Wilmette Crime: Car Burglar Caught, Trump Flag Stolen, Mail Carrier Attacked

WILMETTE, IL — The following information comes from the Wilmette Police Department as a record of police activity. An arrest is not an indication of guilt and a criminal charge represents merely an accusation. All defendants are presumed innocent until their guilt is established beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

FLAG THEFT BY POSSIBLE HATER OR LOSER

Around 2 a.m. on Monday, April 3 someone stole a blue flag with while letters reading "Donald Trump 45th President" from the front yard of a house on the 600 block of Lake.

UNPROVOKED MAILMAN ATTACK

A man in a black hoodie with green gym shoes walked up to a mail carrier on Tuesday, April 4 at 12:46 p.m. on the 1500 block of Washington Avenue.

"Hey Mailman," the man said. The USPS employee turned, and as he did the man punched him in the face. The mail carrier ran and was chased by the man, as he threatened, "I'm going to kill you."

Landscapers chased away the attacker before Wilmette police arrived. The man was described as 25 to 30 years old, tall, African-American and skinny. The postal worker was taken to the hospital for treatment.

PAINTBALL ATTACK

Around 8:30 p.m. on April 4, people shot paintballs at the front of the Top Driver Driving School on the 160 block of Green Bay Road as students were exiting. There were no reported injuries or damage.

BUSTED DONATION BOX

The building manager of the Wilmette Theatre discovered the donation box that usually sat on a counter in the concession area was broken in a bathroom when he came into work on the morning of April 6. He said there was $30 missing. There were no visible signs of forced entry to the building, police said.

CAR BURGLARY

Khari A. Murrain, 44, of the 500 block of West 41th Place in Chicago was arrested for felony burglary at 7:22 a.m. on April 8. Witnesses told police they saw a man enter a vehicle that did not belong to him. They saw the man removing items from the vehicle including a GPS unit. Police arrived and found Murrain a block away from the scene. He was arrested and transported to the Wilmette PD. Prosecutors approved felony charges and Murrain was processed on one count of burglary.

SHOPLIFTING ARREST

Sharon H. Dodd, 48, of the 3100 block of Cranston Court in Wilmette, was arrested and charged with retail theft shortly after 10 p.m. on April 8. Security at the Carson Pirie Scott on the 3200 block of Lake Avenue reported a shoplifter to Lake Forest police. Police said the alleged shoplifter walked out of the north doors of the store carrying a bag with 16 clothing items for which she never paid. The amount of the theft was $524.30.

DRIVING WITHOUT A LICENSE

A 28-year old woman, of the 3000 block of Church Street in Evanston, was pulled over in a 1999 Honda Accord for traffic violations in the 2000 block of Lake Avenue on April 6 shortly after 10 p.m. She was found to not have a valid driver's license, issued citations and released.

DOMESTIC BATTERY

Police arrested a 43-year-old man for domestic battery at 5:26 a.m. on April 9 but provided no further information.

THEFT

Sometime between 12:30 p.m. on April 6 and 10:43 a.m. on April 7, someone stole a New Holland L228 Skid-Steer Loader and attached 10.5 foot sectional snow pusher from a parking lot on the 3200 block of Lake Avenue.

THEFT FROM CABBIE

A woman, described as a 40-50 years old Caucasian with blonde hair and wearing jeans, stole $61.50 from a cab driver for Dispatch Cab by exiting his cab without paying at 3:15 a.m. on April 9. The driver said he dropped the woman off at 724 12th Street, an apartment building in Wilmette (pictured.)

IDENTITY THEFTS

• Someone racked up $2305 in bills after opening up a Verizon Wireless account with the personal information of a victim on the 700 block of Ridge Rd between December 2016 and April 3.
• Someone used the identity of a victim on the 700 block of Prairie Avenue to open a Target credit card account in Madison, Illinois at 9:30 p.m. on April 4.
• Someone hijacked the Yahoo email account of a couple in the 2500 block of Iroquois on April 9. Someone used their personal identities to open several loan accounts after changing their Yahoo password. The thief applied for several loans and made purchases from online stores.
• Someone opened an Xfinity account using the personal infomration of a person on the 200 block of Laurel Avenue without their consent at 12:30 on April 7.
• Someone used the personal information of a man in the 1100 block of Hibbard Road between March 6 and March 27. The man said the thief had opened two credit cards for Nordstroms and Kohls, but failed in attempts to open four other credit cards.

Anyone with information about any of these incidents in encouraged to contact the Wilmette Police Department at (847) 256-1200.

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