A pregnant woman, her husband and a male friend were on board a PACE bus on Feb. 4 on their way to Loyola Hospital. The woman’s husband called the doctor’s office on his cell phone from the bus, but could not hear due to a group of teenagers speaking loudly.
He asked one of the teenagers, 18-year-old Kourtney Windom, to quiet down. Windom replied “I’ll be quiet when I want to be quiet.” Another member of the group, a juvenile, stated that “we ain’t no punks, you’ll get your *** whipped,” and Windom added “you don’t know who you’re messing with,” and reached in his coat.
Assuming that Windom had a weapon, the man stopped arguing. At the next stop near Elgin and Harlem avenues, the group attempted to exit the bus to get away from the group.
On his way off the bus, Windom grabbed the husband, pulled his coat over his head and struck him in the head repeatedly. When the juvenile offender saw the other man trying to break up the fight, he pushed him and struck him several times in the chest.
The pregnant woman tried to enter the bus to help her husband, and Windom kicked her in the stomach. At that point, the husband was able to free himself from Windom and both exited the bus. He then challenged Windom to a fight, but Windom and the group of juveniles fled when the pregnant woman called 911. A motorist who saw the group running near Elgin Avenue and Roosevelt Road was able to block their path with his vehicle and help subdue them, and they were taken to the police department. Windom was charged with two counts of aggravated battery, while the juvenile was charged with simple battery.
The pregnant woman was examined at Loyola Hospital and doctors found that the baby had not been harmed.
Robbery at Thornton’s gas
Police responded to an alarm at Thornton’s gas station, 601 S. Harlem Ave., on Jan. 31. A cashier told police that a man had entered the store and placed a pack of gum on the counter.
While the cashier was ringing up the gum, he said, the man asked him for driving directions, then suddenly told him “don’t do a thing,” and jumped over the counter, removed all of the cash from the register, jumped back over the counter and fled to a black van waiting outside.
He told police that there was about $500 in the register at the time of the robbery. Police canvassed the area with negative results. The van was last seen driving southbound on Harlem Avenue.
Wallet lost while pumping gas
A woman told police that she was pumping gas at the BP station at 7204 Washington Ave. on Feb. 3 when her wallet fell from her purse. A man standing by the car at the next stall told her that she had dropped something, and then got in his light brown sedan and drove away. The woman was unable to find her white leather wallet, which contained cash, credit cards, a driver’s license, and a social security card. She said that she did not see the man take the wallet before leaving the scene.
These items were taken from the records of the Forest Park Police Department between Jan. 30 and Feb. 7. 2006, 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
