GazeboNews

Two Cars Collide At LB Train Station

Lake Bluff police and other emergency personnel responded to a two-car accident in front of the Lake Bluff train station on Wednesday evening. Village Police Chief William Gallagher said a vehicle heading west on E. Scranton Avenue failed to yield to a vehicle heading north on Sheridan Road. Two people appeared to have minor injuries and were transported to Lake Forest Hospital.

Also on Wednesday, the LBPD received reports of two stolen bicycles, one from in front of the library, which had been left unlocked, and one from the train station, which had been locked. Chief Gallagher said a citizen called to report a suspicious bike on the bike bath. A police officer investigated and located the library bike near Witchwood Lane. Well, most of the bike: it was missing its front tire and seat. The officer combed the bike path in search of the bike parts and/or other stolen bike, to no avail.  

Scams On The Rise In Mettawa

Editor's note: The following is the text of an e-mail Mettawa's mayor sent to residents of his Village and neighbors just over the border in Lake Forest, as well as to GazeboNews:

By Jess Ray, Mayor of the Village of Mettawa

In these tough economic times, there is always an increase in "fraud creativity." You only have to open a newspaper to read about recent examples. Recently there has been a noticed increase of "scam artists" working their creative fraud on businesses and residents of Mettawa.

In one case, a couple stayed in one of our Village-based hotels for over 30 days without paying; and then, they claimed to the Hotel they were owed money from the hotel to buy the room back from them. The scammers believed they had an ownership claim to the room—-kind of like squatters' rights. Creative yes, legal, no; but it cost the Hotel time, money and the inconvenience to remedy the situation.

In a separate and more recent situation, a team has been operating as a tree-trimming company with below-market rates. This team has been reported to the County Sheriff’s department for operating without a license. Creative, yes; legal…well this one is a bit more obscure. You can hire anyone to work on your property; but if the service company is not insured and bonded and does not have workman's comp coverage, you could find yourself facing some complications. In one case, the homeowner was faced with demanding financial claims, borrowing homeowner tools to do the work, threats and unprofessional behavior.

So please be careful about whom you hire to do work around your home or home-site during these tough economic times. When money is low, creativity to make money goes up. Don’t become a victim of fraud creativity.

Ask The Gazebo: The Skinny On Skinny Dipping

Recently the Chicago Tribune ran a police blotter item about a young man in Buffalo Grove who was given a warning by police for swimming naked in his backyard pool. He had been skinny dipping with two female friends at about 5:40 a.m. when a neighbor, who had a clear view of the pool, called the police.  According to the Trib account: "Police responded to the swimming pool ... and spoke to the man about public indecency laws."

A GazeboNews reader wanted to know how such a scenario would play out in our community. To put it another way: Can you go outdoors in the buff in Lake Forest or Lake Bluff? We contacted police in both 'burbs and found that the answer depends on how private your property is.

GazeboNews: Can residents of Lake Forest or Lake Bluff skinny dip, sunbathe nude or just be naked in their backyards?

Lake Forest Deputy Chief Glenn Burmeister: Chapter 47, Section 4.2, a local ordinance on Public Indecency, defines a public place for purposes of this section as any place where the conduct may reasonably be expected to be viewed by others.

Lake Bluff Police Chief William Gallagher: The Village of Lake Bluff doesn't have a specific ordinance regarding appropriate attire while swimming in your own backyard; however it would fall under 7-2-4 of the Village Code, which is Disorderly Conduct. The offended person would have to sign the complaint.

Elderly Man Is Victim Of 'Scam' In LF

Lake Forest police are reporting an increase in what they call "scams related to the economy." In one incident last week, an 85-year-old Waukegan resident who police described as "very confused" was tricked out of $8,000 by at least two people whom he said convinced him to withdraw money from his account at the Northern Trust Bank in Lake Forest.

Lake Forest Deputy Police Chief Glenn Burmeister said the man's story has changed frequently since he called the LFPD on the afternoon of June 25 from downtown Lake Forest. But based on the victim's initial account and bank video footage, police believe he was tricked by a man and a woman whom he met randomly in Waukegan. Police describe the suspects as a heavy set African American man and an African American woman between 45 and 55 years of age. In the bank video, the female suspect is wearing a large hat.

Deputy Chief Burmeister said the victim was approached in a Jewel Food parking lot in Waukegan. "We think they went into a Waukegan bank and appeared to withdraw money of their own, and then they tricked him into driving to Lake Forest and withdrawing money from his bank," the deputy chief said. In an e-mail, he added: "The scam was that the female suspect claimed to have a large sum of money she received in an insurance settlement from 9/11. They wanted to give some of the money to the Baptist church and the only one the victim knew of was on Oakwood in Lake Forest. The suspects wanted to give

Murder-Suicide: Why Fort Sheridan?

