From our friend, Wendy Tannenbaum, President or the North Avenue Business Association…

To date the Village of Oak Park Police Department has received 2 reports in which counterfeit $100 bills have been successfully passed in the Oak Park Business district. Due to the quality of these bills conventional methods of detection may not reveal these as fictitious or your results may be inconclusive.

Familiarize yourself with identifiers such as the watermark, embedded strip fluorescence, color changing ink and obtain a pen which is used to help identify bad paper.

IF YOU ENCOUNTER ANY SUSPICIOUS PERSON(S) OR BILLS, PLEASE CALL 911 IMMEDIATELY.

For more information, please click on Oak Park Police Bulletin or call the Oak Park Police Department at 708/386-3800. Here’s one option with info on counterfeit detector pens, click on detector pens.

The Oak Park, Illinois, Police Department is seeking the public’s help locating resident Jassen Strokosch, 39, who was last seen at 10 a.m., Wed., July 20, in the area of Cermak Road and Desplaines Avenue in Forest Park, Illinois.

He is described as six-feet, one-inch tall, weighs 145 pounds, has long, brown hair and hazel eyes. When last seen, Strokosch, the father of two and an avid bicyclist and runner, was wearing a plaid button-up shirt, t-shirt and either blue jeans or khaki pants. He is believed to be on foot.

Anyone with information that may help in locating Strokosch is asked to contact the Oak Park Police Department at 708-386-3800.

UPDATE July 23, 2011

The Oak Park Police have confirmed that Jassen Strokosch has been located and is in a local hospital.  Evidently he is responsive and his wife has spoken with Strokosch.  No other information has been released.

A fourth incident in less than a month involving late-night robberies of lone female residents has Oak Park police urging caution, further stepping up patrols and asking the public to be alert for suspicious individuals and vehicles in their neighborhoods.

The latest incident occurred at about 11:50 p.m., Tues., April 19, in the 200 block of South Harvey Avenue. The victim, in her mid-40s, had just parked her car in the garage and was approached from behind as she entered her rear yard. As in three similar incidents, the offender approached from behind and grabbed the victim around the neck. He took a small nylon bag from inside a grocery bag and fled. Estimated loss was about $40.

Unlike previous incidents, however, the offender said nothing and neighbors reported seeing a man enter a light-colored, newer-model Ford SUV and driving westbound on Pleasant Street.

This latest incident was not far from the Lake Street corridor where three similar late-night robberies of lone women occurred. These incidents occurred on March 30 in the 200 block of Lake Street, April 2 near Lake Street and Austin Boulevard, and April 4 in the 200 block of North Oak Park Avenue. All occurred between 11:40 p.m. and 12:45 a.m., no serious injuries were reported and no weapon was seen or implied.

In each incident, the suspect is described as an African-American male in his 20s, about five feet 10 inches to six feet tall with a medium build. In the first three incidents he was believed to have been wearing a light colored jacket with a black knit hat. In the latest incident, the offender was described similarly, but with short hair and wearing a dark, hooded sweatshirt and dark pants.

The victim of the April 4 robbery, who was the only victim to get a good look at her assailant, helped police create a computer-generated composite picture of the suspect in at least the one incident. While Police cannot say for sure that the assailant is the same in all four incidents, the similarities suggest he could be.

Police will continue to have increased patrols in the area as the investigation continues and until the offender is apprehended. Anyone with information regarding these incidents is urged to contact the Oak Park Police Department at 708.386.3800 or e-mail police@oak-park.us. Information can be provided anonymously via telephone to 708.434.1636 or on-line at www.oak-park.us/police.

In the meantime, Police are reminding residents they can call 708.386.3800 and request an escort – especially if arriving home late at night.

From our friend Paul Zimmerman over at the Roosevelt Road Business Association…

Oak Park Police Officer Rumoro called this morning to let me know that someone is pulling a/c units out of windows to sell for scrap. Look out for shady looking characters and call you local police if you see any suspicious activity.

Get Involved…