Crime & Safety

OMG PD: Geek War, P!nk Tickets Stolen, iPhone Scam

A roundup of the more unusual items in this week's police blotters.

DOWNERS GROVE

Battery at Best Buy Geek Squad Counter

Matthew Wieczorek, 33, of the 6100 block of Pinewood Court in Willowbrook, was arrested around 6:30 p.m. after an incident at the Downers Grove Best Buy, 7401 Lemont Road, police said.

The manager told police he was hit multiple times by a customer, later identified as Wieczorek, after an incident at the Geek Squad counter, according to reports.

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Employees said Wieczorek had spilled a liquid on the counter and was "yelling something about fixing his phone," police said. He then "kicked his phone toward the ceiling" and grabbed a pair of headphones, which he also kicked, according to reports.

The manager said Wieczorek walked toward the front exit of the store to check on his bicycle, then attempted to walk back in. The manager told him he was not allowed back in due to his actions, prompting Wieczorek to walk back to the counter and demand his phone, according to reports. 

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After Wieczorek was given his phone, he walked toward the front door, knocking over several items of merchandise on his way out, police said.

The manager followed Wieczorek, and told an employee to call the police. Wieczorek walked toward him and hit him in the abdomen twice with the back side of his hand, according to reports. 

When the manager backed away and told Wieczorek not to touch him again, Wieczorek grabbed the back of the manager's head with his left hand and hit him with his right hand, police said.

Wieczorek left the scene on his bicycle, but was later stopped by police.

He was charged with one count of battery and one count of disorderly conduct. He was released on an I-Bond.

LA GRANGE

Weirdness on Waiola 

A resident of the 400 block of Waiola Avenue reports that there have been numerous suspicious incidents on the block in the past month, believing that someone has been looking in her windows and leaving food on neighbors’ windowsills and porches. She said a suspicious person was seen around the house. Police entered a special watch for the area.

Kid Threatens to Burn Elm Park

A resident reported that her 10-year-old son, while playing in Elm Park at around 4 p.m., was approached by a teenage boy who said, “I don’t like this park; I’d rather see it burned. I’m going to light it on fire.” (Elm Park was previously subject to a suspected arson in 2012.)

Guy Offers Pot in Garage

An anonymous complainant reported at 4:48 p.m. that he and his friends were approached at the parking garage on the 0-100 block of 6th Avenue by a male with piercings, orange hair and a purple hoodie offering marijuana. Police were unable to locate anyone by that description.

HINSDALE

Pricey P!nk Tickets Stolen

Police said four tickets to a March 9 P!nk concert worth a combined $1,180 were stolen from a resident in the 0-100 block of Blodgett Avenue by an unknown person in October, after UPS delivered the tickets but before the resident picked them up.

The resident recently called UPS to check on the status of the tickets, police said, after wondering why it was taking so long for them to be delivered. UPS told the resident the package had indeed been delivered in the fall.

BURR RIDGE

Battery Charge for Restaurant Employee

Shuntai Mei, 25, of the 2800 block of Hillock Avenue, Chicago, was charged with battery after he struck a coworker during an altercation that took place at the restaurant where Mei works in the 200 block of Burr Ridge Parkway at 4:55 p.m., police said.

Mei was released to appear in court. 

OAK PARK

iPhone Sale Scam 

A Dolton man was charged Feb. 14 and two others remain at large in connection with the robbery of an iPhone off a Berwyn man who had listed the item for sale on Craigslist, police said.

Nehemiah J. Beard, 18, was identified by the text messages sent back and forth to arrange a meeting about the phone with the victim, whosephone was stolen Jan. 23 in Oak Park.

Beard remains in Cook County Jail. Bond information was not available.

Authorities said the victim told police that around 9:54 pm, after placing the ad, he went to meet a potential buyer in the 900 block of South Oak Park Avenue.

While showing the phone to the potential buyer, a second man approached and grabbed the phone from the victim's hand. When the victim tried to pursue the phone snatcher, the potential buyer and a third man began hitting him, causing him to fall to the ground.

The three then fled east on Garfield. The estimated loss was $600.

“This was a planned theft,” said Det. Sgt. Michael Richardson said. “There was no potential buyer.”


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