By Adrienne Fawcett

The last thing they heard was gunfire. The suicide notes and eyewitness attest to that. But what did James and Frieda Leider Stein hear before the gun shots that ended their lives in an apparent murder-suicide at Fort Sheridan Cemetery last Thursday afternoon? The distant rumble of the noon Metra train? The beeping of earth-moving trucks from the golf course nearby? Wind chimes jingling from a tree?

"It was a very warm and sunny day with a bit of a stiff breeze," said John Tannahill, chief of the Lake County Forest Preserve Ranger Police. "The place they did it, it was right behind a little birdhouse."

Caretakers Joe Rafferty and Chuck Garrett had just finished seeding a new burial plot in Section 15, a quiet cove in the cemetery's northeast corner where the newest graves are located. Mr. Rafferty left for a while, and Mr. Garrett headed over to another section to lay more seed. "I saw a man get out of the car and take out a wheelchair," said Mr. Garrett. "Not long after, I heard a loud bang and I wasn't sure what it was. So I looked up and saw the man standing there. And then I heard another bang and the man wasn't standing there any more."

The section of Fort Sheridan Cemetery where James and Frieda Stein died on Thursday

Couple Shot To Death At Fort Sheridan Cemetery

An elderly Highland Park couple was found shot to death in the Fort Sheridan Cemetery on Thursday, an action police are calling an apparent murder-suicide. Here are links to the news coverage of this story:

• Chicago Tribune
• Lake County News-Sun
• Daily Herald
• Pioneer Local

It's Not A Break-In If The Thief Doesn't Break In

Lake Bluff residents should not be alarmed if the phone rings after 9 p.m. and it's the police on the other end. Due to a rash of residential burglaries, Village police have taken to calling residents who leave their garage doors open at night. Their message: close the door!

Most of the recent crimes have occurred in The Sanctuary subdivision off Waukegan Road, and all of the entries have been through open garage doors where items were taken from vehicles or the home's interior. The police point out that these crimes of opportunity can be prevented if residents shut their garage doors and keep their home and car doors locked. They also say that while this current crime wave is concentrated in The Sanctuary, it can and does happen in all neighborhoods.

Kent Pleads Guilty To Possessing Child Porn

Lake Forest resident Edward Kent Jr. plead guilty to one count of class 3 felony possession of child pornography. He was placed on probation for 30 months and must register as a sex offender for life, said Mary Stanton, chief of the cyber-crimes division of the Lake County State's Attorney's Office. He must also meet standard conditions, such as perform 200 public service hours; attend Thinking For A Change, a cognitive thinking program run by the county; and undergo sex offender treatment.

Missing Student Returns Home

Updated Monday, Feb. 23: The parents of Caroline Stitcher released a family statement thanking the community for its assistance and prayers. They said: "She is not yet fully communicative, but based on what we know right now, we have no reason to believe that she was the victim of a crime or that there is any danger to our community." Please visit the Chicago Tribune for the full text of the statement.

The Deerfield High School junior who went missing Friday after school returned home late Saturday, hours after 2,000 volunteers combed the area behind the school looking for her. The Deerfield and Highland Park Police Departments issued a press release stating Caroline Stitcher "returned home and has been transported to the Highland Park Hospital for a medical check-up." The next day, Sunday, the police issued another statement saying their joint investigation "has been concluded after determining the situation was not a matter of public safety."

The Chicago Sun-TImes reported on Saturday night that Ms. Stitcher returned home on her own accord after 9 p.m., and that she was not wearing shoes.

Ms. Stitcher went for a run Friday after school and didn't return. The news of her disappearance spread instantly throughout the North Shore and beyond via crime and missing persons websites, social-media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, news websites, TV and radio reports, and e-mails that were

LB Teens Deny Wrong-Doing

Two Lake Bluff teen-agers pleaded not-guilty to single counts of residential burglary and eight counts of burglary stemming from a mini-crime spree in early December, according to the Waukegan News-Sun. Please visit the newspaper's website for the full story.

Police Say Sexual Assault Story Is Just Rumor

This story was updated Wednesday afternoon, 3:30 p.m.-ish

Lake Forest Police on Tuesday made an announcement that a sexual assault rumor that's racing around the city is just that---a rumor. Deputy Chief Glenn Burmeister told GazeboNews the story originated when a male Hispanic was observed in a red car in a driveway in a manner that caused one person to be suspicious of his actions. That person told another person, who told another, and so on ... Someone eventually passed the story on to a child who passed it on via text messages. "And eight relays later, you have nothing resembling the truth," Deputy Chief Burmeister said. "Like the telephone game."

