Area burglaries, bank robberies have local residents concerned

By Hayley Carlton 

The South Loop has been hit by a string of home burglaries recently and, in addition, the South Loop/Near West Side area also has had several bank robberies.

            Maureen Schuneman, a 27-year resident of Dearborn Park said that her home was broken in to recently, resulting in the loss of $70 cash, a cell phone, and a CTA Chicago Card.    

“I live in a west-facing duplex,” said Schuneman of her home near Roosevelt Road and State Street. Schuneman said that her home is visible from the street, although there is a wall in front of it. “I accidentally left my patio door open two inches,” she noted. As a result, she said, there was a “crime of opportunity." She came downstairs in the morning to find that her purse contents were spread on the floor and a drawer in her kitchen was open.

Additionally, Schuneman said that the janitor’s closet in one of Dearborn Park’s midrises was ransacked.

            Schuneman said that she called the police "but didn’t get much of a response. When I replaced the cell phone [using the same phone number], I found messages on it to the burglar." She said that she passed on cell phone numbers and names to the police but that the burglar still was not apprehended.

            “His name is Joe--I call him 'Burglar Joe,'” she said, noting the police did follow up on a call from a man named Chris. Schuneman said that the police told her that Chris was with a maid service. “I’ve been told that sometimes maid services are a front for burglary chains,” she said.

            Additionally, she said that she went online to track the thief’s usage of her CTA Chicago Card. “He was keeping burglar hours, 1 a.m. here and 3 a.m. there," Schuneman said. "He left my house at about 5 a.m. and went to the West Side.”

            Schuneman said that several weeks later someone tried to gain entrance to her home via the patio again, but could not get in and that a neighbor had a similar experience. “The first time, it was because I left the door open," Schuneman said. "Now they’re trying doors. That’s a lot bolder.”

            When she asked the police if the could look at video surveillance footage to see if they could get an image of the thief, she alleged that she was rebuffed. “They said that they couldn’t do it, and that was after the first officer said that they could," Schuneman said.

Schuneman’s daughter, Amanda Blythe Schuneman, said that while she has “nothing but good memories” about Dearborn Park, her perception of the area is marred, not only because of the robberies themselves but because of the initial police response.

            “The police response has been better since we talked to Larry Young, the vice president of the Dearborn Park Advisory Council [and CAPS leader of Beat 132] who lives in Schuneman’s building.

            Officer FIRSTNAME Taylor, a spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department, stated that Schuneman did have recourse if she was dissatisfied with police response. “She could have filed a complaint with the Independent Police Review Authority," Taylor said. IPRA is an independent board that investigates police misconduct.

            Schuneman "has been proactive as a victim,” said Young, who believes that the crimes are the work of “one person. There have been as many as seven" burglaries in the area, in addition to two in Dearborn II and some activity in the freestanding townhouses, Young noted.

            Young said that Schuneman’s assessment of police response “is a bit harsh” and said that police responded by having officers take to the street “to talk to moms with strollers” to warn them to keep their patio doors locked. Several years earlier, he said, there were some garage break-ins in Dearborn Park and police caught the burglar by “having an old- fashioned stake out.”

            He cautioned residents about the need to be proactive when it comes to safety, such as putting in door jams. He noted that building managers also should be proactive in terms of installing motion detectors and other security elements. “We have as many as 20 first-floor patio areas facing the street,” Young said.

In addition to the break-ins around Dearborn Park, a Chase Bank was robbed in the South Loop in the 800 block of south Wabash Ave., and ABC Bank in Tri-Taylor was robbed about 90 minutes later on Taylor St. There also was a stabbing at Grandaddy’s Subs recently in which three people were wounded.