Crime & Safety

String of Niles Credit Card Thefts; One Victim Charged $2,440

In three incidents, victims had their credit cards stolen while shopping or dining, and in some, thieves used the cards. An arrest is merely an accusation, not evidence of a conviction.

 

In the following three incidents, victims reported having their credit cards and/or wallets stolen. In some, offenders made or tried to make purchases with the cards.

  • On Thursday April 18 at about 2:30 p.m., a woman reported she was having lunch with her family in the 9400 block of Milwaukee Avenue, and believes someone took her wallet out of her purse, which was hanging on the back of her chair, according to police. She was missing a brown Brighton wallet valued at $200, as well as credit cards, her driver's license, about $25 cash and personal effects. She called her credit card companies to cancel and learned offenders had charged $620 at one store, $1,805 at another store and $15 and $20 charges at additional stores. The restaurant did not have video surveillance, according to the report. 
  • On Friday April 19 in the early afternoon, a woman was grocery shopping in the 5700 block of Touhy Avenue and placed her purse in her shopping cart with a bag of spinach over it. When she went to check out, she found her purse open and wallet missing, according to the report. The store's surveillance video showed a male wearing a baseball cap, gray hooded sweatshirt and dark pants walking to her cart holding his jacket over his arm and removing her wallet from her cart, police said. Additional video showed the vehicle the offender drove away in, a dark blue or purple SUV. The victim canceled her credit cards and was told three attempts had been made to use them, but only the first was successful. 
  • On Thursday April 18 in the early evening, a woman went to the customer service desk of a store in the 5600 block of Touhy Avenue. She answered a brief phone call and placed the phone back in her purse, which was in her shopping cart. When she got to her car, she discovered the phone missing and called her phone service provider to cancel service. Store video showed her placing the phone in her purse, but did not show anyone reaching into her purse. Store security said they would review additional video and notify police if they find anything suspicious. 

Information is taken from Niles Police Department reports.

Find out what's happening in Niles-Morton Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.