Scams, hedge trimming keep cops busy
** Fake credit card reported – A resident reported to police that a credit card was opened in his name with an $11,000 credit limit. Police reports say the man indicated that there were $10,900 worth of purchases made at a Home Depot in Normal, Illinois. The man told police that he has never been to Normal and had contacted both the bank that issued the card and Home Depot.
** Fake Com-Ed caller – A resident told police she received a call from someone saying they were from Com-Ed and was told that her service would be moved to Switch Energy. The resident said the caller had her account number and address and said she would receive a $25 credit on her next Com-Ed bill. Sensing a scam, the resident called Com-Ed and was told that while Switch Energy does work with Com Ed, all correspondence regarding electric service is done by mail. Police advised the woman to contact credit reporting bureaus and monitor her credit card activity.
** Hedge hog – There are eight million stories in the Naked City, and this has been one of them. Police were summoned to a residence in the 1200 block of Radcliffe Road in response to a dastardly event that may be plaguing homeowners everywhere. Reports say a resident was upset because a neighbor, say reports, “was cutting hedges that were on his side of the property line.” But wait, there’s more. Reports indicate that the resident contacted the department’s hedge enforcement division because the resident says “his property extends slightly beyond the fence he shares with the neighbor and that the hedges extending just beyond the fence are his.” Reports indicate that the neighbor actually “cut the hedges up to the fence which was therefore a violation of his property.” The responding officer talked with the neighbor who said he would try not to breach the property line.
** All hands on deck? – A resident in the 2400 block of Madeira Lane contacted police to report that while the company hired by his homeowners’ association did a nice job removing some old boards from his deck, he was not going to let them install new ones because, say reports, “…he was unhappy with the service of his homeowner's association and would like the association to have the entire deck replaced.”
The resident was kind enough to acknowledge that there was a safety risk associated with having several missing floor panels on his second story deck, and told officers that he would make sure no one would walk on it until it was repaired. Awfully nice of him.
** Credit checks reveal identify thefts – Two residents were alerted to identity thefts after checking their credit reports. In one case, a resident reported that he became suspicious when his credit rating dropped. He learned that someone had used his identity to purchase $4,000 worth of surveillance equipment from a store in St. Louis. Reports did not say how the equipment was paid for, but his account was now in collections.
In the second case, a resident noticed that AT&T had, reports say, “pulled his credit.” However, the resident does not have an AT&T account and did not purchase a new phone from AT&T.
** Fake IDES claims – Police report nine more incidents where residents were notified that there claim with the Illinois Department of Employment Security was being processed even though individuals had not filed a claim.
** Up in smoke – Two men allegedly stole between $5 and $7 worth of cigars from a gas station in the 1200 block of McHenry Road July 27. The clerk told police he thought he heard a vehicle crash on the median near the station. However, responding officers found no evidence of a crash – or the cigars.
** Not a foot in the door – A pair of shoes valued at $79.95 was reportedly taken from the front entrance way of a residence in the 1100 block of Gail Drive. Reports say they were delivered by the Postal Service, but were not found when the resident went to retrieve the package.
** Not a good week for windshields – Police report two incidents where windshields were smashed. One incident occurred in the driveway of a residences in the 400 block of Gail Drive overnight on July 23. The second incident was reported by an employee at the Buffalo Grove post office who told police that when he went to his car after working, he noticed 10 to 15 small gouges in the windshield, apparently caused by someone using a small object.
** Not a good week for tires either – Police report two incidents in which tires were slashed. The first reportedly occurred sometime between July 26 and 28 in the 800 block of south Weidner Road. Reports say a resident noticed that the two front and one rear tired were punctured.
The second incident also occurred in the 800 block of south Weidner Road between July 22 to 25. The vehicle’s owner told police that a front tire and both rear tires were slashed.
** Theft from auto – A woman reported that her purse was stolen out of her car while it was parked at Willow Stream Park July 28. Thieves accessed the car by breaking a rear window. In addition to credit cards and other miscellaneous items, $50 in cash was taken.
