Death Threat Over Letter To Editor; Porch Piracy: Wilmette Crimes

WILMETTE, IL — The following information comes from the Wilmette Police Department as a record of police activity and those arrested by police. Criminal charges represent merely accusations by the state and can be dropped or reduced. Anyone named below is innocent unless their guilt is established beyond a reasonable doubt in court.

INCIDENTS

IDENTITY THEFT
On March 8, police were told someone opened up a Bass Pro Shop credit card with the identity of a 6th Street resident and made two transactions for more than $7,500 between Jan. 18 and 26 at a store in Alabama.

FRAUD
A resident of Lincoln Lane reported on March 8 that someone called purporting to be from the Cook County "jury unit." The caller claimed the resident had missed two jury duty dates and owed a $990 fine. The resident was told to go buy two $495 prepaid cards and send the numbers to the caller. After doing so, the resident realized it was a scam.

FRAUD
On March 8, a resident of Birchwood Lane reported having received a call days earlier from someone who sounded like her 14-year-old grandson. The caller claimed to have been arrested and needed $3,000 to pay bond before asking the resident to buy three $1,000 prepaid cards. She bought the cards and gave their numbers to the caller.

INTIMIDATION
A resident of Washington Avenue reported around noon on March 12 that someone sent him a letter "threatening to shoot a hole in his head" after the publication of a letter to the editor he sent to the Chicago Tribune entitled "Don't let the NRA off the hook."

RETAIL THEFT
Staff at the CVS in the 1500 block of Sheridan Road reported at 3 p.m. on March 12 that a man in a dark coat and a hoodie with a teardrop tattoo had just stolen Rogaine and Zyrtec. The thief was gone before police arrived.

CAR BURGLARIES
Someone got into a car that had been left unlocked parked in the 1100 block of Isabella Street between 3 p.m. March 13 and 9:50 a.m. March 14 and stole three pairs of girls' jeans.

Someone stole a GPS unit and $2 in change from another unlocked vehicle parked in the 1100 block of Isabella Street during the same time period.

FRAUD
A resident of the 200 block of Valley View Drive reported receiving an email on on March 16 that indicated that an order of more than $150 from iTunes had been received, although the resident told police they had not ordered anything from iTunes.

THEFT
Someone stole a package from the front porch of a home in the 2800 block of Blackhawk Road between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. on March 16.

FRAUD
A resident of the 1900 block of Central Avenue reported on March 18 that someone had used their credit card number to order and ship a nearly $800 scuba regulator to their home. The shipping company credit their account and sent an return label.

ARRESTS

Michael Jenkins, 49, of the 1400 block of South Canal Street, Chicago, was arrested on March 8 at the Linden Purple Line station after CTA staff said he was exposing himself on the train. Jenkins claimed his pants had just fallen down, and he was charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct.

A 27-year-old Chicago man was pulled over for talking on his cell phone around noon on March 12 in the 2700 block of Green Bay Road and arrested after he was found not to have a valid license.

Diana G. Villa, 30, of the 9100 block of Lawler Avenue, Skokie, and Alyssa I. Velez, 20, of the 6200 block of West Barry Avenue, Chicago, were arrested on March 13 and charged with theft after an investigation into packages stolen from front doors. Police were called to the 1500 block of Forest Avenue for a theft report shortly before 5 p.m. A witness told cops they had seen someone take a package from the front porch of home and get into a waiting Jeep. The witness recorded a partial license plate for the car and police soon stopped a car matching the witness description near Harvard Lane and Lake Avenue. Police found items from at least two stolen packages and a witnesses identified one of the women, who were each charged with misdemeanors after admitting to the thefts.

Rosanna Mays, 70, of the 1400 block of West Parliament Street, Crete, was arrested shortly after 9:44 p.m. on March 16 following a traffic stop in the 800 block of WEsterfield Drive. Police pulled her over for a traffic violation and soon learned that she was unable to drive because of how drunk she was. She failed sobriety tests and was taken to the station for a breath test, which showed a blood alcohol concentration of 0.244 – more than three times the legal limit.

» Earlier: Wheels Thrown Through Windows In Smash-And-Grabs: Wilmette Police Blotter, March 3 - March 9

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