Burglary Spree Hits Oak Lawn Garages

Burglars had themselves a field day raiding Oak Lawn garages between Nov. 9 and Nov. 17, stealing property and rifling through cars. Burglars were able to access most of the garages through unlocked service doors, according to Oak Lawn police reports.

A homeowner in the 4600 block of West 98th Place noticed that his snow blower had been stolen sometime before 11:40 a.m. Nov. 9. Police said the burglar walked past two TVs, a lawnmower and several items to get to the snowblower. The homeowner told police that the service door is usually left unlocked and believes it was the entry point for the thieves.

In the 9600 block of South Natoma Avenue, a 48-year-old man noticed that his garage service door ajar around 8:06 a.m. Nov. 10. Burglars ripped off numerous tools valued at $520.

On Nov. 14, a 30-year-old man reported $6,000 worth of various tools missing from his garage in the 9700 block of South Natoma Ave. By the time police arrived around 11:19 a.m., the man had already cleaned up the garage. There were no signs of forced entry.

According to the police, the man wasn’t going to report the burglary at first until he noticed the extent of items missing.

In the final incident, burglars hit a garage in the 10700 block of South Kenneth Avenue. The homeowner told police that he found the garage service door unlocked around 11:03 a.m.

When he entered the garage, he noticed that doors to both cars parked inside had been left open. The thieves ransacked the glove boxes and threw items on the floorboards. In one vehicle, the interior dome light had been torn out.

Police said the homeowner did not notice anything missing, except for his bicycle.