As an unidentified man attempted to pull away from a car wash on the south side of town, four men allegedly robbed him while one of the offenders held a gun to his head and threatened to pull the trigger.
On June 24 at about 7 p.m., the alleged victim was leaving the car wash at 901 Harlem Ave. at the corner of Lexington Street when a beige Pontiac and a black Chevrolet Caprice boxed him in. While the gunman placed a chrome semi-automatic pistol against the side of his head, three other men ransacked the car taking $300 in cash, an iPod, a cellular phone and two pieces of gold jewelry, according to a department report.
While one of the alleged culprits warned the victim to keep his hands on the steering wheel and his eyes forward, the gunman threatened to kill him.
“Don’t move or look at me, or I’ll shoot,” the suspect said, according to a police report.
Once the suspects fled, the unidentified victim went back into the car wash to report the incident, but “the clerk did not do anything.” Some two hours after the alleged robbery occurred, the man went to the Forest Park police station to file a report, according to the department. The alleged offenders in the robbery were not immediately identified.
Burglar repents
Sometime between 8 p.m. on June 28 and 6 a.m. on June 29, a burglar with a guilty conscience forced their way into St. John’s Lutheran Church. However, instead of making off with any of the church’s valuables, the suspect left several notes in an upstairs office, apparently apologizing for their actions.
According to a police department report a church employee discovered an air conditioning unit in a second-story window had been removed and placed on the roof of the building. Nothing appeared to be missing and the would-be thief appeared to have repented.
“I’m sorry, please forgive my sins,” was found scrawled on the inside cover of a Bible sitting in the office, according to police. Two other notes similar in nature were written on a church pamphlet and a monthly planner.
Pet owner shoots bothersome bird
A 22-year-old Elgin Avenue resident was arrested and charged with animal cruelty and reckless conduct after police discovered the man had allegedly used a BB gun to injure a wounded bird found on the property.
Shortly after 6 p.m. on June 27, authorities arrived at 443 Elgin Ave. for a report of an individual firing the weapon from a coach house window. Matthew Eisenberg allegedly admitted to shooting at the bird from an upstairs window. Within the coach house police found four other pellet guns and the like, in addition to the BB gun allegedly used to wound the bird.
“I have a whole arsenal,” Eisenberg allegedly told police of his weapons cache.
The suspect’s justification for firing at the bird, which was euthanized by police, was that it was bothering his dog.
Woman escapes mugging
A woman walking to work on June 25 was reportedly held at knife point by an unidentified man before she was able to free herself from the alleged attacker and report the incident to police.
Shortly before 11 p.m. the victim was walking to K-mart on Roosevelt Road for work when the suspect came up behind her in the 7200 block, grabbed her by the shirt and demanded that she turn over her money, according to a department report. After denying his request and freeing herself from his grip, the suspect pulled out a kitchen knife measuring 6 or 8 inches. The woman fled and was not followed by the alleged attacker, who was last seen running eastbound toward Harlem Avenue.
A search of the area came up empty, but the suspect is described as a white male, approximately 35 years old with blonde hair. He was sporting a goatee and stood about 5-feet 8-inches tall and weighed 150 pounds, according to the report.
Tasers used at rail stations
Suspects in separate incidents at each of the village’s el stations were subdued with Tasers recently, and both men are facing multiple charges.
On June 25 at about 10:30 p.m., Charles A. Turner, of Forest Park, was arrested for unlawful use of a weapon, aggravated assault, battery and resisting arrest after an alleged altercation with another Chicago Transit Authority passenger. According to a police report, Turner, 32, was yelling obscenities and chasing another man on the CTA platform on Harlem Avenue, apparently threatening to stab him with a screwdriver. Turner allegedly refused to follow police orders to surrender, and subsequently received an electric shock from an officer’s Taser. After another brief struggle and another cycle of electric shocks, Turner was taken into custody.
Several days later on July 1, 51-year-old Levourah Johnson of Chicago allegedly lunged at a police officer who was attempting to remove Johnson from a concession stand at the CTA terminal on Desplaines Avenue. The suspect was charged with aggravated assault, criminal trespassing, assault and disorderly conduct.
These items were taken from the records of the Forest Park Police Department between June 24 and July 1, 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
