Police Blotter: Craigslist Seller Detects Scam

ABANDONED VEHICLE

A resident reported that a red motorcycle was parked in a clump of bushes at 9:30 a.m. Dec. 12 at . An officer found a 1999 Kawasaki ER500 motorcycle, which had a valid registration plate. An attempt to get a phone number for the registered owner failed. The address was checked and no one was at home and a different name was listed for that house. The motorcycle was towed to Hillside Towing.

ALCOHOL

Sky K. Chou, 18, of the 2200 block of Avalon Drive, Buffalo Grove, was charged with possession and consumption of alcohol by a minor at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 7 on the 2200 block of Avalon Drive.

DISPUTE

A motorist stated that he made a right turn on red and the vehicle that was behind him changed lanes, passed the motorist and then cut in front of him at 4 p.m. Dec. 12 at Lake-Cook Road and Raupp Boulevard. The motorist wanted the incident documented but did not want the offender cited. No phone number could be located for the registered owner of the offending vehicle.

DRUGS

James D. Wise, 23, of the 800 block of Juneway Avenue, Deerfield, was charged with possession of a controlled substance at 11:35 p.m. Dec. 9 on Milwaukee Avenue at Inverarry Lane.

PHONE HARASSMENT

A supervisor at a daycare facility reported Dec. 9 that a male caller has been harassing the employees. The caller would ask how they were doing, begin a conversation, then become vulgar and curse. After checking into the two numbers that the calls were coming from, the officer thought the numbers were clones and could be very difficult to track. It was suggested that the supervisor contact her phone provider and have the two numbers blocked.

SUSPICIOUS PERSON/INCIDENT

A resident of the 900 block of Prague Avenue reported two men walking in the area and apparently looking into homes at 12:45 p.m. Dec. 12. The resident stated that due to recent burglaries, he followed the men, and then lost sight of them. Officers checked the area with negative results.

A resident of the 200 block of Lincoln Terrace reported that someone placed an empty vodka bottle into his mailbox twice between Dec. 10 and Dec. 12.

THEFT

A maintenance supervisor reported that someone took four fire extinguishers from a building on the 300 block of East Dundee Road between Nov. 21 and Dec. 12. The extinguishers are valued at $75 each.

OTHER INCIDENTS

A grandmother reported at 4:30 p.m. Dec. 12 that her granddaughter did not return from school on her assigned bus. Officers discovered that the girl took the wrong bus, and that bus was now on the way to bring the girl home.

Andrew M. Plennert, 35, of the 1200 block of South Forums Court, Wheeling, was charged Dec. 12 with violating an order of protection after a Dec. 2 incident.

A resident reported that he received a collection notice from an agency in Maine on Dec. 2 that stated the resident owed $104.87 to eBay. The resident denied owing any money. The resident contacted an eBay representative, who told the resident that he had to deal with the collections agency. The collections agency stated that they would take another look at the account.

A resident advertised furniture for sale for $1,900 on Craigslist on Nov. 18. Someone emailed and stated he would purchase the furniture for the asking price. The customer then sent $3,954.00 on a Connecticut General Life Insurance Co. check through Bank of America. The customer told the resident to deposit the check, keep $1,900 for the furniture and $20 for the inconvenience and send the remainder to a person in New York via Western Union. Suspecting something was amiss, the resident went to a Bank of America branch, which confirmed that the check was bogus.