Police responded to a call on Dec. 20 reporting an unauthorized man who had run onto the CTA train tracks at the Desplaines Avenue Blue Line station.
The man, identified as Joshua Williams of Elgin Avenue in Forest Park, was pursued by a CTA supervisor who spotted him running eastbound on the tracks. He was then seen running for the Circle Avenue exit. He ran northbound on the Circle Avenue bridge and then westbound on Lehmer Street. He was stopped while attempting to cut through a resident’s yard on Hannah Avenue.
The incident caused power to be temporarily shut down at the station. Williams was processed on a criminal trespassing complaint.
Cocaine found during traffic stop
Police stopped a 1989 Volvo on Dec. 20 for an equipment violation, and upon performing a name check on the car’s driver, Darnell Hatter of Maywood, they found that he had a suspended driver’s license.
Police searched Hatter, and found two baggies of suspected cocaine in his left pocket. Hatter said that he had been addicted to the drug for 15 years, and was recently released from a rehabilitation facility. He said that he had gone to the West Side of Chicago to purchase the cocaine after getting into an argument with his wife.
Parked car burglarized
A resident of the 900 block of Dunlop Avenue reported returning to his car on Dec. 20 to find the window shattered and several valuables stolen.
He said that he had left the car on Dec. 8 with the items inside covered by a tarp. When he returned, the driver’s side rear window was smashed, and a garbage bag containing about 60 mp3 players valued at $39.99 each, a bucket of painting materials, a palm pilot and a pair of Oakley sunglasses, among other items, were stolen.
The man said that his car had been tampered with while parked in the same lot in the rear of his apartment building in the past, and noted that he suspected a group of teenagers who live nearby.
Purse stolen at K-mart
An Oak Park resident told police that on Dec. 21, she was in the K-mart parking lot at 7600 Roosevelt Road loading her car with shopping bags when an unknown offender stole her purse.
A witness said that while the woman was facing away from her cart, an older model black vehicle pulled up and a man exited and removed the purse.
The woman told police that the purse contained a pink wallet, a cell phone, a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses, her driver’s license, credit cards, and insurance cards. The estimated value of the items taken was $700.
Panhandlers arrested
On Dec. 19, police saw John McDonald soliciting money at the Harlem Avenue entrance ramp to the Eisenhower Expressway. McDonald had been advised in the past not to solicit at that location. According to a police report, he was acting without regard for his own safety or that of motorists on the road. McDonald was arrested and given a Feb. 7 court date. A large wad of cash was found in his front pocket.
The same day, police saw a man later identified as Curtis Jackson soliciting money in a similar manner. Jackson was also given a Feb. 7 court date.
These items were taken from the records of the Forest Park Police Department between Dec. 19 and Dec. 23 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
