NAPERVILLE (STNG) - At this point, it could take the Justice League of America to bring Scott K. Meherg to justice.
Or, at the very least, Interpol.
A $100,000 warrant remains outstanding for Meherg's arrest. The 27-year-old Des Plaines man faces trial for allegedly writing a bogus check for $980.99 and using it to steal a rare, first-edition Spider-Man comic book from a shop in far west suburban Naperville.
But Naperville police detectives believe Meherg may have already evaded a domestic dragnet. Meherg "is currently at large and may be out of the country," Naperville police Cmdr. Dave Hoffman said Wednesday.
A DuPage County grand jury on Tuesday indicted Meherg on two felony counts of forgery and two counts of theft. He is accused of using a check from a nonexistent LaSalle Bank account on Dec. 10 to "purchase" the comic book from Graham Crackers Comics, at 1271 Rickert Drive in Naperville, according to records in DuPage County Circuit Court in Wheaton.
The police report filed following the theft reflected little remarkable about the transaction. Hoffman said Meherg allegedly spent some time browsing in the store before settling on the 1963 edition of "The Amazing Spider-Man, No. 2," telling a salesman "he wanted to buy the comic book for his father."
Graham Crackers Comics is a chain of eight stores owned by Jamie Graham and John Robinson. In addition to the Naperville shop, there are two locations in Chicago, along with stores in DeKalb, Downers Grove, Plainfield, St. Charles and Wheaton.
Robinson confirmed Wednesday that Meherg used a state of Illinois identification card during his scam. He was not a regular customer at the shop, Robinson said.
Store manager Mike Wall said he was the employee who completed Meherg's purchase.
Wall said there was little out of the ordinary about Meherg, who spent some time in the shop and "talked a bit about just comics in general." Wall said he recalled Meherg having "kind of a tribal tattoo" on the side of his neck.
Robinson said Graham Crackers Comics offers a substantial selection of rare and out-of-print comic books. The chain is reexamining its customer payment policies and taking other safety measures in light of the theft, he said.
A Web site operated by Lone Star Comics Games and Gifts in Arlington, Texas, indicated the stolen book was published in May 1963 by Marvel Comics. It sold at the time for 12 cents.
Meherg, a former Cicero resident, was arrested in August 2001 by police in southwest suburban Alsip. He was charged with resisting arrest and battery to a police dog, after a police officer stopped him on a street corner and discovered he was wanted on a warrant, authorities said that year.
A police dog chased Meherg as he tried to flee through a field, clamping its jaws around one of his legs. Authorities said Meherg kicked the dog several times in the head in a failed attempt to escape.
Hoffman said Meherg was described as a Hispanic man standing 6 feet 1 inch tall and weighing 190 pounds. He sported tattoos on both arms and a "pencil-thin" mustache at the time of the theft.
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