Man Stole Cell Phone at Church: Cops

A man who walked into St. John’s Lutheran Church in Wilmette asking someone there for money for a bus fare stole the person’s cell phone, according to police reports.

The victim told police the man, who appeared to be in his 20s, entered the church between 11:30 a.m. and 12:45 p.m. and stole the phone. Later in the day, the victim received a phone call from a subject stating that he purchased the cell phone at a train station and “realized that it was probably stolen.”

The victim and caller made arrangements for the phone to be returned to the victim at a grocery store in Chicago later that day.