ILLINOIS COMPUTERS STOLEN River Forest hit with morning burglaries:

10/6/2009 10:00:00 PM

River Forest hit with morning burglaries

Just last month River Forest police reported a steep drop in overall crime. A month later they're dealing with a rash of mid-morning home burglaries, despite the arrest of three people.

"We think they're watching people leave," said Deputy Chief Greg Weiss, who said the crimes are occurring roughly between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Smaller, more valuable items are being targeted.

"All the stuff that's been taken are items that can be carried under the arm or in a back pack," said Weiss. Those items include jewelry and electronics such as iPods and digital cameras. The largest item taken was a laptop computer.

"We've had extra cars out there as much as we can," said Weiss, who was himself on the street Monday morning.

The burglaries continue despite the arrest and charging of two men for burglary and the arrest and investigation of a third man. The two men charged are not suspected in the daytime burglaries, nor is the third man.

As police did in Oak Park on several occasions over the summer, River Forest police are urging people to lock their doors. As in Oak Park, some people are not getting the message. In a recent morning burglary, burglars entered a home on the 600 block of Franklin between 8:50 and 9:40 a.m. Oct. 1, through an unlocked rear door. They stole two laptop computers and an iPod, ransacked a dresser drawer, and stole a $400 mountain bike from an open detached garage. In other incidents burglars have kicked in a rear door and entered through a broken rear door window.

Between 10:25 a.m. and 12:10 p.m. Oct. 2, someone entered an apartment on the 7200 block of Oak through a "possibly unlocked" door and stole a fanny pack containing miscellaneous watches and jewelry as well as a laptop computer.

Residential burglary

The afternoon of Sept. 28 the rear door and door frame of a home on the 1000 block of S. Highland was damaged by a pry bar, but no entry was gained.

The morning of Sept. 28, the door of a residence on the 300 block of S. Maple was pried or forced open by brute force and a laptop computer stolen.