A man charged with stealing a woman’s car at gunpoint smashed the vehicle head on into a patrol car before leading a brief foot chase that ended when officers tackled the suspect in a parking lot just off Harlem Avenue, according to police. While running from authorities, the 25-year-old Chicago man also tossed the handgun he allegedly used to hijack the car.

At 10:30 p.m. on Feb. 8, police were called to the 7-Eleven on Roosevelt Road where a woman reported that her green Volkswagen Jetta had been stolen. A responding officer spotted the car traveling north on Harlem Avenue and attempted to curb the suspect. The driver of the stolen vehicle, Anthony L. Redmond, veered into oncoming traffic before crashing into another patrol car responding to the call, according to the police. Airbags in the second police car deployed as a result of the impact, but the officer joined a foot chase through the parking lot of the U-Haul store, just south of the Eisenhower Expressway.

While running through the parking lot Redmond threw a revolver to the ground, police said, and was tackled moments later. It took several shocks with a Taser before Redmond stopped resisting the officers’ efforts to handcuff him.

The woman whose car was stolen was then brought to the scene where she identified Redmond as the man who stole her car, according to police. While she was pumping gas at the 7-Eleven, Redmond simply walked up to her, pointed a chrome plated revolver at her and took the car, she later told police.

Redmond is facing nine felony charges including armed robbery, aggravated vehicular hijacking, unlawful use of a weapon and possession of a stolen vehicle. He is also facing two misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest and several traffic violations.

Caught urinating, man says he just had to go

A 32-year-old Chicago man was allegedly spotted urinating on the sidewalk outside of a florist shop on Madison Street at 2:30 a.m. Feb. 9, according to police. Abdelhamid Elbekkali was intoxicated and immediately apologetic, said police. Elbekkali said he had just left Doc Ryan’s and could “no longer hold it in.” In citing the suspect for violating a local ordinance, the officer noted in his report that Doc Ryan’s has a working restroom.

Suspect claims exception to transit authority rule

Charles Perry, 27, of Chicago, forced his way through the exiting turnstile of the el station at 701 Circle Ave., according to police, claiming the Chicago Transit Authority exempted him from paying a fare.

Perry, whom the officer is familiar with through “numerous previous contacts,” was spotted just after 4 p.m. on Feb. 4 by the patrolling policeman. Perry immediately denied any wrongdoing and said the CTA allows him to ride for free because he is out of work. A CTA employee agreed to press charges and Perry was taken into custody for attempted theft of services.

Injury led to drug addiction, suspect says

A Glendale Heights woman arrested on an outstanding warrant for a missed court appearance in DuPage County was found to be in possession of several illegal substances and drug paraphernalia, according to police.

Upon her Feb. 7 arrest, Marjorie K. Siska, 27, told authorities she first began using heroin while trying to kick an addiction to pain medication. While recovering from a shoulder injury roughly a year ago, Siska said she became addicted to her medication, according to a department report. Following a “short stint” in rehab a friend turned her onto heroin and she has been using the drug regularly for about three months.

Police allegedly found four grams of heroin in Siska’s vehicle, along with eight pills of Clonazepam, a crack pipe, a syringe loaded with heroin and a burnt metal spoon. She was charged with two felony counts of drug possession.

Bender a precursor to domestic dispute

A man suspected of beating a woman in the apartment they share at 1501 Harlem Ave. was apparently on a days-long alcohol binge despite having been sober for three months, according to a department report.

Authorities arrived at the apartment at 5 p.m. on Feb. 5 to find Ivry L. Hall, 47, shaking his head and lamenting having struck the woman. It was unclear from the department report the exact nature of Hall’s relationship to the woman. In speaking with police, Hall stated that he had been drinking since the Super Bowl on Feb. 3, which he thought aired on television the day before. However, the woman he is accused of striking told police that Hall disappeared after receiving his social security check on the first of the month. Herself a recovering alcoholic, the woman said she had been sober since 1983 and Hall had not had a drink in three months.

Hall was charged with a single count of domestic battery.

These items were taken from the records of the Forest Park Police Department between Feb. 3 and Feb. 10, 2008, 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.

-Josh Adams