Police blotter: Mundelein man charged with theft of perfume in Vernon Hills

The following incidents were listed among the official reports of the Vernon Hills Police Departments. Readers are reminded that an arrest does not constitute a finding of guilt. Only a court of law can make that determination.

RETAIL THEFT

Timothy Schneider, 45, 19314 W. Fairview Drive, Mundelein, was arrested and later charged with retail theft when he left Sears, at 2 Hawthorn Center, without paying for $104.50 worth of perfume on Thursday, Dec. 26. He is due in court on Jan. 15.

Man Arrested in Perfume Heist

A New York man accused of stealing thousands of dollars worth of cologne and perfume is in police custody in Glastonbury.

Police said Stevens Tadros, 32, of Howard Beach, New York, is part of a team of “boosters” who are suspected of stealing perfume and cologne from several Walgreens stores in the tri-state area.

“Boosters” are on the low end of professional shoplifters, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and higher level “fencers” coordinate booster thefts.

These organized retail theft rings use sophisticated methods to shoplift, including counterfeit receipts and UPC codes to get refunds, according to the FBI, and are known to travel from state to state or city to city.

Tadros is accused of being involved in a perfume heist at a Walgreens in Glastonbury in April 2013 in which $2,195.60 worth of perfume was stolen.

New York Police took Tadros into custody there in mid-December and Glastonbury police went to New York to get him.

He was charged with third-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit larceny in the third degree.
He was unable to post $100,000 bond and is due in court today.

2 women suspected in perfume theft

FLORENCE, AL (WAFF) -

Florence Police hope you can identify a pair of theft suspects.

Investigators said two women caught on security camera footage are suspects in a felony theft from Dec. 23.

The two are accused of stealing over $1,500 worth of perfume.

If the women look familiar, call Florence Police or text FPDTIP to 274637.

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Buying Perfume Hasn't Changed Since The 1960s -- Just Ask This Avon Lady

Do you remember those days when the Avon lady would arrive at your doorstep hawking beauty goods? Well-dressed and made-up, she'd educate our grandmothers, mothers and aunts on the latest makeup trends. But one of our most memorable Avon lady experiences is when she taught us how to pick the perfect perfume.

In the 1961 ad above, we see an Avon rep in the cozy confines of a home that looks like a scene from "Mad Men." With a small selection of fragrances laid out, she guides her potential customer on how and where to apply it. (Tip: You should dab or spritz perfume on your skin in spots where a pulse warms up the notes, like the inside of your wrists and inner side of the arms.)

Everyone's skin chemistry isn't the same, so a fragrance may smell different from woman to woman. This is a part of what makes it so personal. And when you factor in that many people choose to outfit themselves with a perfume that goes with their wardrobe, an event or the season, there simply isn't any other category of beauty that compares to fragrance.

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That Touch of Perfume (1961) - Part Two

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Woman ‘Wasn’t Thinking’ When Injured Cop and Stole Perfume: Blotter

A Matteson woman is accused of causing injuries to a police officer who tried handcuffing her, after store security said she was seen taking perfume without paying, according to an Orland Park Police report.

Kim Whatley, 50, of the first block on West Cloverleaf Street in Matteson, was charged with felony retail theft, battery and resisting arrest.

On Nov. 15, the Orland Park Police Department was called to the upper level of Orland Square Mall about a security guard from Sephora fighting with a woman suspected of theft around 12:30 p.m. The first officer on scene tried putting the woman, Whatley, into custody and she kept pulling away as he was putting handcuffs on her, and ignored directions to cooperate, police said. Whatley was moved to the ground, but still resisted handcuffs, even as another officer assisted, according to the report. The first officer was left with wrist ligament injuries after Whatley was handcuffed, police said.

The security guard told police that Whatley was seen putting three bottles of perfume into her purse and walking out of the store without paying, according to the report. Sensors were set off as Whatley left the store, though she kept walking away from the guard despite instructions to stop, police said. Whatley shoved the guard away when he stood in front of her, and continued walking away from Sephora before police arrived, according to the report.

