Flea market thefts reported at Kane County Fairgrounds

Three vendors reported various items stolen from them last weekend at the Kane County Fairgrounds, and a police report indicates the organizer of the flea market refused to cooperate with police.

Police arrived Sunday at the fairgrounds in St. Charles for a report of stolen jewelry. Officers reached the Exposition Building and found more than one complaint for a variety of missing items.

Thieves reportedly took two containers filled with “Premier” brand doll jewelry containing about 1,000 pieces of 1950s doll jewelry in each container. The items were estimated to have a total value of about $3,000.

Officers then questioned the building superintendent who personally secures the facility nightly and also when the building is reopened in the morning for a cleaning crew and booth owners. The superintendent told officers it would be very difficult to tell if someone was stealing property because so many vendors toted their own goods at the same time. There are no security cameras inside the Exposition Building.

While investigating the missing jewelry, police found another vendor with a missing necklace. The 29-inch necklace was a sterling silver Squash Blossom necklace with 10 blue turquoise stones and an attached crescent pendant containing five matching turquoise stones. The necklace was stored inside a locking glass display case. The case was not locked over night. The necklace had an estimated value of $160.

Another vendor told police a 12-inch geode rock was stolen from their booth during a rainstorm. The vendors took shelter in their vehicle during the storm while flea market employees took shelter near the vendor booths. When the vendor returned to the booth after the storm, the geode was gone. The vendor told police employees were driving forklifts and moving garbage cans around where the geode may have been concealed.

The vendor reported the theft to Frank Robinson, the man in charge of the flea market, and were told the vendors couldn’t prove his employees had taken anything from them, the police report states. Police asked Robinson to talk to his employees about helping locate the missing property. The police report states Robinson told the officer the vendors were lying and none of his employees were involved. The officer responded that the vendors, longtime patrons of the flea market, were now planning on never returning because of the theft.

According to the report, Robinson told the officer he didn’t care.