Police: 40 Burglaries to Vehicles Linked to Des Plaines Man

The following arrest information was supplied by the Des Plaines Police Department. It does not indicate a conviction.

A Des Plaines man was caught burglarizing a vehicle in the Greenview neighborhood while the area was under police surveillance, Des Plaines police stated on Tuesday.

Frank Sabo, 26, of Des Plaines, was charged with three counts of burglary to vehicle, a class 2 felony, after police found him breaking into a vehicle on the 900 block of Greenview Avenue at approximately 3:40 a.m. on Nov. 30, police stated.

During interviews Sabo had with law enforcement, according to police, Sabo admitted to burglarizing 37 vehicles, in addition to the three connected with charges, between Oct. 1 and Nov. 30. All 40 incidents occurred in Des Plaines, police stated.

Treantafeles said police noticed a series of burglary to vehicle incidents that all occurred within the same Greenview neighborhood area during October. Treantafeles said 98 percent of the burglary to vehicle incidents to which Sabo admitted occurred in the Greenview neighborhood.

“That neighborhood was getting hit; it was getting hit hard during the month of October,” Treantafeles said. “That’s when we decided to do a little surveillance, and low and behold, grabbed him in the act.”

Stolen vehicle case cleared

Police were also able to clear a stolen vehicle incident that occurred on the 700 block of W. Golf Road, police stated, as a result of the investigation.

Deputy Chief Nick Treantafeles said police did not have further information available at this time about the stolen vehicle, including when the vehicle was stolen.

Unlocked doors

Treantafeles said the doors of the vehicle Sabo burglarized were unlocked, a common occurrence in burglary to vehicle incidents.

“It’s not just our municipality, everyone, 90 percent of burglary to vehicles could be eliminated if people just locked their doors,” Treantafeles said. “Because that’s all these guys do, they go up and down the street, tugging on door handles. If it opens, boom, they go in.”

Police saw the dome light inside a vehicle go on and off on Nov. 30, Treantafeles said, and when police took Sabo into custody, an iPod, an iPhone and an iPhone charger that he just took from the vehicle were in his possession.

“People need to lock their doors,” Treantafeles said.

Sign up for Patch’s daily newsletter, delivered to your inbox with news, information and community.

Find Patch on Facebook and click the like button.