Police Blotter: An Uptick in Arrests This Week

Officers arrested 11 people in the past week and recorded five other incidents with unknown perpetrators.

"Readers are reminded that an arrest by the police does not constitute a finding of guilt, and that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty," according to the statement by Cmdr. Michael Fujara. 

Arrests - Retail

Roman Kokoszka, 48, of Park Ridge was charged with taking a Dremel group removal blade, Dremel cut-off wheels and an electrical ballast without paying for them at 6301 Oakton Ave. on Nov. 24. 

Ioan Raau, 60, of Chicago was charged with taking plumbing equipment without paying for them at Menard's at 6301 Oakton Ave. on Nov. 26.

Kiril Karaivanov, 43, of Des Plaines was charged with taking drill bits, a screw extractor set and a screw pitch gauge without paying for them at Menard's at 6301 Oakton Ave. on Nov. 29.

Nikolay Atanasov, 31, of Chicago was charged with taking a bottle of Irish whiskey without paying for it at Dominick's at 6931 Dempster St. on Nov. 29. 

Arrests - Driving Offenses

Police stopped Nicholas Murphy, 28, of Evanston for traffic violations and then charged him with carrying a suspended driver's license at 6400 Dempster St. on Nov. 24.

Police stopped Sandra Rivera, 24, of Chicago for traffic violations and then charged her with carrying a suspended driver's license at 9500 Waukegan Rd. on Nov. 27.

Police stopped Jorge Fernandez, 26, of Rosemont for traffic violations and then charged him with driving without a valid driver's license at 6000 Dempster St. on Nov. 27.

Police discovered Tiffany McKenzie, 20, of Morton Grove asleep in the driver's seat of her car at a stop light at 8800 Lehigh Ave on Nov. 28. She was charged with driving under the influence. 

Police stopped David Benitez, 42, of Glenview for traffic violations and then charged him with driving without a valid driver's license at 6700 Dempster St. on Nov. 28.

Police stopped Christopher Williams, 26, of Skokie for traffic violations and then charged him with driving with a revoked driver's license at 5800 Dempster St. on Nov. 29.

Police stopped Alexander Goldman, 36, of Morton Grove for traffic violations and charged him for driving with a suspended driver's license at 6500 Dempster St. on Nov. 30.

Known Unknowns

Unknown offender(s) broke into the home at 8900 Birch Ave. by prying open a window and took cash, bonds and jewelry on Nov. 23.

Unknown offender(s) went into an unlocked vehicle parked in the driveway at 8300 Central Ave. and took an iPod Nano on Nov. 28.

Unknown offender(s) parked a stolen vehicle at 5500 Warren St. and abandoned it.  A resident noticed the car had not moved for four days and told the police, who then recovered it as a stolen vehicle on Nov. 29. 

Unknown offender(s) went into an unlocked vehicle while it was parked in the driveway 7400 Lyons St. and took the GPS unit on Nov. 29.

Unknown offender(s) took the locks from five lockers at Bally's at 6821 Dempster St. and took cash, credit cards, identification, mobile phones and clothing on Dec. 1.