An apparent attempt to bring art to the commuting masses ended with the Cook County Sheriff’s bomb squad tearing the display open after police found the oddly creative piece on a rail car in Forest Park.

Shortly after 10 a.m. on Feb. 13, local authorities were called to the Chicago Transit Authority’s maintenance yard at the Desplaines Avenue el station where an abandoned television was found inside a passenger car. The 27-inch television was plugged into an auxiliary outlet, but CTA employees had since cut power to the train car and evacuated the area, according to a department report.

On the screen of the device was a spray painted message that said “we are experiencing legal difficulties.” Also painted on the screen was “Solve*RGB.”

Various stickers and other messages were on the sides of the television, including one sticker that read “U hate the homeless.”

Forest Park police called the county bomb squad, which determined that the device was not armed with any explosives. After removing the television from the train car, county officials forced the device open to confirm that it posed no threat.

Back at the station, Forest Park police conducted an Internet search on “Solve*RGB,” suspecting it may be some sort of signature. After following several links the officer determined that whoever left the television “seems to be an artist …who participated in the recent art exhibit ‘Echo Chamber 3: Resolutions,'” according to a department report.

No arrests have been made in the case, but CTA authorities said given the suspicious nature of the incident they will press charges if a suspect is apprehended.

Hiding in plain view

A Chicago man was stopped shortly after 12:30 a.m. Feb. 14 while driving on Madison Street after a license plate check revealed the owner of the car had a suspended license. While approaching the curbed vehicle, police noticed the driver slip into the backseat while another passenger got behind the wheel, according to a department report.

Once the officer was at the vehicle’s window, he asked to see the driver’s license for the man now seated in the rear of car. Kyle J. Ofenloch, 21, turned over his identification and acknowledged that he had been driving, police said. After placing Ofenloch under arrest and searching the car, authorities found a plastic bag of marijuana weighing approximately two grams, according to the report.

The suspect was charged with driving on a suspended license, driving without insurance and possession of a controlled substance.

Drugs, fake money and warrants

After stopping a green 1995 Pontiac Bonneville at the junction of Harlem and Lexington streets for speeding, police took both passengers into custody on outstanding warrants and recovered several counterfeit bills.

Cedric Williams, 23, of Berwyn, and 18-year-old Orland McGlory, of Forest Park, were arrested shortly after 2 p.m. on Feb. 14. During a custodial search of the suspects, police allegedly found a marijuana cigarette in Williams’ pocket, according to a department report, as well as two counterfeit bills. The fake money was mixed in with other valid currency, according to police, and Williams allegedly told authorities he knew the bills were fakes.

An arrest report for the two suspects indicates that no charges were filed for the fake currency or the marijuana.

Needles found in suspect’s car

A traffic stop conducted just outside of the police station on Desplaines Avenue yielded a pair of arrests after police discovered evidence of drug use and one suspect was wanted on an outstanding warrant.

On Feb. 11, just after 6:30 p.m., authorities stopped a 2005 Buick Century for failing to signal a turn. The driver of the car, 20-year-old Gabrielle A. Davis, of Plainfield, was operating with a suspended license, according to a department report. Police took her into custody and then asked the two passengers in the car if either had a valid license and would be able to drive. One of the passengers produced a license, but police grew suspicious when the second person, David K. Wells, 38, of Welmington, said he did not have any identification.

When both passengers were asked to step out of the car, a syringe fell from the vehicle. Additional syringes and empty foil packets were later found inside the car. No drugs were discovered, according to police, but all three suspects said they had just ingested the heroin they purchased in the parking lot of McDonald’s at the corner of Desplaines and Madison streets.

Wells was arrested on an outstanding warrant from Will County and Davis was held on a number of traffic violations. The third passenger in the car was released without charges, according to police.

These items were taken from the records of the Forest Park Police Department between Feb. 13 and Feb. 20, 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