HP Police Chief: Suburban police developing task force into commercial, business burglaries

Highland Park’s top cop updated the community on Monday into the police department’s ongoing investigation into a string of overnight business burglaries that occurred last Friday, March 7, during the early morning.

As previously reported by The Record, at least nine Highland Park businesses were burglarized last Friday. Police chief Louis Jogmen during the City Council’s March 10 meeting reiterated details that were shared with the community in the hours following the incidents while also providing some new information about the crime spree. 

According to Jogmen, Highland Park police received an alarm notification at 3:24 a.m. Friday morning from a downtown business. Officers responded to the scene and quickly determined that it was not the first incident, Jogmen said. 

Through digital evidence, Jogmen said officials determined the first break-in occurred at 3:03 a.m. 

Five offenders, who were all traveling in the same vehicle, made it in and out of the nine businesses in 23 minutes, per Jogmen, who said the last burglary occurred at 3:26 a.m.  

Six of the affected businesses are located in downtown Highland Park, while the other three are along Skokie Valley Road just north of Lake-Cook Road, The Record previously reported. 

The same vehicle suspected in the Highland Park burglaries was also linked to a commercial burglary in neighboring Deerfield that occurred at 3:38 a.m., Jogmen said. That vehicle was later determined to be stolen, he added. 

Per Jogmen, the owner of the vehicle was not aware that their car was stolen. If the vehicle was reported stolen, the license plate number would have been flagged by the Highland Park Police’s detection system and the department’s cameras would have notified police upon the vehicle’s entry into Highland Park, according to Jogmen. 

Jogmen said although several other Chicago metro communities have recently experienced similar incidents, “there is no evidence confirming that these incidents are connected,” at this time. 

“That said, we are collaborating with those communities to determine a connection and share intelligence,” he said. 

Jogmen also announced during the meeting that Highland Park law enforcement officials “are in the process” of organizing what he described as “a Chicago metro task force comprised of communities who have been similarly affected” by residential or commercial burglaries. 

That task force, Jogmen said, will feature municipalities from Chicago to the western suburbs, including Burr Ridge and Darien and the far south suburbs, including South Chicago Heights, Steger and Beecher.

“No community has been immune to this type of burglary and we will work together to address them,” Jogmen said. 

The department’s investigation will continue, Jogmen said, adding that officials will keep impacted business owners updated on the investigation’s progress. 

Jogmen concluded his remarks by saying the department “takes it personally that this happened in our community.” 

“These business owners are people we know,” he said. “They are our friends. We understand how hard they work to make their businesses successful, to support their families and to be a part of our community, so I apologize to them on behalf of the department for having to experience this. 

“I want them to know that although it cannot offset the damage they incurred, we will do everything in our power to seek (out who’s) responsible and continue to put ourselves in a position to deter or mitigate similar incidents going forward.”

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