Four Vehicle Burglaries Prompt Police Department Alert

The Western Springs Police Department has issued a community alert after four vehicle burglaries occurred in the past month, three by criminals smashing car windows. All four burglaries took place in public parking lots, with purses being taken from inside the cars.

On July 26, between 7:20 and 8:20 a.m., an unknown person shattered a car window and stole a purse that was sitting on the floor behind the driver’s seat.

The other three burglaries all occurred on August 16. The first was in the Recreation Center parking lot, with a purse stolen from the passenger’s seat of an unlocked car sometime between 7:10 and 7:15 a.m.; the second two occurred consecutively at the Service Club Pool, with car windows being again smashed and purses stolen between 6:00 and 7:30 a.m.

Varying amounts of cash, credit cards and personal information have been lost in the burglaries.

While any car burglaries are alarming, forced-entry burglaries merit particular attention, said Brian Budds, Western Springs Deputy Chief of Police.

“Criminals are opportunistic,” Budds said. “They see an opportunity and take advantage of it. Typically, they won’t enter locked vehicles, only unlocked ones, but occasionally we see more aggressive ones and that’s we’re seeing here.”

While Budds said the Department has no suspects at the moment, he added that Department officers “are working diligently to apprehend the suspects.”

Forced-entry burglaries are more difficult to prevent against, since simply remembering to lock the car doesn’t help—but the best defense is to not leave valuables like purses, cell phones, computers, etc. where they can be seen from outside the car. (In all four recent car burglaries, the purses were left in plain sight.

The Department recommends playing it safe “even if you step away for only a few minutes.” (The Rec Center robbery happened when the car owner was away for only five minutes.)

Anyone with information about the robberies should contact the Department at (708) 246-8540.