Crime & Safety

Suspected Heroin Dealers Now Charged With Felony Counts

Man, woman held since last week's arrest near J. Alexander's restaurant and confiscation of 34 bags of heroin.

Asked if she knew about last Thursday's heroin bust in the restaurant parking lot, the hostess at J. Alexander's started laughing, thinking it was a joke.

But it's not. At 9:30 p.m. Sept. 9, undercover officers arrested a man and woman and seized 34 bags of heroin in the lot behind the restaurant, according to Michael Shep, supervisor of community relations for the Northbrook Police Department. Police searched the pair's Wheeling residence and found more bags as well as scales, needles and other drug paraphernalia that indicated they might be dealers, according to the authorities.

Neringa Eidimtaite, 24, and Delfini Kramarik, 19, are each being held on $40,000 bond in Cook County Jail. Both have been charged with possession of a controlled substance; Eidimtaite is also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia. Their case will be heard at Cook County Circuit Court in Skokie on Oct. 4.

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The arrest was a joint effort of the Northbrook Police Department's tactical unit, the Illinois State Police and the Cook County Sheriff's police, Shep said.

A J. Alexander's employee, who declined to be named, said he was at work Thursday night, and happened to walk outside when the arrests were made.  He said he saw two cars pulled up to a silver Lincoln model, which was parked behind the restaurant.

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The vehicles boxed in the Lincoln, and the employee said he then saw police put handcuffs on a "very young-looking man" who was pushed up against the car. More police cars arrived and within 30 minutes, police left and a tow truck came to take away the Lincoln, the employee said.

The 34 bags of confiscated heroin are stored at the Northbrook Police Department. Shep said they were likely small bags, each holding a single hit of the drug.

Will Taylor, public information officer for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency's (DEA) Chicago office, said a single hit of heroin typically has a street value of $10. Taylor declined to comment further, since the DEA was not involved in the case.

Chicago is known as the hub of illegal drug sales in the Midwest, both because of its central location and because of the region's transportation systems, according to police department and DEA sources.

Although he couldn't remember the most recent major drug bust in Northbrook, Shep said they were "not that unusual."

"Anytime you get a drug dealer off the street, it's a good thing," he added. "No matter if it's a big dealer or a little dealer, a dealer's a dealer. It was a good effort by Northbrook police, state police, the county sheriff's department."


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