A Cook County Sheriff’s Police investigation led to the arrest of 29-year-old Arlington Heights man in connection with a ruse burglary in Leyden Township, Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced today.
At approximately 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 23, a man claiming he was a construction worker fixing a fence lured a 76-year-old woman into the back of her residence in the 3000 block of Rhodes Avenue. The man then abruptly left in a white, four-door sedan.
While the victim was in the backyard, distracted by the man, someone else entered her home and took jewelry and cash.
With the assistance of the Illinois State Police Ruse Burglary Task Force, Sheriff’s Police identified the offender as Walter M. Reed.
On Jan. 4, the Ruse Burglary Task Force took Reed into custody near his home. He was brought to Sheriff’s Police Headquarters for further investigation. Reed was charged with one count of residential burglary/false representation, a class 1 felony. Reed appeared for a bond hearing on Jan. 5, at the Maywood Courthouse where he was ordered to electronic monitoring.
Sheriff’s Police detectives attending Reed’s Jan. 5 bond hearing saw a white, four-door 2012 Nissan Altima with mismatched registration in the courthouse parking lot. The vehicle was determined to be reported stolen from Lynn, Mass. Sheriff’s Police took two people who had entered the car into custody. They were identified as Michael J. Johnson, 50, and Apple Reed, 47, Walter Reed’s parents.
Johnson and Apple Reed, both of Mount Prospect, were charged with criminal trespass to a vehicle, a misdemeanor.
The stolen vehicle was identified by the victim as the car the man who came to her residence on Nov. 23 had left in.
Sheriff Dart reminds the public that the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty by the government in a court of law.