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Hi, I’m Officer Matt Goulet, Crime Stoppers Coordinator for Sangamon and Menard counties.

This week Crime Stoppers needs information about a theft of 3 concrete letters from the Illiopolis sign at US 36 and West Matilda. The letters are valued at $3750.00 each, for a total loss of $11,250.00.This theft occurred between 8pm and midnight on Oct 11^th of this year. A vehicle drove up to the sign where the letters were loaded. There is no suspect or vehicle description.

Crime Stoppers Crime of the Week

December 14, 2017

Officer Mike Badger, Crime Stoppers Coordinator for Sangamon and Menard counties.

As we close out the year it’s clear that your tips to Crime Stoppers are paying off at a level we could never have anticipated.  That success is derived from the support we’ve received from you, the citizens of Sangamon and Menard Counties who have a strong desire to make our neighborhoods safe places to live, work, and play in.

From your tips in 2017, 123 people were arrested and over $400,000 in drugs, guns, and cash was seized from criminals who thought they were going to get away with their illegal behavior only to find that their only gain was a county jail jumpsuit and three meals a day in the county jail or the Illinois Department of Corrections. On top of that, over $50,000 in property was recovered and returned to its rightful owners directly from tips. Crime Stoppers responded with approving over $36,000 in cash rewards to those tipsters. Crime Stoppers of Sangamon and Menard Counties thanks you for stepping up and speaking out in the fight against crime!

Crime Stoppers Crime of the Week

December 7, 2017

Officer Mike Badger, Crime Stoppers Coordinator for Sangamon and Menard counties.

In today’s world there are surveillance camera’s nearly everywhere and there are thousands of criminal acts captured by these cameras. Images of ‘crimes in progress’ have resulted in scores of arrests and most often make convictions almost a foregone conclusion. On occasion, there’s clear video images of the perpetrators, however, investigators are not able to identify the suspects in the surveillance video. This is where you can help.

Crime Stoppers Crime of the Week
November 30, 2017

Officer Mike Badger, Crime Stoppers Coordinator for Sangamon and Menard counties.

It’s the holiday season and shoppers have many more venues to make purchases than they had in the past, and criminals are trying to victimize innocent shoppers any way they can. I’d like to offer a couple tips on safe holiday shopping. First, when shopping at retail and big box stores, don’t leave purchases visible in your vehicles and practice common safety sense in parking lots.  If you are making purchases from Craig’s list, Facebook, or other e-commerce sites, ALWAYS meet buyers or sellers at well-lit public places with security cameras and do NOT meet buyers or sellers while you are alone. There are safe e-commerce zones all over the area including the Springfield Police Station and locations in Petersburg, Greenview, and Athens. Police have taken several reports of people attempting to buy items from posts on Facebook or E-Commerce sites such as Craig's List only to become victimized by someone pretending to have interest in buying (or selling) the item and then robbing them at a designated meeting point such as a parking lot of a fast food restaurant.

If you are making purchases directly on the internet, make sure you are on a valid website, not a clone site designed to steal your credit card information or drain your bank accounts. Many internet scams are initiated when people receive an email offering great deals and offering a link to a major retail store. After making the internet purchase and checking out with their credit card or routing number, they discover that the link was to a clone site of the retail store. Many of these clone sites are nearly perfect replica's of the true website.

If you can identify the suspects in any theft cases or scams, Crime Stoppers would like to hear from you.  Just call the tipline at 788-8427 or leave it on the website Cashfortips.us. Happy SAFE shopping!

Crime Stoppers Crime of the Week

 November 22, 2017

Officer Mike Badger, Crime Stoppers Coordinator for Sangamon and Menard counties.

On November 6th an Armed Robbery occurred at the Dollar General store on Wabash Avenue in Springfield and a cash reward of up to Twenty Five Hundred Dollars ($2500) is available for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrator. The incident occurred just before 10 pm when a subject entered the business and held a black handgun, possibly with a chrome barrel, at the neck of a store clerk. The employee was forced to open the cash drawer told to (quote) “empty the money” out of the cash register. The black male suspect was tall with a medium build and was approximately 25 to 35 years of age. He was wearing a dark blue hooded sweatshirt, white tennis shoes, black gloves, and had on a black bandanna. Surveillance photos of the suspect are on the Crime Stopper web site Cashfortips.us.