Police warn residents after suspected ruse burglary

Cook County sheriff’s police are warning residents of a suspected ruse burglary that targeted a woman in Des Plaines.

A man rang the doorbell of a 92-year-old woman’s home at 4:15 p.m. Thursday in the 9600 block of Reding Circle, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office.

He told the woman that there was an emergency electrical problem at her home and had her follow him into the kitchen area of the home, away from the front door, police said. While in the home, he used a two-way communication device to speak to another person in another language. He left about five minutes later and drove away in a cream-colored SUV.

The woman said she never saw a second person enter her home, but later discovered that jewelry had been stolen, police said.

Authorities believe she was the victim of a ruse burglary in which a second person entered her home to steal jewelry while she was distracted by the first person in the kitchen.

Anyone with information about the burglary should call investigators at (708) 865-4896.