The perfume bottles cost a total of $217, police said.

While at the police station, Whatley told police she “just wasn’t thinking,” according to the report.

Police blotter information is provided by the Orland Park Police Department. Charges are not evidence of guilt. They are a record of police actions taken on a given day, and persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. If you or a family member are charged or cited and the case is subsequently adjudicated, we encourage you to notify the editor. We will verify and report the outcome.

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Thieves Steal Thousands in Perfume from Victoria's Secret

Thieves have been targeting Victoria's Secret at the Quaker Bridge Mall, recently, with nearly $4,000 of the store's perfume inventory reported stolen in three separate incidents recently.

• On Tuesday, Jan. 14, a manager at Victoria's Secret reported that she noticed an entire display of "Tease" perfume was missing, but hadn't been sold. An investigation revealed a black female, 18-20 years old had put the bottles into a bag while a black male, 6 feet tall with a thin build, blue jeans and a black jacket kept lookout. $948 worth of perfume was missing, in both 1.7 oz and 3.4 oz. bottles. 
• On Thursday, Jan. 16, Victoria's Secret reported that 30 bottles of "Bombshell" perfume were missing. An investigation showed that two men had entered the store, refused a salesperson's help and then one bent down at the perfume display. One of the men was described as a black male in his mid 20s, about 6 feet tall, thin build and wearing blue jeans, tan work boots, black baseball cap and a grey/blue flannel shirt. The other man was described as a black male in his mid 20s, about 6 feet tall with a thin build and wearing grey jeans, a black coat and a tan baseball cap. The total value of the missing perfume is $,1720.
• Also on Thursday, Victoria's Secret reported the theft of "Bombshell," "Rapture" and "Night" perfume, which was discovered missing as employees closed for the evening. An investigation revealed a male and a female at the perfume display and the woman putting the perfume bottles into a shopping bag and leaving the store without paying. The woman is described as black, in her early to mid 40s, with black hair in a bun and wearing a brown shawl, blue jeans and UGG boots. The man was described as black, also in his early to mid 40s, 180 lbs, wearing blue jeans, a black coat, hiking boots and a gray fedora. The total value of the missing perfume was $1,118.

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Woman admits perfume theft

A Warwick woman admitted attempting to steal two bottles of perfume from Brown & Co when she appeared in Magistrates’ Court today.

Desire Scraders, 49, was released on $500 bail and will reappear for mention tomorrow to determine if a psychological evaluation and social inquiry report should be made before sentencing.

Crown counsel Loxly Ricketts told the court that Scraders was seen shopping in the store around 12.35pm on October 9.

Management watched the woman and approached her to investigate.

The retail manager was able to see two boxes of perfume hidden in Scraders’ purse, at which point the operations manager asked her to follow him to the upstairs office, said Ms Ricketts.

As she followed the managers, they observed Scraders take the perfume boxes out of her purse and try to place them on a glass shelf.

When security picked up the perfume boxes, Scraders then attempted to leave the store via the rear entrance.

After initially resisting, management and security were able to detain Scraders until police arrived

Company debuts Ole Miss-inspired cologne, perfume

      

 Ole Miss fans already missing Grove season will be able to carry the scent of school spirit at all times with the release of an Ole Miss-themed perfume and cologne by Masik.

The university is among 17 schools selected by Masik to develop a unique scent after onsite "smell sessions," according to its website.

"The Grove inspires a sensuous and woody dry down with a touch of vanilla providing a trace of Ole Miss' sweet southern charm," according to a description of the perfume.

The perfume is comprised of sparkling bergamot, lemon zest, ruby raspberry, rich black currant, crushed tonic beans, sweet blueberry, amber woods, patchouli, sandalwood and vanilla.

The cologne is made of sparkling bergamot oil, fresh mandarin oil, marine accord, white cyclamen, sea salt accord, fresh blue rosemary crisp muguet, aromatic fir balsam, white cedar and tree moss.

