By Andrew L. Wang
Tribune staff reporter
ILLINOIS — Authorities believe they have broken up a burglary ring that stole high-end kitchen appliances worth half a million dollars from at least 15 newly constructed or remodeled homes in the Chicago area.
Authorities charged four men today with burglary or possession of stolen property. Investigators with a multi-agency task force arrested three of the men Wednesday morning at a storage facility in Schiller Park. Police trailed the men from a home in Woodstock after seeing them load appliances in a van and drive off, said Commander Dave Schwarz of the Highland Park Police Department.
The men were identified as Maciej S. Wyszynski, 32, and his brother Michael W. Wyszynski, 24, both of the 1100 block of Hunt Club Road, Mt. Prospect, and Marcin M. Wojdowski, 32, and Sylvester Czyzewski, 22, both of the 8600 block of West Catherine Avenue in Chicago.
Schwarz said Maciej Wyszynski, Wojdowski and Czyzewski were charged with residential burglary, theft of more than $10,000 and criminal damage to property in McHenry County. Michael Wyszynski was charged with a count of possessing stolen property because a refrigerator reportedly stolen in Des Plaines was found in his home, police said.
Police are still investigating other burglaries in which the men may have been involved. And investigators said additional charges may be filed in DuPage, Cook and Lake Counties.
Investigators in recent weeks noticed a spate of burglaries in which perpetrators made off with the same types of appliances, appeared to be entering residences in similar ways and leaving the homes they struck in similar states.
“They were all either new construction or homes where the occupants were not in yet,” Schwarz said. “In some cases there were realty boxes that were compromised; other times there were sliding doors that were left open.”
He said burglars appeared to be targeting homes where they knew there would be expensive, high-end appliances—including stainless steel Sub-Zero refrigerators, Wolf ranges, and Viking and Thermador cooktops.
Several times burglars cut and tied off gas lines to stoves. Sometimes it appeared they hastily dragged the appliances to a waiting vehicle, leaving scratches and dents in wooden floors and walls, police said.
At the first meeting of the task force last week, one detective noted that he was familiar with a man who had previously been arrested for similar offenses, Schwarz said.
“That’s how we kind of got focused on this crew,” Schwarz said. “We were able to determine that they were at this home in Woodstock where the burglary happened” Wednesday morning. After the alleged burglary, investigators followed them to Schiller Park, where Maciej Wyszynski, Wojdowski and Czyzewski were arrested.
Police found about a dozen appliances in the storage area, some of which has already been identified, via serial numbers, as being stolen from homes in Elmhurst and Hinsdale, investigators said.
Detectives from Highland Park, Deerfield, Hinsdale, Naperville, Elmhurst, Glencoe, Northbrook, Clarendon Hills and Oak Brook participated in the task force, Schwarz said.
Copyright 2007 The Chicago Tribune