Monday Blotter: Man Wearing Trench Coat Follows Boys At West Park

Burglary to vehicle

Friday, March 25 police were dispatched to the 2000 block of Pine Street after a Dominos Pizza delivery man reported that he witnessed an unknown offender wearing a black jacket and hat removing the Dominos Pizza delivery sign from the top of his unlocked vehicle, as well as the power cord from inside the vehicle while he was making a delivery. The victim asked the offender what he was doing and the offender ran off. Total property lost: $120.

Criminal damage to property

Sunday, March 27 police observed a vehicle with a broken window that appeared to be damaged by a pellet gun on the 2200 block of South Eastview Drive. Police contacted the owner of the vehicle who stated that she had not heard anything suspicious. Total property lost: $400.

Retail theft

Saturday, March 26 police responded to a call from a loss prevention officer at a Kmart store, 1155 E. Oakton St., who said he had a thief in custody. Employees observed the offender take an Eclipse MP3 player out of its packaging and place it in his coat pocket, as well as 60-minute Tracefone card, via surveillance camera, according to a police report. The offender was stopped outside the store, and another offender (who had not been observed by employees) dropped an MP3 player from his possession and ran off. , 18, of the 2700 block of South Craig Drive was charged with retail theft. Schmidt admitted that he knew the other offender but would not give police his full name, according to police reports.

Suspicious incident

Friday, March 25 police responded to a report of a suspicious incident at West Park, 651 S. Wolf Road. Two boys, 12 and 13 years of age, reported that a white male in his 30s, described as balding, wearing glasses, a white shirt, khaki pants and a trench coat, and driving a silver Toyota Prius station wagon observed the boys skipping rocks and told them to stop, which they did, according to a police report. The boys began walking away, when the subject yelled for them to: "Come here!"

The boys hid behind the bathrooms, while the subject stayed in the parking lot observing them. While the boys made a run for it to a friend's home on Prairie Avenue, they said they observed the subject driving on the bike path looking for them, according to a police report. The boys also related that once at the friend's home, they observed the male subject drive past the home twice.

Theft

Sunday, March 20 police responded to a call from a woman on the 1300 block of Miami Lane who said that a fiberglass green ladder valued at $100 was taken from her back yard.