A motorist believed to have been high on cocaine and heroin allegedly terrorized a neighborhood Saturday night, striking two vehicles and forcing a third off the road before colliding with a fire hydrant.
At approximately 10:45 p.m. on July 7, Ezille Ross, 40, was apprehended at the corner of Adams and Desplaines streets after abandoning his heavily damaged SUV near the junction of Madison Street and Desplaines Avenue. According to a police report, a pedestrian walking home from work agreed to Ross’ offer for a ride and began traveling south along Desplaines with the man. At the intersection with Jackson Avenue, Ross began “acting crazy,” according to the witness and making paranoid statements.
Over several more blocks Ross began accelerating before making a U-turn and heading north. His passenger, whose name was redacted from police reports, managed to jump from the moving vehicle after Ross initially restrained his first attempt to do so.
Between Jackson and Madison streets, Ross allegedly collided with a gray Toyota and a parked Chevrolet Suburban before forcing a Jeep Cherokee off the street and into the school district’s administrative offices at 424 Desplaines Ave. After again trying to navigate a U-turn in the 400 block of Desplaines, Ross collided with a fire hydrant, and then took off on foot, according to the report. Once in custody, police allegedly found two plastic bags of heroin and cocaine in his possession. A blood test revealed both substances had been ingested by the suspect.
Ross, a Chicago resident, was charged with two counts of aggravated driving under the influence and two counts of drug possession, in addition to several traffic infractions.
Car wrecks apartment
A 23-year-old Berwyn man repeatedly told police that he did not feel intoxicated despite having driven his car into a house on Ferdinand Avenue and having a blood-alcohol content nearly twice the legal limit, according to a police report.
Shortly after 10 p.m. on July 6, Anthony Atkinson allegedly blew a stop sign at the intersection of Jackson and Ferdinand streets and slammed his car into a house at 600 Ferdinand Ave. Atkinson was carrying two passengers in his 2000 Chevrolet Malibu, and was on his way to a bar in Berwyn, according to the report. The three friends had already stopped at two other bars before the accident.
Atkinson and his passengers were treated at a nearby hospital where a blood-alcohol test allegedly revealed the driver’s BAC to be .153. The legal limit in Illinois is .08. A municipal building inspector was called to the scene and upon surveying the damage to the property, determined that a basement apartment was uninhabitable.
Atkinson was charged with two counts of driving under the influence, disobeying a stop sign, lack of insurance and other traffic related charges.
Extreme heat
Apparently trying to beat the heat, John R. Salomon was found standing in the 7400 block of Roosevelt Road outfitted in nothing but a pair of sandals early Monday morning. Salomon, 50, a resident of the 1100 block of S. Hannah Ave., told police that he was standing naked on the sidewalk because “he was hot and his apartment was warm,” according to a police report. When the arresting officer arrived at the scene shortly after 2 a.m. on July 9, Salomon was apparently quite comfortable with his nudity and was standing with one leg elevated, his foot resting on a bench. He was charged with disorderly conduct.
Roughly 24 hours prior to Salomon’s arrest, a Bolingbrook, Ill., man was also charged with disorderly conduct for “dancing in the fountain” located in Constitution Court. Edward Sullivan, 37, was arrested shortly before 2 a.m. on July 8 when police allegedly found him shirtless and shoeless, prancing in the monument and throwing water at pedestrians.
Racial slurs precede attack
A 47-year-old man wanted on an outstanding warrant for driving under the influence was arrested for his role in an apparently racially charged July 6 incident. Michael Fawell, of Chicago, is facing two counts of battery and a single allegation of unlawful use of a weapon.
According to a police department report, witnesses said Fawell was shouting racial slurs at a slowly moving vehicle at about 8 p.m. just moments before reaching into the car to punch an elderly black man sitting in the front passenger seat. Fawell, who is white, told police that the vehicle “grazed” him as he attempted to cross the street in a crosswalk.
A witness to the alleged assault attempted to intervene but was also attacked by Fawell after he shouted obscenities at the man, according to witness accounts. During that altercation Fawell repeatedly reached into his waistband in an apparent attempt to retrieve a pocket knife he was carrying.
Though police said they noticed the strong smell of alcohol on Fawell’s breath, the suspect denied having consumed anything other than a beer with his lunch at about 1 p.m. The report did not indicate whether a blood-alcohol concentration was determined, and no alcohol related charges were filed.
These items were taken from the records of the Forest Park Police Department between July 2 and July 9, 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
