Police beat
The blotter
Buffalo Grove
•Vandals ripped the plastic quarter panel off the driver's-side door on a 1997 Jeep Laredo between 11 p.m. Aug. 20 and 3:30 p.m. Aug. 21 parked in an apartment lot on the 600 block of Trace Drive, police said. A damage estimate was not available.
•Burglars set off a car alarm by prying a window around 5:20 p.m. Aug. 17 on a 2002 Nissan Altima parked on the 1000 block of Johnson Drive, police said. The burglars fled just before the victim reached his car, and nothing appeared to be missing, reports stated. A damage estimate was not available.
•Burglars stole cash and checks to an insurance policy account between 5 and 10:30 p.m. Aug. 20 out of a dresser drawer in a home on the 0-100 block of Villa Verde Drive, police said. Value of the cash was estimated at $23,000; the insurance account was valued at $51,000.
Wheeling
•Vandals spray painted graffiti with black paint on a stop sign at three intersections: West Lodge and Pueblo trails; Lakeview Drive; and West Lodge Trail and Tahoe Circle Drive, police said. Total damage was estimated at $300.
•Burglars smashed the rear passenger's-side door window to gain entry and stole a battery-powered drill set, five nail guns, four utility pouches with hand tools, a GPS unit, and a bubble compressor between 5 p.m. Aug. 17 and 6 a.m. Aug. 18 out of a 2004 Ford F-450 truck parked in an apartment lot on the 400 block of Inland Drive, police said. Damage and value were estimated at $3,550.
•Vandals painted gang graffiti between Jan. 1 and Aug. 17 on the Wolf Road bridge at the Wheeling drainage ditch on the 300 block of Inland Drive, police said. Total damage was estimated at $1,000.
•Thieves broke the front driver's-side door handle and stole a roof-mounted antenna between 3 and 8 a.m. Aug. 19 from a 2007 Volkswagen Jetta parked in a lot on the 400 block of Plum Creek Drive, police said. Damage and value were estimated at $300.
•Vandals spray painted gang graffiti between 7 a.m. Aug. 17 and noon Aug. 19 in four places on a wooden fence at a home on the 400 block of Fifth Street, police said. Damage was estimated at $150.
•Vandals spray painted gang graffiti on an unknown date but reported Aug. 20 on a brick wall at Hawthorn School, 200 Glendale, police said. A damage estimate was not available.
•Vandals spray painted gang graffiti between 5:30 p.m. Aug. 19 and 10 p.m. Aug. 20 on three stucco support posts outside Creekside Cleaners, 286 McHenry Road, police said. Damage was estimated at $100.
•Vandals scratched all sides of a 2002 Mercury Mountaineer between 9 p.m. Aug. 19 and 5:30 a.m. Aug. 20 parked in a lot on the 800 block of McHenry Road, police said. Damage was estimated at $1,500. According to reports, this is the second time in the last few months vandals have scratched the vehicle while it was parked in the same space.