A clean shaven man posing as a utility worker wearing dark dress pants, white construction hat and an orange safety vest led a husband and wife into the basement of their Marengo Avenue home while his partner rifled through their home for cash, according to a police report.

The unidentified man, visited the residence shortly after 11 a.m. on Jan. 4, claiming that he needed to check the pipes in the couple’s basement for some work being done by the water company nearby. The man rang the doorbell at the front door, according to a police report.

Once downstairs in the basement, the couple was instructed to “pound the pipes so that the suspect’s partner could hear the pounding and locate the problem,” police said in their report. Using a two-way radio, the suspect appeared to speak with his partner before telling the couple that their work was done.

Upon following the man back upstairs, one of the victims noticed a bedroom had been ransacked. After calling police, the couple realized that $700 in cash had been removed from the room.

A check of the area for the suspects and a beige or tan SUV that may have been used by the man was unsuccessful, according to the report.

Teen cashier facing felony theft

A Wal-Mart cashier was allegedly caught by video surveillance cameras in the store stealing several hundred dollars from the register.

According to a police report, supervisors at the retail giant, located at 1300 Desplaines Ave., became suspicious of 19-year-old Anthony Q. Trent after his cash drawers were roughly $2,000 shy of his receipts over a recent period. On Dec. 21, 2006, a supervisor called police to report that he witnessed Trent pull money from the register drawer and hide it in his sleeve. Receipts turned in at day’s end showed Trent was $478 short, according to the police report.

A written statement allegedly signed by Trent in which he confesses to the crime was turned over to police, however, authorities said the teen denied the theft once in their custody. Trent was charged with a single count of felony theft.

Beaten bar patron arrested for DUI

The victim of an apparent assault at the Oak Leaf Lounge on Harrison Street was arrested for driving under the influence just a few blocks from where he was attacked moments earlier.

Van Curtis Leonard, 39, was bleeding from the face when he refused medical attention from the paramedics and the police department’s offer of a cab at about 2:30 a.m. on Dec. 30, 2006. Officers watched as Leonard began driving along Harrison Street from the 7400 block, and then observed as he struggled to navigate his 2000 Ford Focus. According to a police report, Leonard crossed the center line twice before reaching a stop sign.

Leonard first denied having consumed any alcohol, but later allegedly admitted to having at least three drinks. In the midst of performing several field sobriety tests, Leonard reportedly gave up on the exercise.

“I can’t do it, just [expletive] arrest me for DUI,” police said in their report of Leonard’s statement.

A breathalyzer test conducted at the station revealed a blood-alcohol content of .231. The legal limit is .08.

Police catch window shopper with rock

In light of a recent string of burglaries in which storefront windows are smashed to gain access, an officer on patrol along Roosevelt Road grew suspicious of a man who was peering into the windows along the 7200 block shortly before midnight on Jan. 4.

After watching 54-year-old Karlton J. O’Connor look into at least three storefronts as he walked east along the busy throughway, police took notice of the suspect’s pockets, which appeared to be “stuffed with oversized, round objects.” O’Connor, an Oak Park resident, was stopped and asked to empty the contents of his pockets. Three cans of beer and a large rock were reportedly found on the suspect, who explained that the rock was “for protection.”

O’Connor was not arrested for any wrongdoing that evening, however, a computer check revealed he was wanted on an outstanding warrant by Chicago police.

These items were taken from the records of the Forest Park Police Department between Dec. 21 2006 and Jan. 7, 2007, 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