A burglar ditched a stolen truck after trying to use it to break into a currency exchange at 7207 Roosevelt Road.
On Dec. 13 at 3:57 a.m., security footage captured a white 1990 Chevrolet pickup ramming into the back of the building and fleeing, heading north on the north-south alley between Harlem and Elgin avenues. The employee on duty said the force of the impact shook the building and they immediately checked the footage.
The rear door turned out to be heavily damaged, with a pickup truck hitch stuck in the glass.
Later that day, at around 7:30 a.m., police got a call from a resident living on the 1000 block of Marengo Avenue. He said he woke up to discover the white pick-up in front of his garage. The garage’s Ring camera showed the suspect leaving the car shortly after the burglary and jumping into a red SUV of unknown make and model and taking off. The SUV was last seen turning east on Harvard Street.
The check of the pickup’s license plate revealed that it was stolen out of Berwyn on Dec. 6. Its rear bumper was damaged, and its steering column was peeled. The pickup was towed to Nobs Towing for processing.
Antique store theft
At least 26 rings were stolen from Krenek’s Antiques storefront display while the only employee on duty was helping another customer.
The incident took place Dec. 13 at around 3 p.m. Several customers were already browsing when a customer came in and asked some questions. When another customer asked about some items at the rear of the store, the employee followed him, and the first customer stayed at the front counter. He was still there when the employee returned, asked a few more questions and left the store, leaving $40 “to secure the future purchase.”
At that point, the employee realized that several rings were missing. He said that he didn’t keep a list of every item on sale, but that, based on a recent photo of the display, at least 26 rings were missing, each ranging in value between a few hundred dollars and around $2,000.
The two customers were also spotted at the nearby Forest Park Emporium antique store, 7345 Madison St., around the same time frame. The Emporium employees said the two were likely captured on the store’s security cameras, and that they would turn over any relevant footage to the police.
Customer support fraud
A customer trying to get help with her Amazon order got scammed out of $4,899.
On Dec. 15 at 2:42 pm., the victim called what she thought was the Amazon customer support number. The call-taker claiming to be an Amazon representative said they needed to verify her Venmo online transaction account and asked her to send money to another account using the app’s instant deposit function. The victim didn’t realize anything was amiss until she saw money was missing from her account.
The victim saved the screenshots of her transactions.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Dec. 12-17, and represent a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Unless otherwise indicated, anybody named in these reports has only been charged with a crime. These cases have not been adjudicated.
Compiled by Igor Studenkov
