While following up on a call at a church on the 1500 block of North Astor Street around midnight March 22, a police officer noticed a suspicious car in the alleyway next to the building. When the officer went to check the car, he found that a man was hanging from a downspout gutter attached to the church.

Upon seeing the officer, the offender, who appeared to be trying to steal the gutter, dropped down and got into the car — a red, older model vehicle that was missing hubcaps — where an accomplice was waiting in the driver’s seat.

The officer was unable to get the license number on the car before it sped away.

A group of out-of-towners was attacked and robbed by four unknown suspects on the 2100 block of North Fremont Street on the evening of March 18. The victims, all Northbrook residents, were walking down the street when they passed the offenders, one of whom confronted one of the victims and told him to give up his wallet and phone.

When the man asked if he was serious, the suspect punched him in the face. Another victim handed over $10 in cash before the suspects fled.

Police arrested Brittany Howard, of Garfield Park, as one of two suspects in an attempted robbery that occurred on the evening of March 17.

A 25-year-old man told police that Howard, 23, and a man named Tyrese Williams attacked him as he left work at Elly’s Pancake House, 101 W. North Ave.

The man alleged that Williams knocked him to the ground and choked him while Howard went through his pockets, trying unsuccessfully to take his iPhone. The two fled, and police later arrested Howard after identifying her during a traffic stop.

An unknown man walked into a bank on the 400 block of North Wells Street at around 4:30 p.m. on March 21 and told the teller that he wanted money. The man, who was believed to be in his late fifties, was wearing a gray knit cap and sunglasses and appeared to be unarmed at the time. The employee handed over $562 dollars and the suspect fled.

While getting on her scooter on the 1400 block of North Lake Shore Drive the morning of March 15, a woman was approached by an unknown female suspect who asked her for a few dollars for the bus.

The woman replied that she didn’t have any money, at which point a man walked up and told her to hand over her wallet. The victim threw her wallet at him and drove away.

A 26-year-old man was knocked out cold while being attacked by three unknown suspects on the afternoon of March 18 on the 700 block of North Franklin Street.

Upon regaining consciousness after being punched in the stomach by the men, who were all in their mid-twenties, the man told police that he found that his wallet was missing, the contents of which included various ID and credit cards and $80 in cash.