OCT. 15

Loan Scam

An Orland Hills woman reported to police that she applied for a loan on Oct. 12 through an online company called E.Z. Finance, according to the report. A representative who said his name is Robert Foster told her she first had to send $242 to another company associate in New Delhi, India via Western Union, and to not tell anyone at Western Union that she was sending the money for a loan, police said. While at Western Union the woman was told by staff there that the loan service appeared to be a scam, and told her not to send the money, police said. She called Foster back to tell him she wasn’t sending, and he threatened her with taking the money anyway as he had her social security number, according to the report. The woman then closed her bank account, and was instructed by police to have the company’s number blocked from her phone.

Oct. 9

A Long Journey

Police were called about an intoxicated woman causing trouble at McDonalds and was crossing 159^th Street toward Ricobene’s, 9135 W. 159^th, around 8:10 p.m. The woman was found walking east on 159^th Street swaying and stumbling as she walked, police said. Two Dewalt Drills were found in her purse without sales receipts, according to the report. She described going with a man to stores in the area trying to sell the drills without any takers, and other hazy interactions with other people, police said. She stopped at the McDonalds to ask for change, and became irate when the staff there declined to give her any, police said. Police were not immediately able to determine where the drills came from, and that end of the matter was listed as pending investigation in the report.  Gretchen A. Budde, 38, of the 5800 block of South Independence Avenue in Oak Forest was charged with disorderly conduct due to public intoxication.

Police report information is provided by the Orland Hills Police Department and other law enforcement agencies. Charges are not evidence of guilt. They are a record of police actions taken on a given day, and persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. If you or a family member are charged or cited and the case is subsequently adjudicated, we encourage you to notify the editor. We will verify and report the outcome.