Police: Burglars Targeting Landscape Trailers

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More than $2,100 in equipment was stolen from two landscaping trailers during the last week in Hinsdale, according to the . There have been three such incidents in Hinsdale in recent weeks and several others in neighboring towns, leading area police departments to work together to identify suspects.

Hinsdale Deputy Chief Mark Wodka said the "brazen" thefts are occurring during daytime hours, while the trailers are parked in the street and landscapers are working.

Between 7 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. May 8, five commercial landscaping tools, one utility knife, and duct tape worth a combined $1,677 from an unlocked trailer that was parked in the 900 block of North Elm Street.

That incident came after two $500 leaf blowers were stolen from unlocked trailers in the 10 block of Orchard Place (10 a.m. April 27) and the (7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. April 20).

"This is something we haven’t seen in quite some time," Wodka said. "This is different in that it’s special to landscape equipment during the daytime hours and during the hours that landscape crews are working." 

In Clarendon Hills on April 26,  during the morning hours and $2,800 worth of equipment was taken, according to the . 

Between 8:15 a.m. and 8:45 a.m. in the 10 block of Golf Avenue, one extension hedge trimmer, three regular hedge trimmers, one backpack blower and one line trimmer were stolen from a locked landscaping trailer. Those items totaled $1,800.

Then, between 9 a.m. and noon in the 10 block of Arthur Avenue, two $1,000 concrete saws were taken from a construction trailer that was also locked. 

that an unknown suspect entered and stole $900 worth of equipment from an unlocked landscaping trailer parked on the 4500 block of Grand Avenue sometime between 8:38 a.m. and 8:58 a.m. April 23.

Wodka said numerous other trailer burglaries have occurred in Orland Park.

No suspects are known for any of the above offenses.

Wodka said the police departments in towns that have seen the burglaries are working together to find out who's behind them. 

"As of now we don’t have any suspects that we are looking at in connection with this," Wodka said. "But we are sharing information with other agencies who are also sharing losses."

He advised residents to be vigilant and to report any suspicious-looking persons going into landscaping trailers.