The owner of a home in the 9300 block of Jefferson in Brookfield is not entitled to reimbursement for a garage door that was damaged while Hinsdale police were serving a warrant Oct. 23, Chief Brian King told The Hinsdalean last week.
The owner of the property, which is rented to tenants, spoke at the Feb. 20 Hinsdale Village Board meeting, asking trustees for the $450 he spent to repair his garage door. King disputed his account that the renters provided police with a key one time and refused to do so a second time when police wanted to enter again.
“They pretty much refused to open the door for us,” King said. “We asked for consent.”
Police then obtained a search warrant.
“Our detectives cut the lock and forced entry,” King said.
Inside the garage, King said police found what they were looking for in relation to a bag that was stolen from a car in the Kramer Foods parking lot after the car window was smashed earlier that day.
“We seized the vehicle that we were looking for that was used in the burglaries and subsequently processed that vehicle back here at Hinsdale PD,” he said. “Proceeds from other crimes were recovered in the course of that search. That satchel from our burglary was not, but evidence was recovered that tied them to the scene.”
The investigation is ongoing, King said, adding that police have no liability unless they act in an overly destructive manner while conducting a search.
“The easiest way to breach a door is with a key,” he said. “If they had given us a key, we would have used it.”
—by Pamela Lannom
