LOGAN SQUARE — Chicago Police said they are investigating whether Ald. Joe Moreno (1st) falsified a police report when he told them his Audi was stolen.
Moreno filed the police report about a month ago, alleging his Audi had been stolen by a woman he was dating, Liliya Hrabar.
But text messages between Moreno and Hrabar tell a different story, according to WGN, which was first to report the story.
The messages show the two were on good terms both before and after Moreno reported the car stolen on Jan. 4.
The day before he filed the report, the alderman wrote to Hrabar, “Meet at my house at 11 you can have my car,” according to messages Hrabar shared with WGN.
And on the same day Moreno reported the car stolen, he texted Hrabar, asking her out to dinner.
When a WGN reporter asked him why he had reported the car stolen, Moreno said, “Because there was a misunderstanding that she had it longer than she wanted to and I was having a hard time getting ahold of her. So that’s the only reason that I needed to.”
Moreno told WGN the whole thing was a big misunderstanding, and that when he loaned Hrabar his car he was “trying to help out a single mom.”
The alderman didn’t respond to a request for an interview.
On Monday, police found Hrabar driving Moreno’s car and arrested her and she was later charged with criminal trespassing to a vehicle, a misdemeanor. Hrabar spent the night in jail.
The charges were dropped in court Tuesday, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office said.
Reached by phone Tuesday morning, Hrabar said she felt no ill will toward the alderman. She, too, insisted it was all a big misunderstanding.
“I don’t like any of this. It really bothers me. Nothing happened. Everything is perfect,” Hrabar told Block Club.
“[Moreno] said on the news — it was all a misunderstanding. The car was not stolen. He gave it to me. He texted me to come to his house and pick up the car. … He’s a great guy.”
Asked if she approached WGN with the story, Hrabar said no before saying she had to go, and to call her back later.
Police deferred any questions about Hrabar’s case to the Cook County State’s Attorney office.
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