One or more car theft crews have hit the Chicago area hard, and cars are disappearing from places where such crimes are rare.
In Riverwoods, two cars were reported stolen in the early morning hours of Aug. 9, police Chief Bruce Dayno said, and it was the first time any car has been stolen in the town of about 3,700 people in four years.
The Riverwoods thefts, like the vast majority of the thefts elsewhere, are probably preventable, he said. Most of the cars were left with doors unlocked. And most of those had keys inside.
“People I’ve spoken with, they say it’s not just their cars they’re leaving unlocked, but also their houses,” Dayno said . “They feel like they’re living in the northern suburbs, so they’re immune to crime, but it’s just not the case.”
At about 4 a.m. Aug. 9, dogs were barking on the 300 block of Portwine Road, and one resident looked out the window to see the family car, a 2012 BMW, heading out of the driveway, Dayno said.
A little over three hours later, a resident of the 3100 block of Duffy Lane found that a previously occupied spot in the unlocked family garage was empty. The 2013 Lexis that had been left there, unlocked and with keys inside, was gone.
Dayno said that a Northbrook police officer got a glimpse of the BMW on southbound Interstate 294, but the driver took off at high speed, and got away.
Northbrook has had several recent thefts of cars, including a pair the night of Aug. 2. Gone are a 2014 Porsche Cayenne worth more than $40,000, left unlocked in a driveway in the 600 block of Driftwood Lane, and a 2013 Volkswagen, left unlocked, with keys inside, in a driveway on the 300 block of Sunset Court.
“It’s happening almost every night, in the north suburbs, the west suburbs,” Northbrook police Cmdr. Mike O’Malley said. “They sneak in, sneak out. It’s not hard.”
On the same night, cash and other items were stolen from another unlocked car, a 2011 Volkswagen, on the 600 block of Driftwood. And in Riverwoods, laptops were stolen from two cars parked unlocked, on the 3100 block of Kenilwood Lane and the 2800 block of Blackthorn Road.
O’Malley said it’s apparent that the crew is looking to steal the cars, but when there’s no way to start the ignition, valuables are grabbed. He said it’s obvious that car theft is the principal target, “otherwise, we’d be seeing 35 car burglaries.”
Northbrook police Chief Chuck Wernick asked residents to lock their cars and pocket their keys, a request he’s made several times before.
The unlocked car problem has persisted, Northbrook police spokesman Dan Petka, in the more than 30 years he’s served as an officer and civilian police department employee.
“They think it’s safe,” he said. “That’s why they spend all that money to buy houses in Northbrook.”
Twitter @IrvLeavitt