A 1.7 oz bottle of both the cologne and perfume retails for $39.50.

The 16 other universities selected by Masik for fragrances: Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Oklahoma, Penn State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Virginia Tech.

Mississippi State, Missouri and Vanderbilt are the only Southeastern Conference school not selected.

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Coldwater Police say 'perfume incidents' are a hoax

Thursday, December 5 2013, 07:36 PM EST COLDWATER, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) - The newsroom was flooded with calls Thursday, from people worried about so-called 'perfume incidents' in Coldwater.

The talk around town is that theives are knocking people out with the smell of perfume, and then stealing their stuff. We did some digging and from what we've been told, it turns out it's all a hoax. Coldwater police told Newschannel 3 they had two reports Wednesday of 'pushy' perfume sellers.

One at the WalMart Supercenter, and the other at PS Food Mart, both on East Chicago Street. No one was injured and there are no suspects.

What smells? PA lawmaker wants to ‘Axe’ fragrance in schools

HARRISBURG – Teenagers looking to woo a homecoming date could soon be without a powerful — and pungent — ally.

State Rep. Marcia Hahn, R-Northampton, wants to introduce legislation banning the use of scented products such as perfume, cologne or body spray in schools having students with fragrance allergies.

The proposal sounds odd, but its inspiration is serious. A student at Freedom High School in Bethlehem this spring had a severe allergic reaction to Axe Body Spray — a staple among high-school-aged boys — and was taken to the hospital. He now takes cyber classes.

Hahn does not think that’s a fair set-up for the student, but even she knows regulating fragrance use among teens eager to drench themselves in Britney Spears’ latest scent is a challenge, even legislative overreach. She thinks her proposal, though, could at least start talk about a tough subject.

“If you have a piece of legislation and it’s not enforceable, it doesn’t really help,” she said. “So I’m hoping that we can come up with a solution that works for everyone.”

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Serial killer suspect Felix Vail held onto women’s earrings, perfume samples

Mississippi native and serial killer suspect Felix Vail held onto more than a dozen earrings and other assorted women’s jewelry in his home in Canyon Lake, Texas.

Are these items that women left behind from visits with him? If so, why didn’t he return them?

Enzo Yaksic, founder of the Serial Homicide Expertise and Information Sharing Collaborative, said the earrings could be mementoes — items that revive memories.

Vail is the last known person seen with three women: his wife, Mary, whose body was recovered from a river in Lake Charles, La., in 1962; his common law wife, Sharon Hensley, who disappeared in 1973; his teenage bride, Annette, who disappeared in 1984.

In May, a grand jury indicted him for the murder of his wife, Mary. He maintains he had nothing to do with her death or the disappearances of the other women.

Vail, now 74, claims to have slept with hundreds and hundreds of women and lived with 40 different women. He repeatedly referred to women as “whores,” but doesn’t view himself as promiscuous.

His journals, obtained by The Clarion-Ledger, number more than 2,400 pages — much of them a collection of his day-to-day activities, including his sexual exploits.

In a May 24, 1985, entry, he went to bed with one woman in Tulsa, Okla., waited till she fell asleep and slipped away to have sex with a different woman. Hours later, he returned.

In addition to saving women’s jewelry, Vail collected advertisements with women’s images and many samples of women’s perfume, adding to the odd collection.

Are there women out there who recognize these earrings as theirs? What, if anything, can they tell us about Vail?

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How Two West Coast Hikers Turned Brooklyn's Trees into a New Perfume

"Wild" fragrance firm Juniper Ridge has been running a pop-up shop this fall in Brooklyn, where it's been hosting sidewalk distillations of local plantlife—literally making cologne from the trees and bushes of Williamsburg—and running the occasional smell hunt, a short guide to the trees of the neighborhood based on what the public can sniff.

