Park Forest Burglary Report from June 29 Through July 5, 2021
Park Forest, IL-(ENEWSPF)- The Fourth of July extended weekend provided an opportunity for burglars to burgle cars on Waldman Drive, and Winnebago and Hickory Streets in Park Forest. Many of the owners reported leaving their vehicles unlocked.
Police were called to the 300 block of Winnebago Street on July 3 at 7:07 AM to investigate a delayed burglary to motor vehicle report. The complainant told responding officers that, on Friday, July 2, at approximately 6:30 PM, he parked his vehicle in his driveway. He told police that he thought he locked his vehicle after he parked it.
Between 3 and 4 AM he woke up to the sound of two quick car horn noises, according to the report. The complainant said he thought it was his truck because it sounded very close to his bedroom and he recognized the noise. The complainant did not check outside at that time.
When he went out to his vehicle at 7 AM the next morning, the man opened the vehicle’s door and saw that the center console was open, according to the report. The contents of the center console were on the driver’s seat, according to police. The complainant then saw that his backpack which he used for work was missing.
Police lifted six latent fingerprints from all four doors of the vehicle and two from a cup that had been set on the driver’s seat, according to police. Police gathered other evidence from the vehicle as well.
Police responded to the 300 block of Winnebago Street on July 3 at 8:32 AM to investigate a delayed burglary to vehicle report. They spoke with this complainant who said he parked his vehicle in the driveway of his home on July 2 at approximately 10 PM, according to police.
The owner told police that his front driver’s side window had been malfunctioning and he was unable to close it so he used some plastic to cover the window, according to police. Prior to calling 911, the complainant said he saw that the plastic window covering had been removed and the front interior of the vehicle was in disarray, according to police. After further inspecting the inside of the vehicle, he noticed that approximately two dollars in change was missing from the driver’s side door along with two watches, according to police.
One watch was a black with gold analog Invicta Subaqua Noma IV and the other was a bronze Invicta watch with a white watch face.
Police lifted a latent print from the outer driver’s side door near the door handle and another from the front passenger door frame, according to police. Police also gathered other prints and evidence from the vehicle.
Later that same morning, an officer began checking other vehicles for possible burglaries, beginning at about 9:24 AM. The officer found a car in front of one residence that had the center console open with items scattered on the driver’s seat. The owner of this car said he parked and locked his vehicle and neither he nor any other family members drove the vehicle. He did not check on the vehicle until the officer notified him. A phone charger was missing from this car.
Police were dispatched to the 300 block of Waldman Drive on Saturday, July 3 at approximately 10:57 AM to investigate another report of a burglary to a vehicle. This was also a delayed report.
The owner of this car said that on Friday, July 2, he parked his vehicle in his driveway at approximately 10 PM. The owner said he left the car unlocked, according to police. On this date, at about 10:45 AM, he walked out to his car and noticed that the vehicle had been rummaged through, according to police.
The owner then noticed that two wallets were missing from the car which contained a total of approximately $610 in cash.
Three lighters were also missing from the vehicle. The owner then drove to a local convenience store before returning to his residence and when he called police, according to the report.
On Monday, July 5, an officer responded to the 200 block of Hickory Street at 12:27 PM, to investigate a report of burglary to a motor vehicle.
The officer spoke with the complainant said that on June 28, he had returned home at about 7 PM and parked his car at the curb facing southbound on Jackson Street just north of his driveway. He did not returned to his vehicle the remainder of the evening, according to the report.
On June 29 at approximately 3 PM, the owner returned to his vehicle to run several errands. While sitting in the car, he received a phone call from his mother asking him to return to the house to assist her with something. He said he exited the vehicle when he got back home, closed the driver’s door without properly locking it, and went into his house, according to the report.
He said he stayed inside his home for about 15 minutes before returning to his car.
When he got back to the car, he saw that the driver’s door was open and that the vehicle had been ransacked. The glove compartment box and center console were open and paperwork and miscellaneous items were scattered across the front passenger and driver seats.
The man did not initially contact police to file a report because he did not believe that anything had been taken. Then, on July 5, at about 12 PM, he returned to his vehicle and saw that a small bag containing several items had been taken from the car that he hadn’t noticed missing before. He said that a bag had been taken during the incident when he found his door open because no one had been in the vehicle afterwords and he kept the door locked at all times since, according to the report.
