This week Crime Stoppers is seeking to assist the Springfield Police Department to identify an individual reference a theft that occurred on October 3^rd around 10pm at Hy-Vee Gas Station located at 1025 Outer Park, in Springfield.  A male suspect entered the gas station just before 10pm wearing a red Hy-Vee shirt over the top of a grey hoodie as well as a mask covering his face.  The suspect walked behind the counter and took over $1,000 in cash from a safe.  Photos of the individual can be found on this website, cashfortips.us. If you have any information regarding this incident or can identify the suspect, call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 217-788-8427, submit a tip on this website, or use the P3 app. If your tip results in an arrest you could receive a cash reward up to $2500.  Remember Crime Stoppers only wants your information, not your name.

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.

Crimes Stoppers Crime of the Week
November 16, 2017

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

During the holiday shopping season most retail and department stores are filled with customers making their gift purchases for friends and family. It’s also a time of the year when thieves and shoplifters think they can get something for nothing only to find out that security personnel and surveillance cameras have captured their crimes leaving them with nothing but a ride to the county jail in handcuffs. We’ve posted images on the Crimestopper website Cashfortips.us of a female who’s responsible for stealing several pairs of sunglasses at a local vision center. Police want to identify her because when they get her name, she’ll be charges with felony retail theft.

Crime Stoppers Crime of the Week
November 9, 2017

Officer Mike Badger, Crime Stoppers Coordinator for Sangamon and Menard counties.
 
Every week Crime Stoppers highlights a “Crime of the Week” in which we encourage people who have information about criminal activity to call in with information to help solve crimes. This anonymous tip program has led to many solved cases and dozens of arrests this year and we encourage you continue with your tips. You’re making the Sangamon and Menard county areas safer for our families and better places to live in.

Crime Stoppers Crime of the Week

November 2, 2017

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

Police are looking for four subjects involved in a home invasion which occurred in Auburn in the early morning hours of October 21^st. A female and her two children were awoken by the sounds of someone prying on a back door to their residence shortly before the subjects gained entry and threatened to shoot her. After demanding the victims money and the keys to her car, the suspects left in her car with the her television and other electronics.

Crime Stoppers Crime of the Week
 October 26, 2017

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

For the third week in a row Crime Stoppers is featuring a robbery in which a handgun is believed to have been used, and we’ve got reward money of up to $2500 if somebody comes forward with information that leads to an arrest of the suspect. Police are looking for a white male in his 40’s who robbed the Family Video store at 930 W Jefferson late in the evening on October 20^th. The suspect stood between 5 foot seven and five foot nine inches tall and weighed between140 and 160 pounds. He had scruffy facial hair and was wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt and athletic shoes.

Crime Stoppers Crime of the Week

 October 19, 2017

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

An armed robbery occurred at Boost Mobile phone store on Stevenson Drive on October 10^th and police are now attempting to identify the two perpetrators. After driving by the store a couple times and casing the business earlier on the 10^th, the two subjects entered the store- with weapons- shortly after 7 in the evening. The clerk was threatened with a black semi automatic handgun, believed to be a 9 mm, in the robbery. Several phones from the business were taken in the armed robbery and detectives are analyzing surveillance video from multiple sources. The robbery suspects used a silver SUV in the commission of the robbery.

 If you have information that will help solve this crime, call the Crime Stoppers tipline at 788-8427. I’ve posted descriptions of the suspects on the website Cashfortips.us where you can also see surveillance images and leave a tip. Your information, if it leads to arrests, could bring you up to twenty five hundred dollars in reward money. We’ve already paid thousands of dollars this year, and we have reward money waiting for you.

Crime Stoppers Crime of the Week

October 12, 2017

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

A robbery occurred at the Kentucky Fried Chicken on north Ninth Street in Springfield on October 6^th, and police are attempting to identify the lone male perpetrator. At approximately 4:25 in the afternoon, with other customers present, a light skinned black male wearing a brown and cream striped hooded sweatshirt entered the business and implied that he had a handgun concealed under his sweatshirt. Although the weapon was not seen, any person who commits a robbery by use of force with a weapon, whether seen or implied, is presumed to have used a weapon and is in violation of Illinois Aggravated Robbery statutes.  (continued)

Crime Stoppers Crime of the Week

October 5, 2017

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

Over the past few weeks there have been several break-ins to tobacco and cigarette shops in the area and police could use tips from the public to help solve these crimes. Several locations have been targeted and it’s not believed that all of the incidents are related. These types of crimes usually involve a coordinated effort of two or more persons to successfully pull off this type of burglary and any lead provided to Crime Stoppers will be fully investigated.  (continued)