Wilmette police, who dealt with 30 burglarized autos in one week last month, are pleading with village residents to lock their garages and cars, and empty the cars of valuables before heading into the house.
Leaving vehicles open, often with keys and key fobs inside, risks more than the cash, smartphones or other electronics car owners leave in their glove boxes or on car seats, Police Chief Brian King said; it lets thieves steal the cars, then use them to commit other crimes.
In the last three weeks of June alone, thieves stole three cars, King said, including two from streets near the Linden Avenue CTA station. King said that when investigators talked to one suspect, he told them, “our area, at the end of the L line, has a reputation in his neighborhood as easy pickings, due to the number of people that leave their car doors unlocked.”
Two cars were stolen between June 25 and June 27 from the 200 and 300 blocks of Maple Avenue, near the CTA station, police said. Another was stolen June 12 or June 13 from the 900 block of Osage Lane. That car was recovered June 22 on the south side of Chicago, and a 17-year-old Chicago boy was charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle and identity theft, police said.
Later in June, police recovered one of the vehicles stolen from Maple Avenue, when Chicago police caught a 17-year-old Chicago boy driving it and charged him with criminal trespass to a vehicle, Wilmette police said in a report. Wilmette detectives interviewed the boy on June 28, the report stated.
Wilmette Village Manager Tim Frenzer echoed police officials’ plea to residents during a June 28 Village Board meeting.
“Over the last few days alone, we have seen an unprecedented amount of crime associated with this phenomenon, more than the Chief has seen before, certainly more than I’ve seen in more than 20 years of working here,” Frenzer said.
Burglars entered at least 24 cars across Wilmette overnight on June 26 and June 27, Frenzer said. Between the evening of June 27 and the morning of June 28, another seven cars were hit on just one block, the 400 block of Sunset Drive, he said.
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According to police reports, some of the streets where burglars ransacked open cars – generally making off with small amounts of cash, bags of athletic equipment, coins, smart phones, other electronic equipment, and other small goods – included Lavergne and Laramie avenues, Koerper Court, Beverly and Sunset drives and Skokie Court.
King said investigators believe the spike in burglaries and auto thefts can be traced to two separate groups of thieves. He said the groups appear to be coming north from the city, often via CTA Purple Line trains.
Simply locking car doors and removing valuables from inside the vehicle can cut the number of auto burglaries and thefts, he said.
“It’s essential that Wilmette do its best to not make itself an attractive target,” Frenzer said, before urging residents to contact the village at www.wilmette.com to sign up for electronic police and village alerts.
Twitter: @pioneer_kathy