DUI Driver Steals Car From Ex, Flees Police, Crashes: Blotter

WILMETTE, IL — The following information comes from the Wilmette Police Department as a record of police activity and those arrested by police. Criminal charges represent merely accusations by the state and are often dropped or reduced. Updated information may be available from the Cook County Clerk of Courts. Anyone named below is innocent unless their guilt is established beyond a reasonable doubt in court.

INCIDENTS

STOLEN CARS

• A Lexus reported stolen from the parking lot of the Wilmette Metra station on Dec. 21 was recovered two days later from a Chicago towing and impound lot.
• An Acura reported stolen from the 2000 block of Central Avenue on Dec. 22 was recovered in Harvey on Jan. 17.

IDENTITY THEFT
A Hibbard Road resident reported that someone had used their identity to rent two luxury apartments — one in Chicago and one in Indiana — at some point between Dec. 24 and Jan. 21.

GARAGE BURGLARY
Between 6 and 9 a.m. on Jan. 20, someone entered an open garage in the 1500 block of Gregory Avenue and stole a snow blower.

EMAIL SCAMS

• A Chestnut Avenue resident reported receiving an email on Jan. 7 that appeared to have come from a friend asking to buy two gift cards. The resident purchased $200 in cards and forwarded the information before learning that the friend's email had been hacked.
• A Forest Avenue resident reported on Jan. 24 that they had gotten an email that appeared to be from their boss's wife asking them to buy four $500 prepaid gift cards. The resident purchased the cards and provided the numbers before learning the email had not come from their employer's spouse.

ARRESTS

Lillian A. Juarez, 42, of the 2700 block of West Rascher Avenue, Chicago, was arrested on the evening of Dec. 27 after officers responded to a traffic crash involving a parked vehicle. Police smelled booze on the driver, who was taken to hospital in Evanston with minor injuries and later processed on a charge of driving under the influence.

Adrian Russell, 31, of the 700 block of Ridge Road, Wilmette, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol after an officer discovered him unconscious behind the wheel of a car around 11:12 p.m. on Jan. 9. He had driven through construction site gates at the north entrance of Gillson Park and "embedded" his car in a mound of dirt.

Larry Banks, 39, of the 900 block of North Kingsbury Street, Chicago, was arrested shortly after 1:45 a.m. on Jan. 12 after a resident reported Banks had just stolen his ex-girlfriend's car. Officers found the vehicle headed south in the 200 block of Hibbard Road, but the driver refused to stop, eventually crashing into a support column about a mile south on Skokie Boulevard. Banks was charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle, aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol, two counts of DUI–alcohol, fleeing and attempting to elude, driving on a revoked license, reckless driving and illegal transportation of alcohol.

Luis Miranda, 54, of the 2000 block of West Schiller Street, Chicago, was arrested around 7 p.m. on Jan. 18 after officers were dispatched to a report that a shoplifter had just struck the Walgreens in the 800 block of Green Bay Road. Police pulled over a vehicle matching the description provided a short distance away and reported the passenger matched the physical description of the thief. Officers found a Walgreens bag with about $300 worth of over-the-counter allergy medication and stop-smoking aids, which was returned to the store.

Michael C. Mulica, 55, of the 2800 block of Sheridan Place, Evanston, was arrested and charged with DUI after officers responded to a two-car traffic crash around 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 31 in the 2300 block of Old Glenview Road. Mulica declined to participate in sobriety tests, was taken into custody and refused to provide a breath sample.

Earlier: Stranger Gets Into, Asks For Woman's Car At CTA Station: Wilmette police blotter, Nov. 22 to Dec. 22

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