Hinsdale police: overnight car thefts on the rise in the area

At 2:50 a.m. Tuesday, a Hinsdale police officer on patrol observed two suspicious vehicles on Woodland Avenue at County Line Road. Both vehicles fled at a high rate of speed northbound on County Line and then eastbound on 47th Street.

One of the vehicles, a white Land Rover Discovery, was stolen from a garage in the 900 block of Cleveland just prior to the encounter with the squad car.

In the last few days there has been an increase in overnight auto thefts in the Chicago metropolitan area. The Hinsdale Police Department reminds residents to secure their property and immediately call 9-1-1 if they observe suspicious persons or vehicles.

On prior occasions offenders were in possession of firearms. Police ask residents to call 9-1-1 if they observe suspicious activity but not to confront the offenders on their own.