Here is the text of the police alert:

LB Man Admits To Porn Charge

A 20-year-old Lake Bluff man pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography and was placed on probation for 30 months by the Lake County circuit court on Thursday. The Daily Herald's got the story, so please visit its website if you want more information.

LF Man Tied To Alleged Ponzi Scheme

Another Lake Forest resident is in trouble with the law. Here's a summary of a story the Lake County News-Sun posted on Wednesday about John E. Walsh of Wharton Drive (formerly of Salisbury Lane):

"Two men, including one from Lake Forest, have been arrested on federal fraud charges for allegedly operating a $15 million "Ponzi" scheme in which they diverted millions of dollars to themselves to finance lavish lifestyles---including financing a movie and spending more than $1 million at strip clubs and restaurants. Charles G. Martin, 43, of Glencoe and Malibu, Calif., and John E. Walsh, 60, of Lake Forest, were principals of a collapsed firm that purported to specialize in trading foreign currency, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's office."  Please click over to the News-Sun's website for the full story.

Crain's Chicago Business also is following this story: click here for its version.

Edward Kent Arraigned Today

Lake Forest resident Edward Kent Jr. was arraigned in Lake County Circuit Court Wednesday morning before Judge John Phillips. His pre-trial date was set for March 11 and his trial date for April 6. He entered a plea of not-guilty, said Mary Stanton, chief of the Cyber-Crimes Division of the Lake County State's Attorney's office.

Mr. Kent in December was indicted on eight counts of class 3 felony possession of child pornography. He was arrested in October after investigators from the Illinois Attorney General's Office conducted an investigation using Lime Wire, a free software program that allows people to share files over the internet. To read more about the case against Mr. Kent, please head to the GazeboNews archives by hitting this link.

Wilmette Woman Beaten in Ring Heist

This article was updated Dec. 31, 2008

A woman was knocked down, beaten and robbed of a valuable ring in Wilmette on Saturday. The assailant does not match the description of the masked ring snatcher suspected in armed robberies in Highland Park and Lake Forest in November, but the crime is similar. In all three cases, a man is accused of targeting and following a woman, approaching her in a strip-mall parking lot, demanding jewelry and fleeing the scene of the crime.

Third Silo Suspect Arrested

The third and final suspect in last year's shooting at The Silo Restaurant in Lake Bluff has been apprehended and charged, according to ChicagoBreakingNews.com. His name is Kennedy L. Banks, and he was arrested Tuesday morning in his apartment in Chicago. Please visit the ChicagoBreakingNews website for the complete story.

LF Man Indicted On Possession of Child Porn

A Lake County Circuit Court grand jury on Wednesday indicted Lake Forest resident Edward Kent Jr. on a charge of eight counts of class 3 felony possession of child pornography. Evidence was presented to a grand jury, which found probable cause for the indictment, said Mary Stanton, chief of the cyber-crimes division of the Lake County State's Attorney's Office. Mr. Kent's case is set for arraignment Jan. 7 before Judge John Phillips.

Mr. Kent was arrested Oct. 10 after investigators from the County Sheriff's Office and Lake County State's Attorney's Office executed a search warrant of his home and computer. A press release issued from the Sheriff's Office at that time stated the investigators found child pornography videos that had been downloaded from the internet and stored on Mr. Kent's computer hard drive. Ms. Stanton said the investigators were acting on information from the Illinois Attorney General's Office, which had conducted an undercover investigation using Lime Wire, a free software program that allows people to share files

Woman Robbed At Gun Point In W. Lake Forest

A woman was robbed at gun point Nov. 20 in the parking lot near Starbucks Coffee and Robeks Juice at 840 S. Waukegan Road in west Lake Forest, according to city police.

The crime took place at 4:08 p.m. while the victim was seated in her vehicle in front of an empty retail store two doors west of Starbucks. Police said a masked suspect approached the woman in her vehicle, opened the car door and demanded her diamond. The suspect was reportedly armed with a dark semi-automatic hand gun and a stun gun. The police reported  the suspect threatened to use the stun gun on the woman if she did not comply with his demands, which she did and was not injured.

The suspect took three rings, but one was recovered at the scene of the crime. Police  estimated the stolen goods to be worth $15,000. The suspect is reported to be a white male

Police Arrest Silo Robbery Suspect

A convicted felon suspected in last year's violent but botched robbery at the Silo has been arrested. The Daily Herald reports: "The man police say is the mastermind behind the attempted robbery and shooting of two employees at a popular eatery near Lake Bluff last year is behind bars.

"Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran said Friday that Charles Knight, 45, an often-convicted felon with a penchant for violence, is held on a $2 million bond in Lake County jail. He is charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and attempted armed robbery in connection with the failed robbery at the Silo restaurant."

For the complete story and a mug shot of Mr. Knight, please head over to the Daily Herald's web site.

Court Extends Child Pornography Case

Updated 10-28-08

The case against a Lake Forest man charged with unlawful possession of child pornography has been extended until Dec. 4, 2008, according to Steve Scheller, chief of the Felony Review Division of the Lake County State's Attorney's Office. Edward Kent Jr. was arrested on Oct. 10 and charged with four counts of unlawful possession of child pornography. His case originally was set for Nov. 17 but has been continued until Dec. 4 for status, Mr. Scheller said.

LF Man Charged With Possessing Child Porn

A Lake Forest resident has been arrested and charged with four counts of unlawful possession of child pornography. Edward Kent Jr., of 478 E. Westleigh Road, remains in custody at the Lake County Jail on $250,000 bond. The bond has not been posted, Sgt. Christopher Thompson told GazeboNews.

LF Police Nab Robbery Suspects After Chase

Lake Forest police on Thursday morning apprehended two teen-agers suspected in a brutal robbery the previous night.

A firefighter saw the suspects riding bicycles within view of the city's west-side fire station around 8:30 a.m. Oct. 9. When confronted, the suspects dropped the bikes and ran east along the railroad tracks, then took cover beneath high weeds. Police responded with a K-9 unit and tracked the suspects to a house on the 1200 block of Telegraph Road, where they were found hiding beneath a deck.

Two west-side schools--Everett Elementary and St. Mary's Primary--were put under lock-down during the chase, which lasted about 30 minutes.

Lake Forest Deputy Chief David Field said the suspects are run-aways from a juvenile facility in

More Copper Copped: Police Issue Alert

Eleven copper downspouts were stolen from a Lake Forest building last week, bringing to 17 the number of local copper heists committed in recent months. The Sept. 26-27 theft occurred at a new construction site on the 600 block of Waukegan Road and included several carpenter tools in addition to the downspouts. The total loss: $3,150.

On Oct. 6, Lake Forest Police issued an alert seeking help from the community in solving the copper caper mystery. Click here to read the full text of the alert.

"We believe the (copper) thefts are being committed by different people and that it is not just one group," Lake Forest Police Deputy Chief David Fields told GazeboNews. "With the value of scrap metal high and the economy struggling, this is an attractive way to get easy money.

North Shore Capers Copping Copper

Copper develops a green patina when exposed to air and water. When exposed to the black market, it turns another shade of green: money.

Enterprising thieves have ripped copper gutters and downspouts off several North Shore properties recently, including 16 buildings in Lake Forest and the train station in Lake Bluff (one of the ripped-off downspouts is shown in the photo at left).

Lake Forest Deputy Police Chief David Fields said there is no pattern to the thefts, other than that most of them occurred on week days rather than weekends. Five took place in the morning, eight were in the afternoon and evening, and three happened over night. Eleven of the thefts occurred at houses that were vacant or under construction; three occurred at churches, one was at a funeral home and one was from a detached garage.

In Lake Bluff, downspouts valued at $2,400 were stolen in August from the Lake Bluff train station. And in Libertyville, thieves hoisted 280 feet of copper gutters and downspouts from the David Adler Cultural Center in late July, and 40 feet of copper gutters and downspouts from the Civic Center in early August, according to the Daily Herald.

Police Issue Crime Alert

She rang the doorbell and rang it again. No one came, so the visitor walked to the house's side entry and let herself in through an unlocked door. At that time, the homeowner walked downstairs and found himself face-to-face with what he called "A Gypsy" in his Lake Bluff home.

"What are you doing here," he asked the woman.

She replied she was looking for her cat. With confidence, she said she had been there the night before and talked with the homeowner's wife about the missing cat. She was checking in again to see if they'd seen it.

The homeowner did not recognize the woman. He had never seen her in the neighborhood. He had never seen her anywhere. He also realized her story had holes.

"We were out of town until this morning," he said, still shocked to be talking to a stranger who let herself in while he and his daughter were upstairs at home.

"Well, then," replied the woman, backing out the door. She scuttled down the driveway, into a waiting white van and drove away. Still stunned, the man called 911, but the woman was never found.

Burglaries such as this are on the rise in Lake Bluff, Lake Forest and other North Shore communities. They are occurring so often that the Lake Bluff police today issued a crime alert: