When Track Inspector William Plut notified Chief Gerald Conoboy that several tires were being dumped along the Kenton Line tracks between Division Street and North Avenue, Conoboy and his team immediately went to work.

Upon visiting the site with Officer Michael Perry, Conoboy said, “There were hundreds of tires strewn along both sides of the tracks.”

Nearby junkyards were then notified of what was going on and cooperated. The Chicago Police Department also was involved.

A break in the case came when the Belt’s Sgt. Ramon Ortiz and Sgt. Young Lee performed surveillance and caught the perpetrator in the act. 

“It was good, old-fashioned police work,” said Conoboy, who noted the perpetrator was heisting wheels, discarding the stolen tires by the tracks and attempting to sell the aluminum rims to local used auto parts dealers.