A loaded 9mm handgun was found underneath some clothes in the backseat of a car during a traffic stop, according to police, and after a trio of suspects spent a night in jail one of the individuals confessed the weapon was his.
Shortly after 5 p.m. on Sept. 29, police stopped a 2002 Dodge Stratus for driving with an obstructed windshield and failing to signal a lane change. The driver, Edward Wells, 28, of Chicago, was operating with a suspended license, but his passenger, 22-year-old Tyesha Burnett, also of Chicago, told authorities Wells was taking her to the hospital. Burnett is pregnant and feared she may be having a miscarriage, according to the police report.
Police immediately called for an ambulance but Burnett told the responding paramedics she did not want to go to the hospital, according to the report.
Meanwhile, a second officer arriving on scene observed a passenger in the backseat, 26-year-old Raymond Sanders, “moving around in the rear seat area.” An inventory search of the car turned up the pistol, which had been hidden underneath a T-shirt and two sweatshirts in the backseat, according to police. The semi-automatic had six rounds in the magazine and another in the chamber.
All three suspects in the car denied ownership of the gun and were charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. When the arresting officer reported for work the next day he checked on the suspects, who were still in custody, and Sanders, also of Chicago, allegedly offered to sign a confession that the gun was his.
Area buildings tagged
Several cases of graffiti were discovered in Forest Park recently, though it’s unclear when the vandalism may have occurred. According to department reports, gang symbols were allegedly sprayed in black and greet paint on the outside of a warehouse at 7501 Industrial Drive. At 701 Circle Ave., markings were found on the railroad embankment, and at 7329 Harrison Ave., the word “Flaco” was spray painted on the exterior of that property.
No suspects were named in the department reports and the owners of each property were informed of the damage.
Officer’s warning ignored
A 24-year-old Berwyn man was cited for driving with a suspended license and driving without insurance despite having received a warning from police not to get behind the wheel.
According to a Sept. 20 police report, an officer patrolling the 900 block of Ferdinand Avenue saw Tecumseh A. Henry, III trying to repair his 1998 Oldsmobile that had apparently overheated. While driving by the broken down vehicle, police overheard Henry yelling profanity and warned him to put a lid on the cursing. A computer check of the suspect’s name revealed his license was suspended, according to police.
Henry was told not to drive the car, and again began swearing.
Roughly 45 minutes later at about 5 a.m., police saw Henry take off at a “high rate of speed and without signaling.” He was curbed in the 7400 block of Harvard Avenue and cited.
Thief startles resident
Several buildings were burglarized over the weekend of Sept. 22 and police received one report from a woman in the 7200 block of Harvard Avenue who said prowlers attempted to get into her apartment while she was watching television.
According to a police report, the victim told authorities she was in the living room of her apartment when she heard a strange noise outside the window shortly before 7 a.m. She then saw a hand reaching through her window and shouted at the offender, who fled on foot through a nearby alley. A search of the area did not turn up a suspect.
Meanwhile, a garage in the 7700 block of Monroe Avenue was burglarized between Sept. 22 and Sept. 23, according to police, and the culprit made off with a generator and a women’s bicycle. On Sept. 24, police responded to a burglary in the 7500 block of Harrison Street in which a mother and her son came home just in time to see the suspect leap out a window. An unknown amount of jewelry was reported missing, according to a department report, and no arrest was made in the case.
Pricey items swiped
In the early morning hours of Sept. 30, the passenger window of a 2000 Acura Integra was smashed and several items were stolen from the car, according to a police report. The victim reported a paramedic bag, several school books, a paintball gun and a personal digital assistant (PDA), all valued at more than $2,200, as having been stolen. The break-in is alleged to have occurred between midnight and 2:45 a.m. The car was parked outside of 7505 Madison St.
These items were taken from the records of the Forest Park Police Department between Sept 20 and Sept 30, 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
