We don't know what it is - the short days, the cold, cabin fever, whatever - but our neighbors up in suburban Deerfield are scratching their heads at some random acts of vandalism. Last week a giant inflatable snowman was slashed, resulting in the homeowner requesting an additional police patrol in the neighborhood. Maybe there is an extra patrol there but someone needs to get back to the Deerfield Public Library where one thief has been stealing cans of soda to the tune of six cans a day. more ›

Some criminals learned this lesson the hard way recently and wound up ditching their attempted loot because the safe they tried to swipe was too heavy. Police were called late last night to a Lincoln Square office building (5653 N. Lincoln Ave.) and found the front door of the business busted open and the office "ransacked." But, 40 feet away, the office's safe lay unopened on sidewalk. Fox 32 has the details: more ›

One enterprising Chicago teen is learning you can't sell fake money. The Secret Service arrested 18-year-old Arthur J. Williams III for selling counterfeit $100 bills. According to NBC 5:

The individual agreed to cooperate and purchased fake bills from Williams on three occasions. On June 16, Williams allegedly sold the person 24 counterfeit $100 bills for $480. He sold 30 additional bills for $600 on June 17, and another 10 for $200 on June 23, the complaint alleges. After each transaction, agents matched the serial numbers of the bogus bills and discovered counterfeits with the same numbers, totaling $112,900, had been passed in at least a dozen states nationwide in recent months.

Scott Meherg, of Des Plaines, has been indicted on two counts of forgery and two counts of theft for using a forged check to buy a rare 1963 Spider-Man comic book for $980 from Graham Crackers Comics in Naperville. It was the second-ever issue in the original series of the Marvel comic. Meherg allegedly used a forged LaSalle Bank check to purchase the comic in December 2007; he faces up to five years in prison if convicted. Also? The Trib uses Wikipedia as a source. more ›