This morning I heard about a group of garage burglaries on the 9700 blocks of Damen and Winchester. On Tuesday night (1/15), a burglar went into one garage through an unlocked side door and stole a snowblower and garage door remote. The location of the snowblower in the garage (pinned in by cars) led the homeowners to assume that more than one burglar was involved. The burglars also broke into the garage of their next door neighbors, but did not take anything. When they filed a police report, they discovered that the burglars had stolen similar items from 3 other garages on the block on the same night.
At this time of year, snowblowers are certainly in demand, so the burglars have a market for their loot. Make sure your garage doors are locked.
I reported these incidents to BAPA, which offered these suggestions:
Be observant and call 911 when anyone in the least bit suspicious is observed. One tactic for such burglars is to break into several garages and leave things near the trash and then come back later and collect it all. Another group to watch out for are the junk collectors. It is illegal to pick trash without a license. License information should be clearly marked on the side of the truck along with the company name. People should not hesitate to call 911 and to make police reports of the incidents.
If you or your neighbors are interested, the 22nd District is giving out
free reflective numbers for the back of the garage or house to help
police/fire personnel to respond in an emergency.
Even if the burglars do not take anything, filing a police report can help police to establish a pattern which may aid to catching the culprits.
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