Each week, the Huntley Police Department compiles a list of all serious criminal incidents that occur in the village. Copies of these public reports are distributed to Sun City’s Neighborhood Watch groups and neighborhood reps, and the Sun Day.
Like all communities in the Chicago area, Huntley experiences its share of criminal activity every week. Incidents in the village outside of Sun City range from internet and telephone scams and fraud, burglary, retail theft, drunken driving and other vehicle offenses, criminal property damage, disorderly conduct, and drug-related offenses.
The Huntley lists are known as “police blotters” by the public and law enforcement officials.
In the 19 years since Sun City opened in 1999, serious criminal activity has been rare in the community. There has been one case of domestic abuse leading to murder, one murder-suicide, a shooting stemming from a domestic incident, and more than 35 home break-ins, burglaries and a few attempted break-ins.
But as the blotter reports piled up on our desk, the Sun Day decided to find out how much of Huntley’s criminal activity occurs in our active adult community. This was a relatively easy job. Every incident report includes data on the location, the actual criminal act, and, if appropriate, the resulting arrest and court action.
The Sun Day selected 16 weekly reports that described a total of 107 incidents throughout Huntley between mid-December, 2016, and February, 2018. This unscientific, random survey did not include any incidents that occurred outside of Sun City that may have involved Sun City residents, and did not include some blotter reports during the 14-month survey period.
Ten out of the 107 incidents, or less than 10$, occurred within Sun City. The 10 were, in order of occurrence:
The theft of a mailed package from a home — December, 2016.
The theft of a firearm from a home — December, 2016.
A fraud by a man posing as a friend to collect fake attorney fees — January, 2017.
A fraud telephone scam from someone demanding money in the form of gift cards — March, 2017.
A theft of a mailed package — May, 2017.
An obstruction of justice and domestic battery incident — May, 2017.
A fraud internet scam involving the purchase of gift cards to pay for fake computer services — June, 2017.
A battery incident — June, 2017.
An email scam involving fake threats to a resident and demands of money — January, 2018.
A scam involving a demand for gift cards to pay for a fake get out of jail situation. An alert store employee stopped the victim from completing the transaction.
Break-ins at vacant homes were a big problem in Sun City from 2011 to 2015. But only a few have occurred in the last three years. The number of ruse burglaries (in which one offender distracts a homeowner to talk about residential services while another ransacks a bedroom for jewelry and money) has occurred a few times in Huntley outside of Sun City, police said recently.
“But this kind of thing can occur in Del Webb.”