Gizmodo was on hand last week for a stroll around the block with Juniper Ridge founder Hall Newbegin and chief distiller Obi Kaufmann. As Newbegin explains on the company's website, the overall Juniper Ridge process is pretty damn fascinating, and I was eager to learn more in person:

We distill colognes and perfumes from real plants, bark, moss, mushrooms, and tree trimmings found hiking the backcountry.

A hundred years ago, all perfumes were made this way. Today we're the only ones who handle every step of the process ourselves, from beginning to end.

That process can look pretty ridiculous at times. We go camping. We crawl around in mountain meadows. We smell the wet earth beneath fir trees, and spend whiskey-fueled hours geeking out over the scent of wind off a glacier.

We make our fragrances throughout the West Coast—on dirt roads and trails, around campfires, and in our Oakland, California workshop. All to capture the quiet beauty of the Mojave Desert at sunrise, or a late-season Sierra trailhead with winter right around the corner.

The fact that last week's "wild aromatic distillation" event would be hosted on the streets of Brooklyn, using vegetation from New York City's best borough, only added to the strange appeal of seeing (and smelling) how all this really occurs.

After all, what happens when you do the same thing in an urban environment—when it's not the smell of breezes off glaciers but winds gusting off the roofs of abandoned warehouses or a slow morning fog rolling down the Gowanus? How do you distill perfumes and colognes fromthat?

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Police Search for Suspected Perfume Pilferers

Joliet police are looking for two suspects who allegedly stole perfume from a Plainfield-areaWalgreens store.

Police shared images from surveillance footage that show the suspects, both female and Hispanic, entering the store, 4822 Caton Farm Rd.

According to police, the duo stole two bottles of perfume at around 4 p.m. Nov. 16. Police said the suspects were seen leaving the Walgreens parking lot in a black Ford Focus "with a license plate number similar to P985579."

According to a store employee, both suspects frequent the Walgreens, police said.

Anyone who can ID the suspects is asked to contact Joliet Officer McKeon at 815-724-3380.

Fragrance group brings scents to the Hill

Even your perfume can’t avoid a Washington connection.

The International Fragrance Association, whose Washington operation is based out of Arlington, Va., is one of those only-inside-the-Beltway organizations, a niche-sounding group that proves the theory that Washington touches everything.

“We’re active all day, every day, on issues, whether they be in the regulatory agencies or on Capitol Hill,” said Jennifer Abril, the president of IFA, which boasts more than 60 members in the fragrance industry. “We’re involved quite heavily in regulatory efforts to make sure that our members are well-informed about their requirements and to improve the business climate of our membership.”

And they have the office to prove it. Most every mainstream fragrance or cologne you can imagine can be found there — but it’s really the private blends that they get a first look at that prove to be the real highlight.

“I come to the office most days without wearing a scent and then I decide what I’m wearing for the day,” Abril confessed. And friendly lawmakers might also get a small take-home gift of those private blends, providing, of course, that it fits within the ethics guidelines.

It’s a field that, traditionally, has not emphasized its Washington connections.

“For many years, our industry was part of the broader supply chain of a consumer product and so we were not very active as an industry up until about the last five years,” Abril said. “That’s when we really started to build out our voice and be more active in both lobbying and in education and awareness about the fragrance industry, what we do for them, and the safety programs that we have.”

You can get a peek at its Washington work Wednesday, when the IFA hosts an event on Capitol Hill called “A Symphony of Senses,” for which they invite lawmakers, staffers and other interested parties “to experience these fragrances for yourself, enjoy cocktails and meet the perfumers behind some of the world’s most popular scents.”

But despite the group’s fancy title, it’s not all about high-end perfume.

“A fragrance is a scent and so we are scent innovators, we’re scent specialists,” Abril said. “Whether that fragrance is going into a fine fragrance — which would be a cologne or a perfume — or whether that scent is going into a household product or a personal care product, so it could be lotions, it could be cosmetics, it could be detergents, it could be laundry products. Anything that you can think of that is scented would be made by one of the fragrance houses that we represent.”