** Harrowing traffic stop – When Buffalo Grove Police ran a check on vehicle with Minnesota license plates prior to a traffic stop, it was reported stolen. Which was news to both the driver and the owner of the car. Reports said officers began to handle the situation as a felony car theft and ordered the driver, a 31-year-old Wheeling woman, out of the car at gunpoint. The woman told police that the car was owned by her father who lives in Mountain Lake, Minnesota. She told police she moved to Wheeling in September of 2019 and has been using the car since January. Police contacted her father who documented the story. Police told the woman’s father to contact the Mountain Lake Police to have the vehicle removed from the stolen car list. Reports did not indicate how or why the car was reported as stolen.
** Keystone cash – A Buffalo Grove woman told police she received two checks totaling $11,325 from Department of Labor & Industry in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for no apparent reason. Reports say the woman was in the process of returning the checks. Police did check with Pennsylvania Department of Treasury and learned that there had been several occurrences of bogus checks being mailed out, all of which were returned. Reports say the woman activated alerts with various credit reporting agencies.
** No love here – Police were summoned to Woodland Park by a man who was upset because a woman was practicing tennis at Woodland Park by herself. When they arrived, police were told by the woman that she was approached by the man who said she had to leave because he and his tennis partner wanted to use the court and two players took precedence over someone using the court alone.
The woman was told she is entitled to use the court by herself and that if the situation happens again, she should call 9-1-1.
However, the odds of her being chided by the man again may be slim.
That’s because while the man tried to weasel himself out of the situation by telling police that he thought he read on the Park District's website that two players had the right to ask a single player to leave, two things came to light.
The first is that he was wrong -- and the second being that the Roger Federer wannabe doesn’t even live in Buffalo Grove. He’s a Hawthorn Woods resident. Seriously. No further comment.
** Boiling over – As a rule, broken windows are not an interesting police log entry. But every so often there’s a little caveat that makes things a bit interesting – as is the case with a report of three windows reported broken on a building in the 900 block of west Dundee Road.
The police were going to contact the building’s new owner, but according to reports, they could not locate a valid phone number.
The building’s new owner? Purdue University. Reports did not say why Purdue purchased a building in Buffalo Grove. Maybe the school was able to engineer a good deal.
** Stupid is as stupid does – Buffalo Grove police issued three tickets for DUI, four for driving on a suspended or revoked license, three for driving without insurance, and one for driving without a driver’s license.
** Speaking of stupid, here are the quotes of the week -- A man who was pulled over by police and, to no surprise, charged with two counts of DUI, gets dual honors for what he told police.
According to reports, he told officers that he “had left Schaumburg after spending time with friends and was on the way to Bellwood.” But wait, there’s more. Reports indicate that he told officers that he “was lost and did not know where he was.” Obviously.
How did he get so lost? Reports say the man told police he was “following his GPS.” The guy needs to either update his Garmin or recalibrate Google maps. For the record, Bellwood is 30 miles southeast of Buffalo Grove.
And now that you’ve stopped laughing, consider this -- When the man was told that his blood alcohol content was, based on a preliminary breath test, a blistering .240, his response was "I'm not as good as I should be." An acute observation.
By the way, the legal blood alcohol limit in Illinois is .08.
Community News
· Long-time cop retires
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| Vincent Positano |
Positano began his career in 1992 as a community service officer for the Police Department. He became a police officer in 1994, was named a corporal in 2009 and promoted to sergeant in 2014.
Positano had knowledge and experience in many areas including special operations investigator and youth investigator. He additionally served as a field training officer, firearms instructor, and the department’s range master.
Sergeant Positano earned numerous awards during his career including the police department’s employee of the year, three life-saving awards, several unit citations, multiple department employee of the quarter honors, an outstanding achievement award, and a department accommodation award.
Statutes topic of Library program
The Indian Trails Public Library is offering a live Zoom program, If Statues Could Talk, What Stories Would They Tell? From 2 to 3 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 6.
Beth Sair will provide details about Chicago's spectacular public art collection with compelling stories written by Chicagoans, voiced by Chicago actors and co-produced by Chicago theaters. Registration is available at this link.
EPA touts Buffalo Grove
Buffalo Grove has been designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a Green Power Community.
Residents, businesses and Village operations are collectively using more than 48 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power yearly, which equals to 16 percent of community-wide electricity use. The 16-percent use of community-wide electric use places Buffalo Grove in the top 50 communities in the United States.
According to the EPA, Buffalo Grove’s green power use of more than 48 million kWh is equivalent to the electricity use of more than 4,000 average American homes annually.
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