Oak Park Police Explore Garage Burglary Connections

Four garages were burglarized between March 10 and 11, three of which happened within several blocks of one another in north Oak Park. 

According to police reports, here's the timeline: 

• The first burglary occurred between 1 p.m. March 10 and 7:50 a.m. March 11 in the 1100 block of North Euclid Avenue when someone entered the garage through an unlocked side door before entering the victim's unlocked vehicle. A GPS unit worth $250 was stolen, and the rest of the vehicle was ransacked.
• The second burglary occurred between 10 p.m. March 10 and 7 a.m. March 11 in the 900 block of North Euclid Avenue. Again, someone entered the garage through an unlocked door and rummaged through the unlocked vehicle parked in the garage. A GPS unit worth $300 was stolen, and the rest of the vehicle was ransacked.
• The third burglary occurred between 4:30 p.m. March 10 and 8:30 a.m. March 11 in the 900 block of Linden Avenue. The garage was entered by way of an unlocked side door and the loose change was stolen from the vehicle parked inside.

A fourth garage burglary in the 700 block of South Grove Avenue, which took place about one day earlier than the north Oak Park incidents, netted a GPS, guitar and guitar case, but police don't believe there's a connection to the cluster of break-ins in north Oak Park. 

"I can tell you the ones that occurred [in the north part of town] can possibly have been the same individual, however, they're all still under investigation," said police Cmdr. LaDon Reynolds.

Reynolds also confirmed the burglaries fit the same pattern — the thief or thieves enter an unlocked or broken side service doors, then enter the unlocked vehicles before ransacking the inside and stealing from them. 

In the wake of the burglaries, police are reminding residents to secure their garages or storage areas, and to lock their vehicles.

Reynolds offered another suggestion.

"It always helps to have exterior lighting around the garage, even motion sensors," Reynolds said.