Abril says that just her association’s members turn out more than 5,000 fragrance offerings a year.

“It’s an interesting dichotomy — on the one hand, we’re regulated with the broader chemical industry and, on the other hand, we’re thought of being more of a discretionary purchase. But it’s really such an important and mainstream part of everyday life. … It brings pleasure to everyone’s day.”

And for those who opt for fragrance-free products?

“That’s perfectly understandable,” Abril said. “We want to have something for everyone.”

Abril admits there’s typically a big learning curve for most lawmakers on the issues that matter most to the fragrance industry.

“Generally speaking, it’s a new issue for them to learn about.” That is, of course, with one exception: lawmakers from New York and New Jersey, where Abril says 85 percent of its members hail from.

“We’re particularly active talking to those legislators.”

So a President Chris Christie might be a big coup for the IFA?

“We’re pulling for the success of the state of New Jersey.”

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Colleges Dabble in Fragrances

When word got out in June that Texas A&M University was coming out with its own brand of fragrances this fall, students and alumni took to Twitter to suggest some scents. Among them: "Bat Feces" and "Chilifest Stink."

But for Masik Collegiate Fragrances, the New York company that developed the school's cologne and perfume, Texas A&amp;M conjures something more aromatic. It describes the men's fragrance as "refreshing top notes of Italian lemon, bergamot and iced pineapple" that open into "a body of vivid florals, raw nutmeg and cinnamon."

The scent, Masik says, seeks to capture the "timeless honor of Aggie traditions" and the "crazed adoration of Aggie maroon," one of the school colors.

Though some might associate college with olfactory assaults like stale beer and sweaty locker rooms, more schools smell opportunity in bottling a signature scent. Masik released fragrances for six other schools this fall, including the University of Kentucky and Clemson University, bringing its total lineup to 17 colleges, with more on the way, says chief executive Katie Masich.

The University of Notre Dame also came out with a scent this fall, produced by the Cloudbreak Group, which created a cologne and a perfume for the New York Yankees that the company says garnered nearly $10 million in retail sales in 2012.

The fragrances are only the latest in a litany of products colleges are hawking under their brands to students, alumni and die-hard sports fans. At Louisiana State University, the list includes garden gnomes, fishing lures and musical bottle openers—not to mention onesies and caskets. "We have licensed products literally from cradle to grave," says Brian Hommel, director of trademark licensing at LSU, which began selling fragrances by Masik in 2009.

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Florence Police On the Hunt For Perfume Thieves

FLORENCE, Ala. (WHNT / Shoals Area Crime Stoppers) – It`s one of those strange stories you don`t hear about every day.

On October 28th Florence Police said three people walked into the ULTA store on Cox Creek Parkway and stole 47 bottles of expensive perfumes from a display.

Detectives said the two females and male suspect, filled a large purse with the perfumes and high tailed out of the store.

According to investigators, the woman seen in the photo talking to a clerk has a tattoo on her right arm that someone might recognize.

Police are hoping the public might be able to sniff these people out and put them behind bars.

If you have any information that can help authorities give an anonymous call to the Shoals Area Crime Stoppers Tip Line at 256-386-8685.

If your call leads to an arrest, you will be eligible for a cash reward.

Watch the video Here

Brittany Nicole Smith: $1,500 in perfumes stolen at Ulta Cosmetics in Port St. Lucie

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - Police have arrested two people in connection with the theft of more than $1,500 in perfume and fragrances last month.

Investigators said the thefts occurred Oct. 10 at Ulta Cosmetics located on SW Village Parkway in Port St. Lucie.

Brittany Nicole Smith, 18, and a 16-year-old girl, both of Vero Beach, Fla., were arrested after tips identified the two suspects in surveillance video.

Through the course of the investigation, a third suspect has been identified and detectives are currently applying for arrest warrants for that individual.

