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A Chicago couple admitted to trying to steal a silver 2022 Kia Sedan using the instructions they got from a TikTok video. 

On Aug. 16, at around 11:47 p.m., a 21-year-old Chicago man and an 18-year-old Chicago woman tried to break into the vehicle, which was parked on the 100 block of Circle Avenue. The couple told police they reached Forest Park via the Green Line el earlier that day, and they wanted to steal the car to drive home.  

The woman said she remembered a viral TikTok video posted by the “Kia Gang,” a Milwaukee gang, teaching people how to break into newer-model Kias. The man said that he broke in the driver side window with his screwdriver, and they tried to follow the video’s directions to start the car. When they didn’t succeed, the alleged offenders left the scene. A neighbor who heard the noise from the break-in spotted them and called the police. 

A police patrol spotted the alleged offenders further southwest, near the intersection of Circle Avenue and Dixon Street. The witness positively identified them, and they were arrested.

Both alleged offenders have been charged with felony burglary. 

A black 2014 Lincoln sedan parked on the 1000 block of Lathrop Avenue was burglarized overnight on Aug. 18 to 19 — and the burglar allegedly left behind a cannabis glass pipe.

The victim said that when she returned to her vehicle at 5:20 a.m., she saw that the rear passenger side window was broken into, and there were signs of someone trying to pry open the front passenger side door. The burglar took $250 in cash, as well as spent gift cards, and extra keys for the car and for her old apartment. The victim said she also found a cloth pouch on the front passenger seat, which she said didn’t belong to her. The pouch contained a glass pipe with cannabis residue and an empty plastic bag. 

In a separate incident later that day, another burglar broke into a 2016 white Ford company work truck parked on the 300 block of Marengo Avenue. While the workers were on break between 10 a.m. and 11:45 a.m., The burglar stole three pneumatic nail guns, a Stihl chainsaw, a 12-inch DeWalt chop saw and DeWalt circular saw, as well as a debit card that belonged to one of the victims. The tools were worth around $1,850.

The victim’s card was used twice at the North Riverside Park Mall Foot Locker, 7501 Cermak Rd., with the burglar spending a total of $677.49. The bank refunded the money to the victim.  

A Forest Park resident trying to find an apartment in California was scammed out of $17,500 by a person claiming to be a landlord of the property he was interested in.

The victim reached out to the Forest Park Police Department on Aug. 16. He said he recently took a job in California and was looking for an apartment. He said he reached out to a person he believed was a landlord. After that person told the victim that his application was accepted, the victim paid a deposit and two months rent. 

The victim said he toured the apartment virtually. But when he went to see the apartment, he found a family already living there, and the family still had the lease. When the victim tried to reach out to the supposed landlord, the other person stopped responding to his phone calls and e-mails. 

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Aug. 15-21, and represent a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Unless otherwise indicated, anybody named in these reports has only been charged with a crime. These cases have not been adjudicated.