OMG PD: Odd Crimes in Our Patch Region

Skokie police observed a car with a broken rear taillight crossing the yellow traffic line and nearly striking a median. When police pulled over the driver and asked him how much alcohol he had consumed, he allegedly said: “I haven’t had anything to drink tonight, but I’m high.”

Evanston police nabbed an alleged bike thief because he was riding a bicycle built for two all by himself.

The victim reported his tandem bicycle missing from his garage and within five minutes of putting out a report on the police radio, officers spotted an 18-year-old Evanston man “riding alone on the two seat bicycle."

Wilmette police stopped a 51-year-old Glenview man on July 28 at 8:05 a.m. because the tire was missing from his front passenger-side wheel. The man allegedly told authorities he hadn't had a drink in 10 years. He later admitted to having a half of a pint of vodka the night before. The man's tire likely went missing when he struck a curb earlier that morning near a Dunkin Donuts in Glenview.

A school employee discovered three starter pistols missing from a secured locker in New Trier High School's Winnetka campus.

At least he knows whom the mail was from

A Northbrook resident told police he came home July 27 and found all his mail had been opened. The letters and other materials had been removed and the envelopes left at his doorstep.

Not the way to fix a sticky door

A woman told police that a petroleum jelly-like substance was placed on the door handle of her car while it was parked in Northbrook. She told police she thinks one of her co-workers was responsible.

Des Plaines police responded to a battery report involving a cab driver who they found at about 2 a.m. July 31 alongside his vehicle, which was stuck in a ditch.

The driver told police that earlier in the evening he had been pushed around by another cabbie's customer after a verbal argument. Later that evening, a friend from work called to ask if the victim could pick up him and some friends. The victim did and asked to make another stop and pick up two more people.

The victim drove to the next stop. As he waited in the parking lot, two men, one of whom was the offender from the earlier incident, ran up to the cab and began punching the driver in the face.

The taxi driver attempted to escape by driving off but had difficulty seeing, and ended up driving into the ditch.