polite or not ... you're still a burglar!
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Burglar breaks-in, apologizes to homeowner
By Brian Cox, Special to the Tribune
Skokie police on Thursday were continuing to look for a burglar who broke into a home in the north suburb then continually apologized for the crime to a woman who happened to be home.
He also promised to call her and tell her where he was pawning the jewelry he was stealing so she could get it back, police said.
The 43-year-old woman told police that when she walked into the bedroom of her home at around 8 a.m. on August 27 she was confronted by a man holding a 16-inch-long pry bar, police said
The man reportedly told the victim he wasn’t going to hurt her.
“I don’t want do to this but I haven’t had a job for so long and I have three children to support,” he said, according to police.
The intruder asked the victim for jewelry and money.
Police gave the following account:
The victim took jewelry from a safe in the bedroom closet. When she told the man it belonged to her mother, he said: “Why did you have to tell me this was your mother’s jewelry?”
He took change from a glass jar on a dresser and used his shirt to wipe off fingerprints. He reportedly took an envelope containing about $485 and 100 Euros as well as $50 cash.
When the intruder asked what was in another bedroom, the victim told him it was her 16-year-old daughter’s bedroom.
“I won’t touch anything in here since I have three children of my own and I wouldn’t want anyone to mess with them,” he said.
Police said the intruder tied the victims arms behind her back with a phone cord and asked her for a pen and paper so he could write down her cell phone number. He said he wanted call her and tell her where he had pawned her mother’s jewelry.
He put the victim into the bathroom and told her to wait 10 minutes before calling police. When the woman freed herself, she discovered that two cameras and a laptop were also taken.
Police said there has not been an arrest.
They said that the intruder did not call the victim as he had promised to do.
Although the intruder was polite and apologetic, the incident was still terrifying, police said.
“It’s a very scary situation for anyone,” said officer Tammy Jacobson.
