Oak Park Police Blotter: Incoming! Gasoline Cap

The following items are taken from  Oak Park Police Department   daily summary reports. In all incidents where an arrest occurred, a charge is merely an accusation and not evidence of guilt. The arrested person is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Theft: An unsecured/unattended bicycle was taken July 4 from a rack at 600 block of South Ridgeland Avenue. Estimated loss was $400.

Theft Arrest : A 15-year-old Chicago boy was charged July 4 with taking a bicycle parked at Beye School , 230 N. Cuyler Ave., earlier in the day, police said. The arrest took place in the 0-100 block of Ontario Street. He was turned over to a legal guardian.

Traffic Arrest : Llewelyn Boyles, 47, of Chicago, was charged July 1 with aggravated driving on a revoked license after he was stopped in the 700 block of North Austin Boulevard for having a broken headlight, police said.

Auto Theft : A 1992 Chevrolet Lumina was stolen sometime between June 30 and July 1 from the front driveway of a home in the 1000 block of North Lombard Avenue. Estimated loss was $1,000.

Warrant Arrest : Shawn A. Lee, 41, of Chicago, was arrested July 1 on an Oak Park warrant for driving on a suspended license. Lee was stopped in the 6300 block of Roosevelt Road for having an obstructed front windshield.

Warrant Arrest : Robert T. Quinn, 36, of Oak Lawn, was arrested July 1 on a felony warrant out of Kane County for failing to pay child support, police said. Quinn was a passenger in a vehicle that was pulled over on a traffic stop.

Burglary to Auto: A power drill and drill bits were taken sometime between June 30 and July 1 from a 1997 Chevrolet Astro Van parked in the rear of a home in 500 block of North Harvey Avenue. Entry was gained by breaking the driver’s door window. Estimated loss was $580.

Burglary to Garage : Cable routers, circular saw, cable air compressor, table saw, sander and tool chest were taken sometime between June 30 and July 1 from the garage of a home in the 200 block of Chicago Avenue. Entry was gained through a closed, but unlocked, side service door. Estimated loss was $3,800.

Burglary to Auto : Fourteen CDs were taken from a 1998 Chevrolet Lumina parked in the rear of a home in the 1000 block of Wesley Avenue. Entry was gained through an open passenger side window. Estimated loss was $50.

A Lesson in Broken Fuel Caps - Notes From Hairenik | An Armenian Blog

One of the quirky things about living in Armenia is the spontaneity of adventure. My daily routine if you could call it that is often disrupted by needing to run unexpected errands, like shopping for wet napkins for babies or having to suffer the grueling process of paying my annual automobile taxes (which I need to do asap). Rarely I find myself having to roll my Niva down to the auto repair garage that I frequent, located behind the circus (where a braying donkey can always be heard). There are two kinds of devices available to lock the spout of a Lada that doesn't have one already built-in from the factory. There's one that screws onto the spout replacing the standard fuel cap that locks on with a key. These vary in quality and are relatively easy to tamper with, as my experience has proven. The one shown below demonstrates the locking fuel cap's design, but the image is not meant to represent the models of those I have used in the past. The other is a Russian-made cylindrical device made of hard plastic that you insert into the spout about three-fourths of an inch down, which with the turn of a key fastens to a nub found on the spout pipe – that's what I've been using for about two years now. The trouble with this lock is that it's often tricky to install; it can take some fiddling to get the thing to fasten in place. I've found that it's best to hold it down with my left index finger while turning the key with my right hand, which can be difficult since it's on the key chain and the other keys get in the way when I try to lock it. Also it doesn't seal hermetically, meaning that if the gas cap is not affixed tightly enough gasoline can spill out when making hairpin turns with a mostly full tank. Somehow the petrol bandits were able to unhinge the latch by breaking off a piece of the bottom of the lock (represented in green in the diagram shown below). The top of the lock where the key is inserted appears unblemished, and there was no immediate way of knowing that it had been fiddled with until I inspected it more closely. Whoever did it was obviously very clever and must have had previous experience in deviously removing these things. So this morning the search was on for a replacement, even though it still seemed to be working properly but I wasn't all too sure. The cracked corner just below the latch troubled me and I figured it was best to buy a new one.

Cycle world

Popular Mechanics

Electrical review

Vocational Division Bulletin

Bulletin