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Woman charged with stealing bottle of Nicki Minaj perfume

Artists and Celebrities want you to have their fragrance, but you must pay for the product, not get it in a way that will land you in trouble.

Police in Cumberland charge a woman on Halloween night with stealing a bottle of Nicki Minaj perfume.  The incident began at about 8:54 pm at Kohl’s in Silver Spring Township. Store Loss Prevention employees told police that the suspect who allegedly stole the perfume had fled in a white Toyota sedan.

The vehicle was quickly located and police identified the driver as Amy Auxt. She admitted to stealing the perfume but said that she threw it out the window as she was fleeing.

Auxt is charged with Retail Theft.

Mother and daughter sought in shoplifting perfume worth $15,000

October 28, 2013|By Henry Pierson Curtis, Orlando Sentinel

A mother and daughter from Volusia County face charges of shoplifting more than $15,000 of perfume from a chain of perfume and beauty shops across Central Florida.

Jennifer Decoteau and her daughter Eryn Rice are wanted for stealing at least $4,000 of perfume on Oct. 3 from an Ulta store at 2609 W. Osceola Parkway, according to Kissimmee police.

Decoteau, 39, and Rice, 20, were photographed by security cameras as they left the Kissimmee store, according to police. They are suspects in similar thefts but the locations of those stores were not available on Monday.

Rice remains held in the Seminole County Jail after being arrested Saturday in Altamonte Springs after she left an Alta perfume shop with $3,500 in unpaid merchandise, Kissimmee police spokeswoman Stacie Miller said Monday afternoon.

Anyone who has seen Decoteau recently is asked to call Crimeline at 800-423-8477.

hcurtis@tribune.com or 407-420-5257.

Indigo Perfumery Opens Boutique Perfume Shop in Lakewood, OH

CLEVELAND, Oct. 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Indigo Perfumery, Cleveland's first and only niche perfume shop and one of just a few in the state of Ohio, opened in Lakewood, OH, on Tuesday, October 16. Owner Ann Onusko brings her extensive knowledge of flowers and life-long passion of fragrances and perfumes to a gallery space where people can buy the very best of modern perfume made with creativity and passion by niche perfume houses.

"The customer's experience within the store will be about the discovery and appreciation of these wonderful fragrances and being given the time and space to enjoy them without being pushed into a purchase," says Onusko. "The Indigo Perfumery brand will be focused on providing a space where clients can seek out the more unusual fragrance brands with more integrity, complexity and personality."

Indigo will focus on fragrances created by smaller, artisanal companies who concentrate on the art of the scent rather than mass production and marketing and will introduce the process of discovering a personal scent through education and personal guidance. Onusko described how scent is processed by areas of the brain that are also responsible for emotion and learning -- one of the reasons why so often something we smell triggers a memory of something, or someone.

Onusko describes her boutique as an experience destination where people will find fragrances with an element of exclusivity. Indigo Perfumery will be carrying Ambre Blends, Ann Gerard Parfum, Jardin D'Ecrivains, Jul et Mad, Magnetic Scent, Maria Candida Gentile, Phoenicia Perfumes, PK Perfumes, Providence Perfume Co., Sarah Horowitz, Tommi Sooni, Viktoria Minya, Undergreen and Yates Apothecary (a Cleveland company).
"We're excited to be carrying five 'natural' lines from Ambre Blends, Maria Candida Gentile, Phoenicia Perfumes, Providence Perfume Co. and Undergreen," said Onusko.

Indigo Perfumery will also host themed events celebrating fragrance as an art, such as meeting the perfumers, wedding consultations and fragrance workshops. Indigo will celebrate Sweetest Day this Saturday, October 19, with a fresh bloom with each fragrance purchase.
About owner Ann Onusko:

Ms. Onusko graduated from St. Louis University with a B.S.R.N. degree and worked as an R.N. for ten years. She then worked as the general manager of a special events and floral design company for two decades. She is now turning her attention to her life-long passion: fragrances and perfumes.