Police received a call on Oct. 20 from an employee of Tri-Star Gymnastics at 1401 Circle Ave. who reported arriving at the business to find the rear door damaged and the company’s safe missing.

The safe, which was not bolted down, contained between $2,500 and $3,000 in cash. Nothing else was taken from the school.

According to a police report, a heavy impact tool was likely used to gain entry to the school through the glass rear door. Drag marks on the floor leading to the rear stairwell indicated that the safe, which measured 19 inches high, 20 wide and 24 deep, was probably dragged out.

The brand of gray safe was Sentry, model number S3417″the serial number, W599664.

Squatters arrested
along railroad tracks

During a premise check of the CSX railroad tracks at 701 S. Harlem on Oct. 22, police found two men, Michael Hamilton and Thomas Dunkell, sleeping on the north side of the CSX property.

According to the police report, both men had received numerous warnings to stay away from the area from both Forest Park and CSX police officers. The men, one of whom had stayed at the West Suburban PADS homeless shelter in Forest Park, were taken to the police station for processing and received a Dec. 6 court date.

Taxi driver missing permit

A taxi driver was stopped at 1200 Elgin Ave. on Oct. 22 for driving northbound on the one-way southbound street. The driver of the Ford Crown Victoria had a Forest Park-issued permit with the number 101 and an expiration date of April 30, 2006.

That permit, however, belongs to a Chevy Lumina. Village-issued permits are non transferable.

The permit was confiscated and turned over to the village clerk’s office, and the driver was ticketed for driving the wrong way on a one-way street and given a local ordinance citation for driving without a permit.

Man caught stealing boots

Police received a call reporting a retail theft at AJ Wright, 7530 Roosevelt Road, on Oct. 19. Responding officers located a man, later identified as Michael Hudson, matching the description given by store employees in an alley on the 7700 block of Roosevelt.

The officers reported seeing the man throw two tan plastic grocery bags and run westbound through the alley. After a short foot-chase, police arrested the man and found the bags, which contained three pairs of Timberland boots and an Akademiks brand sweatshirt.

The man was taken back to the store, and, once employees positively identified him, was taken back to the police station. The total value of the stolen merchandise was $159.96.

Burglary on Circle Avenue

A resident of the 200 block of Circle Avenue told police she had received a call from a neighbor on Oct. 19 saying that someone had broken into her apartment. She rushed home to find her apartment ransacked, and called police.

According to the police report, the offenders likely entered through the front door, which the resident said was probably unlocked. She said the offenders used two green plastic tote bags she had in the hallway and took 60 DVDs, 20 video games, two video game systems and a Dell computer. They also packed up a stereo and DVD player but did not remove them from the apartment.

The responding officers were unable to find any viable fingerprints in the apartment, and advised both the resident and the neighbor that they should have called police immediately.

Disorderly conduct

A resident approached a police officer in the McDonald’s parking lot on Desplaines Avenue Oct. 18 and said that a man walking eastbound on Madison had screamed profanities at him and challenged him to a fight for no apparent reason.

He told the officer that the offender had been walking with three other men, and then pointed to Jeams E. Potts, who was among a crowd of four standing at the corner of Madison and Desplaines, telling the officer “he’s the one.”

When the officer approached, Potts said, “What the **** do you want,” and insisted he did nothing wrong. The officer observed that Potts smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot eyes.

When the officer attempted to arrest him for disorderly conduct, he refused to place his hands behind his back, and later refused to enter the squad car. According to the police report, Potts continued acting “belligerent” at the station, refusing to walk toward the booking room door.

The officer wrestled him to the ground and carried him into the station, where he was put in a jail cell with handcuffs on. Eventually Potts agreed to calm down and was uncuffed. The officer noticed his mouth was bleeding and asked if he needed medical attention, but Potts refused, saying that he recently had surgery on his mouth.

These items were taken from the records of the Forest Park Police Department between Oct. 16 and 24 and represent only a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Anyone named in this report has only been charged with a crime. The cases have not yet been adjudicated.

“Compiled by Seth Stern