Elmhurst Arrests Scam Suspect, Who Has Long History

Elmhurst IL

14 June, 2022

4:08 PM

Description

ELMHURST, IL – A man was arrested for scamming a downtown Elmhurst store last month by making up a story about why he needed money, police said Tuesday. John Loresch, 54, was charged with theft by deception and taken to the DuPage County Jail. He was arrested by Elmhurst detectives last Wednesday. Police said Loresch has no permanent address. An internet search shows many different mugshots of Loresch over the years. He has been charged with similar scams in the Chicago suburbs and downstate. Loresch has served a sentence in an Illinois state prison. According to the Daily Herald, that was because of a scam in Elmhurst. On May 29, Loresch is accused of telling an employee at Get Bazzy, 152 N. York St., that he knew the business owner and that he needed cash for a tow truck. John Loresch, 54, is pictured on a security camera May 29 at Get Bazzy, 152 N. York St., according to a police report. (Courtesy of Elmhurst Police Department) The clerk handed the man money from the register, but later learned the man's story was a scam, police said. A similar incident occurred at Jimmy John's, 696 W. North Ave., two days later, police said. An employee gave money to a man with a similar description as the one at Get Bazzy. A week after the Get Bazzy scam, a man entered Buffalo Wild Wings, which is across from Get Bazzy, and tried to get money from an employee, but failed. Loresch has not been charged in either of those incidents, which police say remain under investigation. Loresch has been accused of using a similar story in many other places. In 2010, the Daily Herald reported that Loresch received a nine-year prison sentence for stealing from an Elmhurst gas station in 2009. He posed as a friend of the owner and persuaded a clerk to give him $150, authorities said. Back then, Loresch, who is now bald, had a full head of hair. At the time, the Daily Herald reported that Loresch has told authorities that he has carried out the scam more than 40 times at gas stations, gyms and other businesses. He was arrested in Freeport in 2019 for the scam, TV station WREX reported.