Des Plaines Police Blotter: Upbeat Graffiti, Cars Burglarized

By Pam DeFiglio

Offender Leaves Upbeat Graffiti 

Police responded to a call July 29 about 4:40 p.m. that a man had spray-painted graffiti in a tunnel under the 1600 block of Miner Street.

Police observed the words “Be Happy” in red spray paint, with a smiley face next to it. There was also an upside down heart with “ACE” painted next to it. The caller said the person who spray-painted the graffiti was a male Hispanic with a shaved head and a goatee, wearing a green shirt and riding a blue bicycle.

He left the area going eastward along the river walk.

More Than $1,000 Worth of Items Stolen From Car

A man who lives in the 1300 block of Perry Street told police he parked his car in his condo building’s parking lot at about noon on July 30,  locked it and thought he had rolled up the car’s windows.

He had been out on his balcony, overlooking the parking lot, at various times and noticed nothing unusual.

At about 11:50 a.m. on the July 31, he noticed papers askew on the car’s front seat, and discovered a car window was completely down and that the center console and glove compartment had been rummaged through. Missing were a breath-alcohol ignition interlock device worth $1,000, a camera worth $75 and two calculators worth $25 each.

Laptop Worth $1,000 and Sensitive Papers Stolen From Car

A woman reported that sometime between July 29 and 31, someone entered her vehicle, which was parked, unlocked, either in her driveway in the 2500 block of South Parkwood, or in a store parking lot at 1155 E. Oakton.

Taken was a work-issued Lenovo laptop computer worth $1,500 and sensitive papers such as her children’s birth certificates and school registration papers.