MONROE — The suspect in dozens of business thefts across Wisconsin and Illinois told police in Monroe he is “the best” at what he does and they were lucky to catch him when they did, according to Green County court records.

John Henry Loresch, 51, said he had a bus ticket for Florida and was ready to skip town when he was arrested at a Monroe residence Feb. 14.

Loresch was charged this week with stealing $150 from Swirl Station, an ice cream shop just north of Monroe at W5485 County DR, on Jan. 25. He faces a Class H felony charge of misappropriation of identifying information to obtain money and a Class A misdemeanor charge of theft by false representation.

But, according to reports from a police interview filed with the criminal complaint, he talked openly about scamming dozens of businesses by targeting cashiers or other employees with well-practiced, well-researched sob stories.

The scam involves posing as a relative or friend of the manager or owner, inventing a crisis such as needing money for a tow after a car accident or taxi ride for a wife in labor, then telling the employee he’s pre-approved to get cash.

Loresch admitted to doing this type of fraud for decades.

In 2010, he was sentenced to nine years in prison in Illinois for “stealing from an Elmhurst gas station by posing as a friend of the owner and persuading a clerk to give him $150,” according to a news report at the time.

Five years later, he was back on the street and doing the same type of thefts, targeting a gas station, fast food restaurant and a hotel, according to the Aurora Police Department in Illinois.

He got out of prison and was put on parole in July.

In the case of the recent theft at Swirl Station, Loresch gave a fake name and said he was the business owner’s cousin, according to court records. He pretended to call the owner on a cellphone in front of a cashier, even reciting the correct number. He left the owner a signed, dated slip of paper as an “IOU” before leaving with $150 cash.

When Loresch leaves a business, “it is with a handshake and a thank you,” he told Green County Detective Chris Fiez and Monroe Detective Sergeant Dan Skatrud. 

“(Loresch) advised that they will sometimes hug you,” Fiez wrote in a report.

Employees have even given him money out of their own pockets because there wasn’t enough in the register, Loresch told the officers. He said he’s heard later from police that employees have lost their jobs because of his scams and “it does not feel good to know that.”

The victims “are good people,” he said.

Loresch bragged he is “the best” at what he does and offered his expertise as a service to businesses and law enforcement.

“Loresch advised that he would write out how all the thefts work in an easy format to help everyone out,” Fiez wrote. “He asked if we could try and present his idea to the District Attorneys.”

At the time of his arrest, police were aware of at least 16 recent thefts in which Loresch is the suspect, but Loresch told them he’d committed “probably another 40.”

A Monroe woman drove him around to commit the thefts but she “did not really know” what he was doing, he said. She did not go inside or participate with him during the thefts, and she told police she knew only that he was coming out of businesses with money, not how he got it, an investigation found.

Loresch, whose last known address was in Champaign, Illinois, had warrants out of multiple jurisdictions, including Monroe, Rock County, Evansville, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, Freeport and Champaign. Authorities in Stephenson County, Illinois, are currently seeking to extradite him from Green County.

In Green County, he is the suspect in thefts from several Monroe restaurants, a Monroe gas station and a Brodhead coffee shop. He’s also suspected of thefts or attempted thefts across southern Wisconsin, including in Evansville, Madison, Baraboo, Beloit, Janesville, Darlington, Cuba City, South Wayne and Gratiot, and across northern Illinois, including in Freeport, Stockton, Galena and Elizabeth.

The Green County Sheriff’s Office starting seeking tips from the public about three weeks ago to help identify a suspect in the thefts.

Sheriff Jeff Skatrud said his office “received numerous tips from the community” that helped lead detectives to Loresch. Skatrud anticipates other jurisdictions will be filing similar charges against Loresch.

Loresch is being held at the Green County Jail on a $2,000 cash bond and is next in court on March 14.