On Dec. 14, an officer in an unmarked car saw a minivan pull into the Thornton’s gas station parking lot at 601 Harlem Ave.
Aware that the parking lot has a history of high drug activity and narcotics arrests, the officer observed the car and saw the driver making movements toward the center console.
The van left the parking lot, and was pulled over by police on the westbound I290 entrance ramp.
The driver, Shawna Morrison of Aurora, had an active warrant and was taken into custody. Officers searched the car and found a syringe in a cup of hot water in the cup holder. They found another syringe in the pocket of a leather coat belonging to frontseat passenger Zachary Gilskey.
In the center console, they found three packets of heroin, weighing less than a gram in total. The offenders said they had purchased five packets of heroin on the West Side of Chicago and injected it prior to being stopped by police.
On Dec. 17, officers saw another car parked in the same location. When police approached the car, the driver backed out and exited the lot. He was pulled over after failing to use his turn signal when changing lanes, and according to a police report, appeared extremely nervous.
The man, identified as Lawrence Splitt of Wonder Lake, was asked to exit the car. Before being searched, he acknowledged having some heroin in his pants pocket. Officers found 19 clear plastic capsules of heroin weighing about 4 grams. Splitt said he had purchased the drugs on the 400 block of Maple Avenue in Oak Park.
Unstable resident resists arrest
A plain clothed officer noticed a man urinating on the street on the 900 block of Ferdinand Avenue on Dec. 12. The officer saw a group of about 12 children recently dismissed from Forest Park Middle School walk in the man’s direction.
The children stopped when they saw the man urinating, and he allegedly screamed expletives at the kids, then ran toward his home. The officer followed him and attempted to arrest him, to which the man responded by drawing back his fist and stating “I’ll knock your teeth down your throat.”
The officer tried to arrest the man again, and a struggle ensued as he attempted to escape into his home. The officer reported being kicked in the chest as he tried to subdue the man. Another officer arrived at the scene to assist, and deployed his Taser to subdue the suspect.
The man’s sister said she witnessed the incident, and heard her brother threaten the officer. She said that he suffers from mental illness.
Twelve to 11 beers
Police received a call on Dec. 18 reporting a man driving erratically, with a child standing on his lap. Officers spotted the reported vehicle, a silver Lincoln Navigator, and pursued the vehicle.
The car eventually backed into a driveway on the 1500 block of Marengo Avenue. Police approached the driver, Mose D. Williams, and he unrolled the window. A small child was standing on his wife’s lap in the passenger seat.
According to a police report, Williams smelled of alcohol and had glassy eyes and slurred speech. Police decided not to conduct a field sobriety test because the roads were icy and slick and Williams already appeared unstable on his feet. They asked him how much he had to drink, and he replied “12 to 11 beers.” He later said he drank up to 18 beers.
Asked why the child was not restrained, he told officers that the child had been acting too unruly for the car seat. He acknowledged that he should not have been driving, but said that his wife could not drive the large SUV. He told police that he had been drinking at his mother’s home in Chicago, and that he was a “reformed alcoholic.”
Williams failed his field sobriety test after being brought to the police station, and his blood alcohol level tested at over twice the legal limit.
Wanted man hides in mom’s closet
Police received a call Dec. 15 from a Desplaines Avenue woman who reported that her son was in her apartment and had refused to leave. She reported that he had been abusive in the past and had been warned not to return to the apartment. She told police she feared physical harm.
Police were informed that the man often comes to the apartment when his mother is not home and hides in the closet when he hears her return. Police entered the home to search for the man, and eventually found him on the closet floor. A name check revealed that he had an active warrant in Cook County for a probation violation.
The mother signed a criminal trespassing complaint, and the man was given a court date of Jan. 17.
These items were taken from the records of the Forest Park Police Department between Dec. 12 and Dec. 20 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.
These items were taken from the records of the Forest Park Police Department between Dec. 5 and Dec. 12 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
