River Forest Police Announce Arrest of Man Accused of Stealing Copper Downspouts

River Forest police announced they nabbed the man responsible for a series of copper thefts around the village in recent weeks.

If you've been following our coverage of the police blotter, you know there have been multiple reports of someone stealing the copper downspouts off homes in River Forest lately.

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Police arrested Stanley Mark Rozkocha, 36, of the 7400 block of Belmont in Chicago, and charged him with one count of theft.

Police reported Rozkocha implicated himself in a total of five separate copper downspout theft incidents in the 800 block of Bonnie Brae between Jan. 20 and Feb. 5. Detectives believe that his arrest may also help other area agencies with similar ongoing investigations into these types of thefts.

Police reported that at about 10:15 a.m. they responded to a call about a man removing copper downspouts from a home in the 800 block of Bonnie Brae. The victim was able to give police a description of the offender and the vehicle he was driving.

Officers already providing additional patrols in the area, due to similar incidents, were able to locate his vehicle and stop it at Chicago and Harlem avenues.

Police were able to see several large sections of copper downspouts in his vehicle, including a 9-foot section of downspout identified by the victim.

Police Blotter information is provided by the River Forest Police Department. Charges are not evidence of guilt. They are a record of police actions taken on a given day, and persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. If you or a family member are charged or cited and the case is subsequently adjudicated, we encourage you to notify the editor at matthew@patch.com. We will verify and report the outcome.