Cops: Man Stole Mercedes, Other Items from Orland Park Funeral Home

A Tinley Park man is facing three felonies connected to a burglary, where police said he stole a car and other items from an Orland Park funeral home.

On Sunday, the was called by about a car found in the 16000 block of Willow Terrace that was reported stolen earlier in the day, around 6:30 p.m., according to Orland Park Commander John Keating. The Mercedes Benz came from Lawn Funeral Home, from where other items were also stolen.

The man went into the funeral home around 1 a.m. Sunday, and took a special edition golf club, receipt books, keys to the business and a decorative wood gavel, police said. He then went into an adjacent apartment, using the stolen keys, where he took a laptop and keys to the Mercedes, Keating wrote in an email. The man then drove away in the Mercedes and parked it in Orland Hills, Keating wrote.

No signs of forced entry were found on the premises or the vehicle, and the apartment’s resident wasn’t aware anyone had been inside.

Orland Park detectives then learned about a Tinley Park man trying to sell a stolen laptop about two days later, according to Keating.

Nicholas A. Palmera, 23, of the 16300 block of Tanbark Drive in Tinley Park, was arrested around 2:40 p.m. Tuesday, when he was seen carrying a bag with a laptop inside that had a serial number matching the stolen computer, while near 163rd Street and Sherwood Drive, Keating wrote.

Officers then searched Palmera’s home the next day, and found the golf club, receipt books and keys to the Mercedes, according to Keating. Police also found property stolen from a Tinley Park home, and items reported from car burglaries that happened in Orland Park, Orland Hills and Tinley Park recently, Keating wrote.

A .38 caliber revolver was also found and sent to a crime lab, according to Keating.

Palmera was charged with residential burglary and aggravated possession of a stolen vehicle, both Class 1 felonies. He was also charged with burglary, a Class 2 felony, and possession of a firearm without a Firearm Owner’s Identification Card, a Class A misdemeanor.

Judge Peter Felice set a $150,000 bail for Palerma on the charges Thursday morning at the Bridgeview Courthouse. An additional $50,000 bail was set for violating probation on a separate matter, according to the Orland Park Police Department.

Palmera is also listed as a registered sex offender in Illinois after a criminal sexual abuse case, where the victim was 16 when he was 18.

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