Men Distract Elmhurst Woman, Steal Her Wallets: Cops

ELMHURST, IL – Two men distracted an Elmhurst senior citizen this week in a grocery store's parking lot and then stole two wallets from her purse, local police said.

The suspects were identified as Petrica Valerian Balan, 24, of Bowie, Maryland, and Marcus Bebino, 22, of Downers Grove.

About 1:30 p.m. Monday, the two men approached the 76-year-old woman in the parking at Whole Foods, 215 S. Route 83, according to a police news release.

One of them told her to check her rear bumper for damage, while the other opened the front passenger door and stole her wallets, police said.

Witnesses reported the men leaving in a gray Honda Odyssey with a New Jersey license plate, which was later found to be fictitious.

With the help of license plate reader cameras, Elmhurst officers tracked the suspects to Oakbrook Center mall in Oak Brook.

During surveillance, the driver was seen discarding the woman's wallets in a mall dumpster, then picking up the passenger as he exited the mall, police said.

The driver pulled into another parking spot, which is when detectives approached them. One man complied and was arrested, while the other ran away but was quickly caught, police said.

Officers said the passenger attempted to use the victim's stolen credit card at the Apple Store in the mall to buy two iPhone 16 Pro Max phones and a MacBook M4 Pro computer, with the items totaling more than $6,000.

The transaction was declined at the register because the victim had canceled the card, police said.

Balan and Bebino were charged with burglary to a motor vehicle and aggravated identity theft of a senior citizen.

Balan faced the additional charges of obstructing a police officer and improper use of registration. Bebino was charged with obstructing identification.

"The allegations that these two men conspired to distract a senior citizen and steal her wallet from inside her car are appalling," Police Chief Michael McLean said in the news release. "Seniors should feel safe when out shopping, and I wish to thank the two witnesses who saw this suspicious activity and recorded the suspect’s description and license plate."

Police from Villa Park and Oak Brook helped with the case.

Bebino remained in the DuPage County Jail on Friday, while Balan was not there, according to jail records.