:26 a.m. Sept. 5, she was in the process of closing on a home with her lawyer and title company. She received an email from someone she thought was from the title company asking her to wire transfer the $328,454.36 to a specific account. The complainant wired the money as instructed. At the time of the closing, her lawyer and the real title company asked where the wire transfer was because they had not received it. She then realized she had been scammed by someone sending her a fraudulent email to steal her money.

FORGERY

A staff member of a sports business in the 500 block of Skokie Boulevard reported at 3:45 p.m. Sept. 4, they had sent a check in the amount of $21.53 to a business for goods they received. While reviewing the businesses' accounts, she noticed the check had been snatched in the mail. The check was changed to $18,207 and a different name was put on the check at the time it was cashed.