Jewelry thieves targeting people in parking lots strike again in Des Plaines

Teams of thieves who distract strangers in suburban parking lots and steal their jewelry have struck again.

Two such thefts occurred within the last two weeks in Des Plaines. In both cases, the victims were older people.

About 2 p.m. Tuesday, a white SUV pulled up to a 92-year-old woman outside a grocery store on the 1000 block of East Oakton Street, police said.

A female passenger leaned out a window to speak with the woman and, while doing so, put a chain around her neck, police said.

When the thief went to take the chain back, she also stole a necklace from the victim, who lives in Rosemont, police said. A man was driving the SUV, and they left the parking lot in an unknown direction, police said.

A similar theft occurred about noon Sept. 9 outside a supermarket on the 800 Block of South Elmhurst Road. An 84-year-old Mount Prospect man was leaving the store when he was approached by a man and a woman who placed jewelry around his neck, police said.

When they took the jewelry off, they stole a necklace the man had been wearing.

The thieves left in a dark minivan, police said. The theft wasn’t reported to police until this week.

The circumstances of both crimes resemble a March 2 theft in Des Plaines.

That time, a 62-year-old woman was victimized by a trio of thieves outside a store on the 1500 block of Lee Street.

The victim told police she had been was confronted by two women in an SUV driven by a man. The women placed a necklace around the victim’s neck and a bracelet around her wrist, then removed the pieces and gold jewelry she had been wearing, police said.

The crimes aren’t only occurring in Des Plaines.

In March, following thefts like this in Naperville, police there turned to Facebook to warn people of strangers engaging them in parking lots.

“In these crimes, victims are typically approached as they load groceries or other items into their vehicle,” police said in the post. “The suspects engage the victim with friendly conversation and typically offer the victim a gift.”

The gifts aren’t always jewelry, police said. Sometimes they’re cellphones or other electronics in factory packaging. Victims later discover the electronics they’ve been given are worthless.

The thieves typically work in teams and sometimes have children with them to help distract victims, Naperville police said.

Naperville police encouraged people to avoid accepting gifts from strangers, to keep strangers at appropriate distances and to call 911 if they encounter such activity.

Similar crimes have been reported in Chicago and in other states.

Some thieves have offered prayers or blessings to get close to victims, police have said. Others have persuaded victims to give them jewelry and cash from their homes, media reports indicate.

In Wheeling, an 86-year-old resident of the 100 block of Wilshire Drive told police a man and woman in a dark SUV approached her near the end of her driveway on Sept. 4 and said they wanted to pray with her, Deputy Chief Michael Conway said. They took her hand, prayed, and then gave her $10, two chains and a ring before leaving.

The resident didn’t find anything missing after the encounter, Conway said, so the case is classified as a suspicious incident. The jewelry was turned over to police as evidence.

rlissau@dailyherald.com

· Daily Herald staff writer Susan Sarkauskas contributed to this report.