Police recovered more than a pound of marijuana, nearly 40 bags of cocaine and more than $4,400 in cash from four young men in a gas station parking lot on Harlem Avenue, according to a department report.

Jose J. Gonzalez, 24, Ariel Hurtado, 28, and Sergio Cavazos, 27, were each charged with multiple felonies for their roles in an alleged drug deal discovered on Oct. 17, shortly after 7 p.m. No charges were listed in the police report for a fourth suspect, Kenneth R. Klopack.

According to police, the suspects were parked in two different vehicles at the Mobil station at 949 Harlem Ave., and one car attempted to flee when two marked cruisers arrived. Inside the 1998 Ford Explorer driven by Gonzalez, police allegedly found one lit blunt in the ash tray and five bags filled with marijuana weighing a total of one pound. Thirty-three bags of cocaine were also found in the center console, and were identical to five other bags of cocaine found on Gonzalez, according to police.

Inside the second vehicle, a 1998 Buick Regal driven by Hurtado, police found more than one-third of a pound of marijuana. A search of the driver conducted at the police station recovered $2,394 in cash, according to the police report.

Gonzalez was found to be carrying $2,093 in cash.

According to alleged statements made by the defendants, Hurtado spoke with Gonzalez on the phone earlier in the day in the hopes of buying marijuana. The two reached a deal and agreed to meet at the gas station.

Cavazos and Gonzalez traveled in one car to meet with Hurtado and Klopack. Cavazos delivered a quarter-pound of marijuana to Hurtado just as police were arriving, according to the report.

Husband, wife share drug habit

A husband and wife who moved recently to Plano, Ill., were arrested Oct. 18 when police allegedly found the couple shooting heroin in the parking lot of Thornton’s gas station on Harlem Avenue.

Kimberly Lea Rotella, 37, and her husband James Frank Rotella, 41, were arrested shortly before 10 p.m. after an officer grew suspicious of the vehicle when it remained at the gas station for roughly 10 minutes. The overhead light inside the car was on.

Police allegedly recovered a syringe filled with a light brown liquid, several small foil packages containing heroin, a burnt tablespoon and a second needle.

Both suspects reportedly told police they traveled to a portion of Cicero Avenue in Chicago to purchase the drugs and are only occasional users. James Rotella allegedly told authorities that he turned his wife onto the substance.

Suspected assailant uses pot to whack victim

A man is accused of battery after he allegedly struck a person in the head with a cooking pot.

Police were called to 152 Elgin Ave., on the morning of Oct. 14 where the alleged victim complained that James Blakely Jr., 27, came to the apartment with his mother to collect some of Blakely’s makeup. An argument broke out and Blakely allegedly grabbed a pot from the stove and whacked the victim in the head. The suspect then took a burner grate from the stove top and attempted to break a window in the front door with it, according to the report.

A neighbor also reported witnessing Blakely and his mother drive up to a silver Chevrolet Cavalier where Blakely kicked the vehicle several times, causing a number of dents on both sides.

Intoxication leads to tickets

Despite their spirited protests, two men were cited for public intoxication and urinating in public after police discovered the suspects in an alley behind 206 Des Plaines Ave.

Cornelius Dixon, 28, was relieving himself behind the building while 22-year-old Lonnie J. Tanksley stumbled through a nearby parking lot, staggering and talking loudly to himself, according to police. As the officer began to write their respective citations, Tanksley yelled that he would sue the officer and began making phone calls telling people that the officers were “harassing him and threatening to kick his ass,” according to the department’s report.

Both men allegedly refused to sign their citations and threatened to rip and burn the tickets.

These items were taken from the records of the Forest Park Police Department between Oct.16 and Oct.23, 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