Police seized nearly 150 grams of marijuana and almost $2,000 from several suspects who may have been interrupted while in the middle of a drug deal, according to police reports.

Shortly before 9 p.m. on Oct. 12, officers spotted two cars parked at 949 Harlem Ave., an area suspected of being a haven for drug activity. When the squad car’s headlights washed over a Hyundai Sonata, one of the three men inside quickly left the vehicle and got into a Nissan Maxima parked nearby, according to police.

When officers moved in they found Tony Marquez, 25, Peter Adamiak, 27, and Renaldo Martinez, 24 allegedly in the midst of a drug deal, according to reports.

When Marquez attempted to get into the nearby Nissan, police noticed a wad of money and a plastic baggie sticking out of the suspect’s jacket pocket. A search found six bags of marijuana and $1,299 in cash, according to police.

A K9 unit called to the scene alerted officers to the driver’s seat of one of the vehicles where another large bag of pot was allegedly discovered. A third amount of the illegal substance was found in a backpack in the backseat of the car where Martinez was sitting, police said in their reports.

Some $690 in $20 denominations was found on Martinez, according to police.

All three men were charged with possession of a controlled substance and Marquez received an additional charge for delivery of the drugs.

Prowler makes off with computer equipment

An apartment at 7242 Adams St. was apparently burglarized earlier this month, and the suspect made off with a host of computer hardware and electronics.

Police responded to a call from the husband and wife who live in the apartment on Oct. 6, where the victims reported a roughly five hour window for when the crime could have been committed. An inventory of the missing items included a Dell computer tower, a 17-inch flat screen monitor, a multi-function printer, the keyboard to the computer, a web cam, DVD player and a handheld camcorder. Also, the residents reported a $100 bill to be missing from the dining room.

The missing items are worth an estimated $1,800, according to the police report.

It appears the suspect used a screwdriver or similar device to pry the front door of the apartment unit open. Similar pry marks were found on the frame of a neighboring apartment, however, it was not clear from the police report whether the second apartment was also burglarized.

The key-entry door to the building was found propped open.

Hotspot yields successive alcohol arrests

Two motorists under the legal drinking age of 21 were arrested within an hour of each other early on the morning of Oct. 7 for driving under the influence. The arrests occurred on the same block.

Shortly after 2:30 a.m. 19-year-old Katarzyna A. Plewa of Chicago was stopped for speeding along Harlem Avenue. According to a police report, Plewa was traveling at 55 mph in a 30 mph zone, crossed the center line and tailgated another motorist as she approached the intersection with Jackson Boulevard.

After asking Plewa to step out of the car, the officer reported smelling alcohol on the young woman, and that her eyes were “red, glassy and bloodshot.”

Plewa declined to take any field sobriety tests, informing the officer that “I work with cops. I am not stupid. I don’t have to take any tests,” according to the report. She was arrested for unlawful consumption.

A breathalyzer exam administered at the police station revealed a blood-alcohol level of .06.

Fifty minutes later, police stopped Rory F. Collins, 20, of Forest Park, for allegedly failing to obey the traffic signals at the corner of Madison Street and Harlem Avenue. After sitting through a green light with a squad car behind him, Collins proceeded to drive into the intersection after the light turned red again, and nearly caused an accident, according to police.

The suspect unsuccessfully negotiated several field sobriety tests and had to lean on the officer’s cruiser to prevent himself from falling over, according to the report.

Collins blew a blood-alcohol content of .18 at the station, police said.

These items were taken from the records of the Forest Park Police Department between Oct.9 and Oct.15, 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 been adjudicated.

Compiled by Josh Adams