12/20/22
At 10:26 p.m. Monday in the 100 block of East Green Street, Champaign, Michael P. Richter, 44, of Champaign, was arrested on charges of theft and resisting a police officer. Police observed Richter walking with a bicycle in the 600 block of South First Street, Champaign. When asked by police if the bicycle belonged to him, Richter said he found it unlocked and took possession of it. As he was being arrested for theft, Richter attempted to flee from police.
On Monday, it was reported that an employment authorization card was stolen between Dec. 2-7 from a U. of I. student’s mailbox at her apartment complex near the corner of Locust and Chalmers streets, Champaign. The card was valued at $500.
It was reported Saturday that a U. of I. student was deceived into wiring $110,000 to an overseas bank account. On Nov. 21, an unknown person called the student claiming that a phone number connected to the student was involved in sending out fraudulent messages, and she needed to report it to a foreign police department. The student spoke several times with someone posing as a foreign police officer, who said the student would be extradited and her parents’ assets frozen if she didn’t deposit money in a foreign bank account. The student complied.
On Monday, it was reported that a U. of I. student was deceived into wiring $122,00 to a bank account between Aug. 11 and Dec. 13. The student received a call in August from an unknown person impersonating a parcel delivery company representative saying they had a package containing illegal items addressed to the student. The scammer informed the student that he needed to pay $100,000 to avoid prosecution from a foreign police department and would contact the student through a social media app for further instruction. The student was instructed to create several new bank accounts and transfer $48,000, $51,000 and $23,000. After making the transfers, the student was able to recover around $60,000 from the accounts.
Please note: Those arrested are presumed innocent until proved guilty, and formal charges may change as cases are adjudicated. For more information about the incidents listed here, please contact the U. of I. Police Department at 217-333-1216 or .