A man was arrested after being shot with an electronic stun gun by police following failed attempts to apprehend the man who was panhandling.
Sgt. Eric Bell saw Craig Brakie, 19, of Oak Park, loitering outside USA Beverage at 7200 Madison St. for about 30 minutes sometime last week (the police report did not include the date).
Witnesses sitting on a nearby bench both told Bell that Brakie had been soliciting customers. Brakie walked away as Bell approached, and Bell asked him to stop. He continued walking away despite Bell’s requests, swearing at Bell as he walked.
He eventually entered the Wendy’s parking lot on Harlem Avenue in Oak Park, where Bell told him that he would be arrested if he did not stop walking away.
He refused again, and Bell told him he was under arrest for panhandling. When Brakie responded “[expletive] that,” Bell pulled out his Taser electronic stun gun, and told him to place his hands behind his back.
Brakie put his hands in the air, but continued walking away, at which point Bell threatened to deploy the stun gun, and finally did as Brakie walked out of the Wendy’s lot. He was arrested for unlawful solicitation and resisting arrest.
Man arrested with crack at cemetery
Off. Scott McClintock saw a 1995 Ford Mustang parked in the back portion of Concordia Cemetery along Madison Street on June 19 at about 10 p.m. Since he knew that the cemetery closes at 6:30 p.m., he approached the vehicle, and found Grant A. Sherman, 36, of Hanover Park, alone in the car with a crack pipe in his hand.
Sherman dropped the crack pipe as McClintock approached. McClintock also noticed a portable DVD player and several sex toys on the passenger seat of the car. Sherman said he had come to the cemetery to be alone and watch the sun set, but McClintock noted that the car was facing south. When McClintock asked if he had any drugs in his possession, Sherman removed a bag containing an ounce of crack cocaine.
He was charged with possession of a controlled substance, criminal trespassing and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Resident reports armed home invasion
Police responded to a call reporting an alleged home invasion on the 100 block of Elgin Avenue just before 1 p.m. on June 24. A woman said she was watching TV in the bedroom with her son and two other small children when two men entered the apartment.
The first, she said, ordered her to look away from him and then put a gun to her head and pushed her head into a pillow. They said “If you don’t give us the stuff we’re going to take your son.”
She told them that she didn’t know what they were talking about, and kept her head down in the pillow. She reported that a 27″ plasma television, 8 to 10 pairs of Prada shoes and a black leather jacket were missing, along with about $2,500 in cash.
Police attempted to interview the juveniles but were unsuccessful. Police said the children seemed unaware of what allegedly took place.
The woman said the men must have had keys to the home because the doors were locked securely. She alluded that her boyfriend had sold drugs in the past and the men may have been looking for him.
Arrests and citations at Madison Street bars
Two weeks following the village’s announcement of a crackdown on underage drinking, police made three arrests at bars along Madison Street. At Healy’s Westside, 7321 Madison St., Nicholas Esposito, 20, and Brigit K. Delaney, 20, of River Forest were arrested for underage drinking and unlawful use of a license after police caught them using IDs that did not belong to them. Neither said they had used their ID to purchase alcohol, claiming that older friends had gone to the bar and brought drinks back to their table. The bartender was given a warning.
Bartender Marie E. Grillot was given a local ordinance citation after several people were found drinking at the outdoor beer garden at O’Sullivan’s, 7244 W. Madison St., after the midnight closing time on June 20. Later that night, seven patrons were found inside the bar at 2:06 a.m., after the 2 a.m. village mandated closing time for indoor bars on weekdays.
Chris Craigmiles, 46, a bartender at Duffy’s Tavern, 7513 W. Madison St., was also given a local ordinance citation for unlawful sale of liquor after police discovered that he had sold three Oak Park residents three 24 packs of beer, violating a village ordinance prohibiting bars from selling liquor for off-premises consumption.
These items were taken from the records of the Forest Park Police Department between June 18 and June 24 and represent only a small 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
