UPDATED: WSPD Arrests Man in True Value For Felony Forgery, Theft

UPDATED, 3:49 p.m.: Perhaps criminals really do return to the scene of the crime.

Jeremy Miller, the man arrested in Western Springs at 2:45 p.m. Saturday for felony charges of forgery, retail theft and possession of cocaine and heroin, was apprehended in True Value Hardware, the same business from which he stole and where he made a fraudulent purchase one day earlier, Western Springs police said.

According to Western Springs Deputy Chief of Police Brian Budds, on Friday, Miller, 30, of 424 Touhy Ave., Des Plaines, signed for a purchase at True Value using the expense account of a business with which he was no longer affiliated—intentionally, legally a felony forgery—as well as stealing some of the hardware store’s inventory of copper piping.

Then, on Saturday, Miller returned—why, Budds said, nobody knows.

“I don’t know exactly what his intention was coming back, whether to commit another theft or to apologize,” Budds said. “But it’s very unusual… He actually did us a favor by coming back to the scene, because it expedited our arrest process.”

Store employees recognized Miller and called police—and as it turned out, the exact same patrol shift who had responded on Friday were on duty. Police and employees identified Miller from physical descriptions and surveillance-camera footage and arrested him.

Upon searching Miller’s car, police found small amounts of cocaine and heroin, as well as several items later confirmed as stolen. (The copper piping was not recovered.)

Miller was transported to the Cook County Central Bond Court on Sunday for a pending bond hearing.

Budds, the Department’s designated public-information officer, remarked that it ended up being “one of the more interesting press releases I can recall [writing.]”

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ORIGINAL, 3:06 p.m.: Western Springs Police arrested a 30-year-old Des Plaines man Saturday on multiple felony charges, including forgery, retail theft and possession of cocaine and heroin.

Jeremy Miller, 30, of 424 Touhy Ave., Des Plaines, was arrested in a store on the 800 block of Burlington Avenue at 2:45 p.m. on Feb. 18. He was considered a "person of interest" after being suspected in a retail theft and forgery incident in the same business that had occurred the previous day, Friday.

Officers responding to a call identified Miller as the same man who had committed the crime the previous day and arrested him without incident. They retrieved several pieces of stolen items from his car, as well as small amounts of cocaine and heroin.

Miller was transported to the Cook County Central Bond Court on Sunday for a pending bond hearing.

Western Springs Police said they will offer comment later on Tuesday.

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