Man Printed His Own Bar Codes With Fake Prices, Police Say

Waldemar Bajorski, 57, of Arlington Heights was charged with retail theft Sept. 13 after a security guard for a big-box hardware store in Civic Center Plaza said he had seen Bajorski select two floodlights and a wall scanner, cover the upc/barcodes with upc/barcodes he had generated at home, pay the lesser amount of money indicated on the fake barcodes, and exit the store with the items, according to the police report. The security guard said he observed Bajorski switching the barcodes, and it was also caught on surveillance video, the report indicated.

Bajorski paid $11.10 for the items, and they had an actual retail value of $139, police said.

The security agent confronted Bajorski and he became aggressive, according to the report, and removed his keys, which contained a key ring knife/box cutter. Sometime during the struggle, the report said, Bajorski suffered a minor scratch/cut. Bajorski refused medical treatment and said he never extended the blade of the knife. Police confiscated 19 additional upc/barcode labels Bajorski had created at home. His court date is Oct. 9 in the Skokie branch of the Cook County courts. 

Men Charged With Theft After Stealing Signs From Poles

Daniel Knapik, 37, of Northlake and Michal Sciog, 37, of North Mason Avenue, Chicago, were charged with theft Sep. 15 at 3:40 a.m. in the 6800 block of Harts Road. 

A caller phoned police to say one man, whom police said they later identified as Sciog, was carrying a Do Not Enter sign from Playbook Sports Bar, which was nearby. The caller said the two men then climbed up a pole to remove an Illinois Department of Transportation bicycle sign. 

When police arrived, the officer saw the two men walking eastbound on Harts Road, and dropping the signs behind a guard rail on the south side of the street, according to the report. The officer made contact with them, and Sciog admitted to removing the Do Not Enter sign from Playbook and, with Knapik's help, removing the IDOT bicycle sign, the report indicated. Police took both into custody and returned the Do Not Enter sign to Playbook. A supervisor securely re-fastened the IDOT bicycle sign to its pole. Sciog and Knapik have an Oct. 22 court date in Skokie. 

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