Business Burglaries and a Despicable Scam: Urbandale Police Blotter

The Urbandale arrests below are preliminary criminal charges. They do not represent convictions or court resolutions. 

June 12: Kathy's on Hickman reported that someone burglarized the business about 5 a.m. Police responded to the bar's alarm system found the front glass door smashed in, said Lt. Rob Johansen. The cash register drawer had been pried open, although there was no money insides. The thieves broke into a vending machine inside the business and took the money from it.

June 18-19: Leeza Salon reported that someone took money from the salon's cash register. There was no sign of forced entry to the building, although the owners said they thought they locked the business when they left the night before.

June 8-11: Someone stole between 100 and 200 gallons of fuel from the Merle Hay Funeral Home.

June 12: An 80-year-old Urbandale woman reported that she received a call from someone claiming to be her grandson. The man told her he was in jail in Guatemala and need money to get out. The scam is one that has been commonly used against older people, who are asking to wire money to free their grandchildren.

June 15: The at was burglarized. Police were not certain that the door had been securely locked. The burglars knocked a large hole in the drywall and pried open two locked closet doors, but nothing apparently was stolen.  The city council is scheduled Monday to grant a contract to demolish the building and build a new one. 

June 15: 44-year-old Urbandale woman reported being assaulted in the parking lot of her apartment in the 7500 block of Canterbury Road. The woman said she was assaulted by a man that she did not know as she was getting out of her car to go into her apartment about 7 p.m.

The man did not have a weapon and he left after another tenant came out and asked the woman if she was alright. She did not have serious injuries, said Lt. Johansen and called police to report the incident the next day.

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