THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2007
Police Blotter
These items are from Des Plaines Police Department incident reports. The Des Plaines Journal publishes this police blotter every Wednesday and Friday. If anyone has information that can help solve a crime, call the police department at 847-391-5400 or Crimestoppers at 847-699-STOP.
RESIDENT
SCAMMED
A 79-year-old woman reported being the victim of a scam. She received a check for $4,900 in July from American Sweepstakes & Promotion Co., she told police. According to a letter with the check, she was the winner of $245,000. She called a number on the letter and was instructed to put the check into her bank account and then wire $4,300 to a man in Ecuador. She later learned the check was counterfeit.
DRUG
CHARGES
Daniel J. Andres, 23, of 3038 Patton Drive, Des Plaines, was charged with possession of cannabis at 1:57 a.m. Aug. 11. He was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Gary L. Rains Jr., 22, of 1640 E. Oakton St., Des Plaines who police stopped in the 1600 block of Oakton for allegedly driving at 40 mph in a 25 mph zone. Rains was charged with driving with a suspended driver's license. During questioning, Andres allegedly admitted to having, a plastic bag containing suspected marijuana that officers recovered during a search.
Nicholas B. Ryan, 32, of 1211 Brown St., Des Plaines, was charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia at 2 a.m. Aug. 10. Police stopped him in the 400 block of Laurel Street. During a search, officers allegedly recovered a plastic bag containing suspected crack cocaine and a pipe.
ALCOHOL
CHARGES
Police arrested four 18-year-old women, three from Des Plaines and one from Elk Grove Village, and an 18-year-old Des Plaines man at 1 a.m. Aug. 9. Officers saw the five inside a car on Oakton Street with another man on the roof of the vehicle. The car stopped in the 1600 block of Spruce Street where the man on the roof and another man from inside the vehicle fled and escaped. Officers charged the others with illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor.
THEFT
CHARGES
A man in his 20s took five bottles of gin from Jewel Food Store, 819 S. Elmhurst Rd. at 2:10 p.m. Aug. 8. A security guard chased him from the building but he escaped in a rented green 2007 Dodge Caliber. According to the police report, the vehicle was rented to a Schaumburg man on Aug. 4 and officers are investigating the theft.
Nancy M. Ostrowski, 48, of 370 N. Eighth Ave., Des Plaines, was charged with retail theft at Shop N Save in Metropolitan Square. Police took her into custody at 3:28 p.m. Aug. 12 after she allegedly tried to leave without paying for sour cream and cheese valued at a total of $5.28.
Miroslawa Kowalska, 48, of 1296 Washington St., Des Plaines, was charged with retail theft at 1:20 p.m. Aug. 10. Police apprehended her at Shop N Save in Metropolitan Square after she allegedly tried to leave without paying for food valued at a total of $13.21.
CAR TAKEN,
RECOVERED
A blue 1992 Oldsmobile Bravada was taken from the 2300 block of Bellaire Court between 11 p.m. July 30 and 8 a.m. July 31. It was recovered at 7:45 p.m. that evening in the 10000 block of Holly Lane.
BURGLARIES
AND THEFTS
Two credit cards and about $30 were taken from an unlocked black 1998 Chevrolet Blazer in the 1000 block of Greenview Avenue between 10 p.m. Aug. 7 and noon Aug. 8.
A Des Plaines woman told police she accidentally left her wallet on top of a gasoline pump at 7-Eleven, 1585 Rand Rd. at 3:11 p.m. Aug. 8. When she returned at 3:43, the wallet was gone. It contained a driver's license, a gift card, amusement park tickets, and about $27.
About $4 was taken from a white 2004 Chevrolet Aveo in the 2100 block of Spruce Avenue between 9:30 p.m. Aug. 11 and 9 a.m. Aug. 12. Two other vehicles in the driveway were entered but nothing was taken from them.
An mp3 player was taken from a gray 1993 Honda Accord and about $5 was taken from a red 2000 Nissan Frontier in the 2000 block of Spruce Avenue at 5:53 a.m. Aug. 12. A witness saw a man in his 20s inside one of the vehicles, called 911, and woke the family. The man fled from the scene and escaped.
Someone took "no parking" signs from the 2100 and 2200 blocks of South Chestnut Street between 6 p.m. Aug. 11 and 5:30 p.m. Aug. 12.
Someone took $1,200 from a suitcase in a room at Courtyard by Marriot, 2950 S. River Rd. The burglary occurred between 7:50 a.m. and 7:45 p.m. Aug. 10.
Several tools were taken from a white 2004 Ford F250 in the 1100 block of Everett Street between 5 p.m. Aug. 9 and 4 a.m. Aug. 10.
Someone broke a window on a red 1999 Pontiac Grand Am and took about $15 in change and a set of house keys from the vehicle. The burglary occurred in the 400 block of East Golf Road between 11:30 p.m. Aug. 10 and 2 p.m. Aug. 11.
A bicycle was taken from an apartment building storage area in the 1100 block of Holiday Lane between 7 p.m. Aug. 1 and 4 p.m. Aug. 11.
One flowerpot was damaged and another taken from the 400 block of North Fifth Avenue between 9 p.m. Aug. 11 and 8 a.m. Aug. 12.
A Northlake woman told police she left her purse on a bench in the 1100 block of Howard Avenue at 6 p.m. Aug. 12 while she walked to her vehicle. When she returned, the wallet containing her driver's license, other papers, and $72 cash was gone.
A bicycle was taken from the 1400 block of Miner Street before 10:30 p.m. Aug. 9.
A Glenview woman reported leaving her wallet at a checkout counter at Jewel Food Store, 819 Elmhurst Rd., at 10:25 a.m. Aug. 9. Surveillance videos captured images of a woman picking up the wallet and leaving the scene in a 2007 Cadillac CTS registered to a Williams Bay, Wisc. address.
VANDALISM
REPORTS
Someone spray-painted graffiti on an electric utility pole in the 2100 block of Pine Street between 11:32 p.m. Aug. 12 and 12:42 a.m. Aug. 13.
Eggs were thrown at a house window in the 100 block of West Kathleen Drive at 12:10 a.m. Aug. 11.
A sign was damaged at a business in the 500 block of Algonquin Road between 11:30 p.m. Aug. 11 and 10:30 a.m. Aug. 12.
Someone toilet-papered a house in the 1000 block of Second Avenue between 12:30 and 8 a.m. Aug. 11.
The windshield was cut on a green 1998 Toyota Avalon in the 400 block of South Alles Street between 12:30 and 10 p.m. Aug. 10.
-Craig Adams