“Ruse Entry” Burglaries: November 2009
Within the last month, the Police Department has seen an increase in diversion burglaries -- or "ruse entry" burglaries -- in the northern Cook County area. Diversion burglaries are crimes in which a victim is kept busy by a perpetrator while his accomplice sneaks into the residence and steals money and other valuables. The victims are typically senior citizens. In some of the most recent crimes, seniors were approached as they did lawn work outside. They were kept occupied under the pretense of helping them, while other accomplices removed cash and jewelry from the residence.
The police department is advising all citizens, especially seniors, to be extra diligent and not to let anyone you don’t know into your homes. These perpetrators are known to use ruses such as, “My wife is injured, I need to call an ambulance” or “I just ran out of gas” or “A powerline is down on your side of the house.” If you experience anything similar or suspicious, please call 911 immediately and stay on the phone with the police.
Follow these safety steps:
- Never let a stranger into your home.
- When answering the door to an unexpected stranger, if possible leave the door closed and make use of "peep holes." If opening the door is necessary, leave the screen/storm door closed and locked, and/or have a chain lock in place.
- Look for a utility company vehicle with an easily recognizable or familiar logo.
- Utility workers will not come to your home unannounced; they usually only respond to calls for service from the home owner, and will have some form of company identification.
- You can call the utility company that would be involved to determine if a service person was sent to your home.
- Unless they are following up on a pre-arranged, permit required installation, Village employees will not ask you to show them hot water heaters or potential utility problems in your home.
- If there is an emergency that requires an evacuation; e.g., gas leak, the notification would be done by uniformed Police Officers and/or Firefighters.
- If you ever have any doubts about a service person having a legitimate need to come into your home, you can always call 9-1-1. Ask the 9-1-1 operator if they are aware of any utility problems in the area before allowing them into your home.