A security officer was monitoring a residence in the 200 block of W. Ontario Feb. 22 on 11:20 p.m. when he saw a man in the utility room of the building cutting copper wires with bolt cutters. The security officer apprehended the man and called police. They arrived and arrested the man. A name check revealed that the offender had prior convictions for burglary. The offender told police, “I was in there since 7 p.m. and my partner dropped me off to start collecting copper,” according to the police report.

A landlord was standing in front of his building in the 2200 block of N. Sedgwick Feb. 22 at 2:04 p.m. when he observed two men remove metal security bars from the building’s garden apartment window. The men then cut the window screen and entered the apartment through a window. The landlord entered the apartment and found one of the offenders hiding behind a door in the middle bedroom. The offender said, “You got me.” The landlord called police, who arrived and took the offender in to custody. The other offender could not be located. Police searched the offender in custody and found a pair of diamond earrings, a Bulova wristwatch, a large bottle of cologne, a digital camera, and an iPod Nano, which were all returned to the owner of the apartment. While in custody, the offender was also observed by officers trying to swallow two twenty dollar bills which belonged to the victim. Police stopped him.

A man left a tavern near the 100 block of W. Division Feb. 21 at 2:21 a.m. and took an alcoholic beverage with him. An employee told the man he could not take the drink with him and took it out of his hand. The bar patron then pushed the employee and punched him the face. Employees for the bar secured the puncher and called police. As police took the offender in to custody, one of the offender’s friends approached the officers and demanded their badge numbers. The police gave him their badge numbers and repeatedly asked the friend to back away. He did not. Police took him into custody as well.

Police observed a car stopped in a traffic lane in the 600 block of N. La Salle Feb. 21 at 1:02 a.m. Officers approached the car and found a man writhing in pain. The man told police a Range Rover had pulled up to his car in traffic and a man in the Range Rover said “What’s up?” The Range Rover driver displayed a gun, and fired two shots through the passenger side of his car striking him in the torso. The offenders fled west on Ontario. Police called an ambulance which transported the victim to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Police retrieved security tape from the area and reviewed it. They did not see any gunshots on the tape, but did see the cars side by side. The Range Rover eventually turned southbound on to Wells. Police could not locate the offenders.

A woman was returning her rental car on the 100 block of E. Grand Feb. 20 at 7:37 p.m. when a man approached her from behind, asked for all her money and told her not to look at him. The woman gave the offender $100 from her front pocket. The man then asked for the keys to the woman’s rental car. She turned them over, ran away and called police.

Police were on routine patrol on the 900 block of W. Weed Feb. 21 at 1:01 a.m. when they were flagged down by a woman who said that while she was inside a nearby night club she was involved in a verbal fight with another woman. The other woman then threw a drink in her face and struck her with the glass causing a laceration to her nose. Police found the offender and took her into custody.

Police were flagged down by a pedestrian on the 800 block of W. North Feb. 20 at 6:06 a.m. who said he heard gunshots in a nearby alley and saw two men fleeing the alley. Police radioed a description of the fleeing men to all local units. Officers nearby apprehended a man matching the description of the pedestrian, performed a protective pat down and recovered a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol. During an interview, the offender said after a hard night working as a bouncer he was blowing off steam by firing his weapon.