Police charge 2 for thefts at several hardware stores

Thanks to a dogged security guard, police have arrested two Northbrook men they believe have stolen from a half-dozen local Menards stores.

On Oct. 7, a guard at Menards, 740 E. Rand Road, Mount Prospect said he saw David A. Gordon, 36, 3718 Salem Walk, Northbrook, take a $70 saw kit out of the store and get into a pickup truck driven by Kyle E. Hilbert, 25, 3620 Greenleaf, Northbrook. From his own car, the agent followed the pickup, keeping police up to date on their location.

Police stopped the truck on the 1300 block of East Rand Road in Prospect Heights and found the saw kit on the floor of the truck; Gordon and Hilbert admitted they stole merchandise at least five times at other Menards stores, but this was their first theft from the Mount Prospect store.

They said they would take the stolen merchandise to another Menards store for a refund, sell the refund card to a customer for less than face value and use the money to buy heroin.

Gordon was charged with felony retail theft; his court date is Nov. 5. Hilbert was charged with misdemeanor retail theft and unlawful possession of a shielding device after officers found a foil-lined bag in his truck used to defeat a store's security alarm; his court date is Nov. 7.