I feel terrible for the owner of Caribou, neither compassion nor vigilance seem to be helping him and most people I know no longer patronize his store. That's a shame.

700 Liberty Street, Wheaton again. The Patch should run a tally to see which address has more appearences on the Downers Grove Police Blotter, 700 Liberty Street in Wheaton, or 1000 Warren in Downers Grove.

This is really getting sad because I know several parent from our neighborhood and kids' school who will no longer let their kids go to study at Caribou anymore because there invariably are unsavory characters who squat there and on too many occassions stare at the kids, appear agitated, and sometimes even get abusive to patrons. Caribou will soon go the way of the Starbucks across the tracks.

@goddess-It's not his fault, he is a good man. The spillover transients are waiting for him to open in the morning, some (no not all) are drunk at 6 am. They use the rest room as a shower. Some aggressively pan handle customers as they come in, some just sleep. There are a few customers who, through misguided compassion, will buy cups of coffee for these men so they can stay there all morning while the bulk of the former clientele who are uncomfortable with the mental state of some of these 'customers' patronize the competition instead. Its a shame, and I've been told the owner is frustrated but feels helpless.

Folks –
Unless you have firsthand experience as an eyewitness, you shouldn’t denigrate or harm this local business by spreading hearsay and rumors, particularly in a public forum like this.

Yes, an incident occurred last week according to the police report. I have gone to Caribou a couple times a week for the past few years, arriving in the 6-6:30 am range. I have never once witnessed any behavior such as described in these comments. No agitation, no abuse of patrons, no drunks, no panhandling, no outward signs of mental impairment. They pay for their own coffee. No issues with using the bathroom. Do I see homeless there in the morning? Yep, a few …. nice, quiet and well-behaved.

For the record, I agree we have a public drinking problem in town and it needs to be addressed, but don’t pile on the warm and cozy business on Main St. because there’s really no connection.

Everyone who works there is welcoming and outgoing, it’s a nice place to sit down and chat, read or bang away on a laptop over a nice cup of coffee.

John, thanks so much for your thoughtful and intelligent comment above. I frequent Caribou a lot and have never seen anything close to what is being described by these comments. "I've been told" statements lack a lot of credibility

I have been harassed by "creepers" at Caribou - asked for money, food, sworn at, had the bathroom door banged on until I come out. It is very real and it can be intimidating to a woman, especially when she is with her children. I no longer go there.
It is really sad that this business owner was trying to be compassionate and is overun with stray cats looking for hand-outs.

Yes homeless guys harass you at Caribou. What else is new.

Also, please don't waste the time and resources of the police department because someone steals your $1.00 political sign. Call the party office and get it replaced. I just can't believe someone called the police about a yard sign.

How typical that the Bush/Cheney mortgage swindle crowd would steal a yard sign.

How typical that some liberal thinks their Obama sign is so precious that they need to call the police department if it goes missing.

-The DG police pick the guy up and then release him on I-bond, so he signed for himself and went on his merry way, probably over to Fairview station to tip a few with his pals. I'm sure the toothless, but stern, lecture made a deep, and lasting, impression.

-The Obama sign was confiscated for redistribution to a poorer, more worthy, and appreciative lawn.

The Downer Grove Caribou is big enough for and nice enough that I have always enjoyed my visits. Whether the homeless use the chairs outside and come in to use the bathrooms is of no concern of mine! I am glad to see that the DG Police do arrest the trouble makers which they should whether the trouble makers have a home or not.

"big enough for all" is what I meant to say.