Identity Thief Manages To Secure $290,000 In Loans: Blotter

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 are often dropped or reduced. Anyone named below is innocent unless their guilt is established beyond a reasonable doubt in court.

INCIDENTS

RESIDENTIAL AND CAR BURGLARIES
Between 11 p.m. on June 4 and 5 a.m. on June 5, someone burglarized an unlocked attached garage and an unlocked car in the garage in the 2800 block of Orchard Lane, stealing a purse with credit cards from inside. By 5:20 a.m. that morning, someone had used the cards at various locations and online. During the same period, four unlocked cars parked in driveways of homes in the 2900 block of Orchard Lane and the 800 block of Romona Road were reportedly burglarized by the same people. Loose change was taken. And between 7 p.m. on June 3 and 7 a.m. on June 5, someone stole a black and red Talus 2 hybrid mountain bike from an unlocked detached garage in the 600 block of 15th Street.

CAR BURGLARY
Someone stole a backpack with a wallet, iPad and GPS unit from an unlocked car parked in the Jewel Parking Lot at 411 Green Bay Road between 4:35 and 4:50 p.m. on June 11.

'ATTORNEY' FRAUD
A Wilmette couple who is selling their home on 5th Street reported that they got an email on June 11 purporting to come from their real estate attorney asking them to wire money for upcoming closing costs. On June 13, the couple wired $52,000 to a Wells Fargo account in Houston, Texas. At the closing they realized it had been a scam.

IDENTITY THEFT
An Old Glenview Road resident reported on June 14 that someone had used their personal information to open up two business accounts and a credit card and borrowed money using his home equity line of credit. The thief, who police believe is located in Georgia, was able to get Bank of America to give them $290,000.

THEFT
A staffer at St. Francis School, 808 Linden Ave., reported that someone stole their car keys, gift cards and miscellaneous documents from their classroom between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on June 14.

CAR BURGLARIES

• Between 9 p.m. on June 14 and 7 a.m. on June 15, someone got into an unlocked car parked in a driveway in the 200 block of Linden Avenue but it appears nothing was stolen.
• Also between 9 p.m. on June 14 and 7 a.m. on June 15, someone burglarized four unlocked cars parked in driveways and on the street in the 100 block of Canterbury Court. They stole a laptop computer, hockey jersey and sterling silver salad tong.
• Bbetween 12:40 and 2:14 p.m. on June 17, someone stole an iPhone that had been left in a cup holder of an unlocked car parked at the Metra station at 722 Green Bay Road.
• Between 12:15 and 1 p.m. on June 21, someone stole a radar detector from an unlocked car parked in the east lot at Edens Plaza, 3232 Lake Ave.

BIKE THEFTS

• Between 6:30 and 8 a.m. on June 18, someone stole an unlocked bike from a front yard in the 1100 block of Mohawk Road.
• Between 3 and 6 p.m. on June 18, someone stole an unlocked bike from a rack near the near the Gillson Park Sailing Beach at 100 Lake Ave.
• Between June 15 and 17, someone stole a bike that was left unlocked in a front yard of a home in the 1600 block of Central Avenue.

HOME BURGLARIES

• Between 6:40 and 10:30 p.m. on June 27, someone used a patio storage box to get access to the roof of a home in the 1100 block of Elmwood Avenue. The home was ransacked, including the kitchen freezer and attic. Electronics and a watch were reported stolen.
• Between 12:30 p.m. on June 23 and 7:21 p.m. on June 30, someone stacked up outdoor furniture in order to climb up to a second floor balcony and get into a home in the 800 block of Central Avenue through an unlocked window. Jewelry and credit cards were reported stolen. Police reminded residents to lock all windows or use a device that prevents them from being opened.

CAR THEFT/BURGLARIES
Someone stole an unlocked car with the keys left inside around 4:20 a.m. on June 30 while it was parked in a driveway in the 700 block of Lacrosse Avenue. Police believe the same people burglarized several unlocked cars in the 600 and 700 blocks of Lavergne Avenue, stealing cash, credit cards and driver's licenses.

IDENTITY THEFT
A Sunset Drive resident reported on June 25 that someone had stolen their identity and used it to purchase a vehicle in November 2017. The resident had been unaware of the theft until getting a parking ticket from Chicago for a car they didn't own.

CAR BURGLARY/FLEEING
Around 1:10 a.m. on June 26, an officer on patrol noticed a black Jeep parked on the curb on Old Glenview Road south of Wilmette Avenue with no lights on. A car in a driveway had its door open and an interior light on. The Jeep pulled away from the curb and fled at a high rate of speed eastbound on Wilmette Avenue, before heading northbound on Ridge Road. Police attempted to catch up to the vehicle but were unsuccessful. Officers later confirmed that one car had been entered in the 2000 block of Wilmette Avenue, but nothing was stolen.

ARRESTS/CITATIONS

George O. Davis, 38, of the 1100 block of Victoria Avenue in North Chicago, was arrested on the afternoon of June 12 after a witness to a hit-and-run accident followed a driver from the intersection of Skokie Boulevard and Wilmette Avenue until police pulled over the vehicle at the Glenview Road overpass above the Edens Expressway. Davis was found to be driving with a suspended license and was charged with a felony because of six previous convictions for the same offense. The car he allegedly struck, a black Toyota Camry, was not located by the time of the report.

Prentiss Godwin III, 30, of the 6800 block of Crandon Avenue in Chicago, was arrested after police noticed him driving a car with heavy front end damage westbound in the 3400 block of Lake Avenue shortly before 3 a.m. on June 15. Police pulled him over and determined he was impaired. He provided a breath sample indicating his blood alcohol concentration was 0.14, nearly twice the legal limit.

Nicholas H. Swanson, 21, of the 2000 block of Robincrest Lane in Glenview, was arrested at 6:08 p.m. on June 24 and charged with possession of a controlled substance after an officer on patrol noticed two people appearing to inhale a white powder from a metal spoon while parked in Gillson Park. A 19-year-old Morton Grove woman was released without charges. Police said they also found a half pill suspected to be Xanax, a piece of candy with an unknown coating and suspected cannabis.

Jamal Zayyad, 33, of the 12500 block of Anand Brook Drive in Orland Park, was charged with continuing financial crimes enterprise, wire fraud and possession of stolen property following an investigation into a fencing ring that employed heroin addicts to shoplift items from stores in Chicago and its suburbs. Ahmad Zayyad, 65, also of the 12500 block of Anand Brook Drive in Orland Park, was charged with illegal possession of a firearm. Theresa Pratt, 56, of the 1900 block of South Pulaski Avenue in Chicago, was charged with continuing financial crimes enterprise, wire fraud and possession of stolen property. Grafty Lockett, 59, of the 1400 block of South Kostner Avenue in Chicago, was charged with wire fraud. Investigators also uncovered widespread food stamp fraud at stores on the West Side of Chicago owned by the Zayyads. Read More...

» Last Month: Teed Off Driver Snaps Over Photo, Faces Assault Charge: Wilmette Police Blotter, May 3 - May 28

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