Wilmette Crime: Camera Spots Burglar, Panera Masturbater

WILMETTE, IL — The following information comes from the Wilmette Police Department. It is a record of Police activity. Criminal charges can be dropped or reduced and all persons are innocent until their guilty is established by a court.

IDENTITY THEFT

At 7:45 a.m. on Feb. 23, a man at the 1200 block of Isabella reported someone had changed his Chase Bank account by somehow accessing his social security number and e-mail address, but there was no reported monetary loss.

DISORDERLY CONDUCT

On Feb. 23 a woman at the Panera Bread at 1199 Wilmette reported a man described as black and in his 50's masturbated as he stared at her while sitting at another booth around 20 feet away.

THEFT

At 8:03 a.m. on Feb. 24, the custodian at Highcrest Middle School reported that three traffic directing signs were taken sometime between 4:00 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. on Feb. 23.

HOME BURGLARY

Shortly before midnight on Feb. 25, a woman on the 300 block of Vista Drive heard sometime in here house and began monitoring her in home video cameras. He told police she saw a person in a light colored hoodie walking through her dining room. She said the front door had been left unlocked, and nothing was reported missing or disturbed.

THEFT

At 4:48 p.m. on Feb. 26, a flat tire was stolen from the back of an unlocked pickup truck parked in a driveway on the 1000 block of Sheridan Road.

SHOPLIFTING

At 6:35 p.m. on Feb. 26, at the Jewel on 411 Green Bay Road, a woman (no description provided) stole four bottles of liquor worth a combined $100.

DECEPTIVE PRACTICE

A Grand Rapids, Michigan resident reported her wallet had been lost or stolen while on the Blue Line. When she exited the train at O'Hare she was contacted and told her her debit card may have been compromised. At that point she realized her wallet was missing. She soon received a call from a collection agency that a check from her closed account had been used at the Fresh Market at 3232 Lake in Wilmette on December 6.

IMPERIAL MOTORS BURGLARY

On Saturday, Feb. 25th at 10:23 p.m., a Wilmette cop stopped an in-progress burglary at Imperial Motors Jaguar dealership on the 700 block of Green Bay Road.

An stolen car was found behind the business in an alley and four people had broken in by breaking out a glass window in a service door.

The four fled on foot. Two were arrested exiting the building, the other two fled on foot leading cops on a foot chase down the 1500 block of Highland Avenue in a residential neighborhood just west of the business. They were soon found hiding under a porch and taken into custody.

Three of the four subjects were previously identified as offenders in a Nov. 25 burglary to the same business. In that case, the four entered the business and made off with two vehicles. Those vehicles were later found by police on the west side of Chicago.

All four defendants are 17-year-old Chicago residents. All four are being petitioned to juvenile court for the Feb. 25th burglary. Three have additional petitions for the Nov. 25 burglary and auto thefts. The Wilmette Police Department is working with other law enforcement agencies and believes that this crew is responsible for other burglaries and auto thefts in the Chicago Metropolitan Area. The offenders have a total of 72 prior juvenile arrests.