Edgewater man said he called 911 about car break-ins in progress, but police never came
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An Edgewater man said he called 911 to report a slew of car break-ins as they were happening - but he waited and waited for police, and said officers never showed up.
As CBS 2's Sabrina Franza reported Friday, the break-ins happened in a parking lot in the 5500 block of North Kenmore Avenue – and it was all caught on video.
"I did my part. As a citizen, I think I've done all I can do – take as much evidence as I can, so that there's something to prove that this is happening, call 911, give the best descriptions while it's taking place – nothing," said Brad Gluszewksi. "No one showed up."
Gluszewksi was living by the old rule – if you see something, say something, He and his girlfriend did say something on Sunday, Jan. 1.
They took video showing multiple people breaking into cars in a private parking lot that their window overlooks.
In his call to 911 – which was documented on the video showing the thieves in action – Gluszewski told the 911 dispatcher the thieves' exact route, running off through alleys toward Broadway and Bryn Mawr Avenue after breaking into the cars.
"They were coordinated. There were a bunch of them. So it wasn't like one person was going into each car," Gluszewski said. "They scattered in quickly in a bunch of different cars."
The issue, Gluszewski reiterated, is bigger than break-ins.
"I waited about 30 to 45 minutes," he said. "Nobody showed up."
We asked Chicago Police if they have any record of whether they responded, or had a record of Gluszewski's call. They said no.
We then obtained records from the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, which handles 911 calls. Gluszewski's call from the 5500 block of North Kenmore Avenue appears at 9:33 p.m. Jan. 1.
The call was logged, and a police car was dispatched.
Based on that data, we plotted a map on all the calls made to 911 in the Lincoln (20th) District – bounded by Peterson Avenue on the north, Lawrence Avenue on the south, Lake Michigan on the east, and the North Shore Channel on the west – before and after Gluszweski's.
There were 13 calls between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. Jan. 1. Gluszewski's call was listed as a call for a suspicious person.
But does it matter what someone is calling 911 about for police to show up?
"Yeah, it's the point like, why do we call 911?" Gluszewski said. "What are we going to do?"
We followed up with police to ask if they noticed any trends or staffing issues in the Lincoln District that could explain unanswered call. We were still waiting for a response to that question Friday evening.
