Abandoned vehicles burglarized in blizzard

The Blizzard of 2011 has brought out the best in people — like volunteer snowmobile riders rescuing toddlers from stranded vehicles and other acts of selfless service.

But it also brought out some of the worst in some folks.

In Kane County, there were at least two instances in which motorists who were forced to abandon their vehicles at the height of the storm returned the next day to find their automobiles burglarized.

“It's pretty sad somebody would resort to doing something like that when people had to leave their cars on the side of the road,” Kane County Sheriff's Department Lt. Pat Gengler said. “We would hope for the best out of people, but there's still people out there like that. It's unfortunate.”

A motorist whose red GMC Sierra was stranded at Plank and Russell roads near Elgin discovered a passenger window broken, the stereo stolen along with a snowblower, shovel and gas stolen from the truck bed, sheriff reports said.

In Aurora Township, burglars smashed out the driver's side window on a Lincoln Continental at Montgomery Road and Hill Avenue and broke the center console looking for items to steal, according to a police report. Damage was more than $300.

Finally, a driver who got stuck at about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday near Big Timber and Manning roads near Huntley experienced a Good Samaritan gone awry.

According to sheriff's police, the driver was stranded and a man in a silver pickup truck with a yellow plow pulled up and without asking began to plow in an effort to get the other car out.

But the plow driver clipped the stranded car three times with the plow's blade, forcing the stranded motorist to stop the plow driver, who eventually just drove off.

The victim told police the plow driver was white, at least 240 pounds and was “young and looked like he was on something.”