$14K In Jewelry, Gold Stolen In Home Burglary: Northbrook Police Blotter

NORTHBROOK, IL — The following information comes from the Northbrook Police Department and court records as a record of incidents reported to police and those arrested on criminal charges, which represent accusations by the state that are often dropped or reduced. Updated information may be available from the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court. Everyone arrested is presumed to be innocent unless found guilty in court beyond a reasonable doubt.

ARRESTS

SUSPENDED DRIVER'S LICENSE

George Kouriabalis, of Glenview, is accused of having a defective headlight, driving while license suspended, operating an uninsured motor vehicle, and was arrested at 10:37 p.m. May 10, at Shermer and Meadow roads. A court date of June 15 was assigned.

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE

Laurin E. Starck, of Northbrook, is accused of driving under the influence, DUI alcohol with a blood alcohol concentration level of .08 or more, endangering the life of a child, and was arrested at 6:59 p.m. May 13, in the 1100 block of Shermer Road. A court date of June 2 was assigned.

INCIDENTS

RETAIL THEFT

The staff at a gas station in the 1900 block of Willow Road reported at 11:13 a.m. May 8, that a male had come into the store and reached over the front counter to grab a pack of cigarettes ($3.99). One of the staff members told the male he couldn’t reach over the counter to grab items. After a brief argument, he walked out of the store without paying for the cigarettes. The responding officers were unable to locate the male.

ACCOUNT TAKEOVER

A Chipili Drive resident reported at 11:54 a.m. May 9, he wasn't able to access certain emails and noticed that someone made unauthorized changes to his Walmart account. Over a few days the complainant then noticed someone was trying to gain access to his Microsoft account. The complainant contacted the affected account administrators and put a freeze on his credit.

PHONE SCAM

• A resident of the 3100 block of Toulon Drive reported at 12:28 p.m. May 9, they had received a phone call from someone posing as a Chase Bank employee. The person informed the complainant there had been fraud in his account and they needed to verify some information. They requested to speak using FaceTime with the complainant. During the conversation, the resident provided his driver’s license information and debit card number. After speaking with the caller, the complainant checked his account and a total of $10,000 was missing. Other transactions were made soon after that showed money being transferred to Bitcoin. The complainant is working with the bank to get a refund.
• A Royal Ridge Drive resident reported at 2:25 p.m. May 9, someone called her and said her daughter-in-law had been in a serious motor vehicle crash. The caller said he was an attorney working with the daughter-in-law, but he needed $17,000 cash sent to him to assist with the criminal charges. The complainant sent the cash via FedEx to Georgia as instructed. The caller then instructed the complainant to send $25,000 to assist with the daughter-in-law’s injuries. The complainant sent another box full of cash via UPS to Georgia. The complainant was finally able to contact her son and his wife who verified they were fine and she had been scammed.

TRESPASSING

Northbrook Park District staff reported at 6:36 a.m. May 10, someone had illegally gained access to their pool area and threw several of the lounge chairs into the water.

THEFT

• A resident reported at 1:32 p.m. May 10, their child had left their dark green REI mountain bike in a grassy area while they walked around. When they returned, the bike, valued at $500, had been stolen.
• A resident of the 500 block of Academy Drive reported at 4:21 p.m. May 11, that they had ordered 20 ounces of silver and set up delivery to his residence via a national delivery company. The company tried delivering the package on April 11, but no one was home to accept it. A notification was left to pick it up at the delivery company’s office. When he arrived there, they told him the package had already been picked up. The complainant tried to explain he never picked up his package, and someone stole it, but the company kept stating the package wasn’t there and they were not sure who took it. The silver was worth $1,574.
• An employee of a company in the 3700 block of Commercial Avenue reported at 10:34 a.m. May 13, one of their checks from their bank book was stolen in April. That stolen check was later cashed for $596.27. During their audit, they noticed another check was stolen but had not been cashed yet.

IDENTITY THEFT

A First Street resident called police at 5 p.m. May 11, to report he had recently completed a credit check on himself and noticed someone took out two student loans using his personal information. One of the loans was for $5,890 and the other for $4,500. The complainant contacted the loan offices regarding the crimes.

RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY

An officer had responded to a burglar alarm at 10:03 a.m. May 12, at a home in the 2000 block of Brentwood Road. Upon arrival, they found a bedroom window that was broken into. Officers searched the interior and found that the house was ransacked, and it appeared items were stolen. The offenders were not located. Approximately $14,000 worth of jewelry, gold and silver bars and purses were stolen from the residence.

ONLINE SCAM

A Woodland Avenue resident reported at 10:34 a.m. May 13, she had invested $85,000.00 in a crypto currency account through an online website in March of 2026. Her money had never been invested, so she requested her money to be returned. As of this report, the website had yet to return her money and she now realizes she had been scammed.

MAIL SCAM

A resident in the 2200 block of Grand Drive reported at 11:12 a.m. May 13, they had received a letter in the mail from someone posing as a lawyer. The letter indicated the complainant was the last relative of someone who had left him $10 million through inheritance. The lawyer requested the complainant’s driver’s license, passport and banking information. After the complainant provided that, he finally realized he had been scammed and there was no money.

ACCOUNT HACKED

An Ash Lane resident reported at 3:55 p.m. May 13, someone had illegally accessed her airline account and stolen 229,202 miles from it. The complainant did not know how the account was compromised.

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