Police driving behind Tony C. Carson, 39, of Chicago as he drove east bound on Madison Street the evening of Aug. 30 said they could hear his car stereo from well over 50 feet away. Carson reportedly turned the volume down after a squad pulled up behind him, but then turned it back up as he waited at a red light. After the officer used his air horn to get Carson’s attention and tell him to turn it down, Carson allegedly replied, “Ain’t you got nothin’ better to do?”
Carson was pulled over and issued a ticket, which he refused to sign. As the officer explained the procedure for appearing in court, Carson reportedly stated he didn’t care, as he wasn’t going to appear in court anyway.
Cops bust intoxicated driver of speeding hearse
Police spotted a funeral hearse belonging to an Elmwood Park funeral home rocking sideways as it traveled at an estimated 60 mph southbound on Desplaines Avenue the morning of Sept. 3. Officers weren’t able to catch up with the hearse until it had turned east onto on Roosevelt Road, finally pulling it over at Harlem Avenue.
The driver, Robert W. Nahorniak, 52, of Melrose Park, told police he had a body in the rear of the hearse which he was transporting to a Berwyn facility for cremation. Police said Nahorniak, who was driving on an expired license and with an expired vehicle registration, smelled strongly of alcohol, though he at first denied drinking. When the officer pointed out that his speech was “very slurred” and he had trouble balancing, Nahorniak said he’d had only one drink.
Nahorniak was arrested after a nearly full 375 ml bottle of gin was allegedly found under the driver’s seat and a preliminary field breathalyzer showed a .136 blood alcohol level. He’ll appear in court Oct. 28 on a total of seven traffic tickets.
Slumper asks cops, ‘Why’d you pull me over?’
Police responded to a call of two people slumped over in a car at the Thornton’s gas station, 205 Harlem Ave., shortly before midnight, Sept. 5. They found an unconscious young woman in the passenger seat lying across the center console and a man, also unconscious, in the driver’s seat. Both had blood on their arms or hands.
When an officer roused Kelly Olmetti, 25, of Melrose Park and ordered her out of the car, she asked him, “Why’d you pull us over?”
Police arrested Kelly Olmetti after they allegedly found four tin foil packets containing suspected heroin on the passenger side visor
The car’ driver, and her brother, Timothy Olmetti, was allegedly found to have a leather kit stuffed down his pants, containing spoons for cooking heroin and five hypodermic syringes. Timothy Olmetti reportedly told police the drugs were his. When police contacted the Cook County State’s Attorney to get charges approved, they stated that Kelly Olmetti was out on bond for a residential burglary.
Indiana man unaware of Illinois custom of paying for rides
Samuel H. Flowers, of South Bend, IN was allegedly observed by police entering the CTA station, 700 Harlem Ave. via the exit turnstile the night of Sept. 7. Police stopped Flowers, 17, as he attempted to board a train. When confronted with his having committed an offense, Flowers reportedly told the officer he’d entered the train illegally because he’s from Indiana, and he thought not paying for the train ride was OK.
A custody search after Flower’s arrest allegedly turned up a plastic baggie containing a half ounce of marijuana. It’s unclear whether he is or isn’t aware that police in Illinois consider possession of pot to be not OK.
Car not stolen, just borrowed for crack run
A man arrested for driving a car reported stolen out of Huntley, IL told police he’d simply borrowed the vehicle to make a run to Chicago’s West Side to purchase some crack cocaine. Todd J. Bedgood, 40, of Huntley, was pulled over after OnStar, a car location detector device, contacted Forest Park police. After arresting Bedgood, police contacted Huntley police, who told them the car had been stolen outside a bar there when the owner left the keys in the ignition.
Bedgood, though, told police the woman handed him the keys and told him to go meet a man named “Earl” at Independence Avenue and I-290 to buy some crack. Asked how he expected to purchase crack cocaine with just $1 in his pocket, Bedgood replied, “Kelly said it was taken care of.” He was turned over to Huntley police.
Disorderly conduct
Craig J. Cunningham, 26, of Chicago was reportedly chasing his girlfriend, a Forest Park resident, around the Citgo gas station parking lot, 205 Harlem Ave., the afternoon of Sept. 7. Cunningham allegedly followed the woman across the street to the car wash at Harlem and Randolph, “screaming and yelling and acting in an intimidating manner.”
Police say Cunningham was arrested after refusing to obey police orders. However, the girlfriend refused to sign a complaint for domestic battery, so Cunningham was written a local ordinance violation ticket for disorderly conduct.
Battery
Police called to a reported domestic disturbance on the 7200 block of Madison Street shortly after 2 a.m. Sept. 5 were met by a woman who accused her boyfriend of slamming her head against a wall “about 19 times,” then grabbing her arm and wrist so hard he left bruises. The woman signed a complaint against Paul E. Kratochwill, 37, but refused medical treatment.
Retail theft
Forest Park police handled four retail theft cases at the Roosevelt Road shopping center, including three at Walmart. Lovie Dinkins, 21, and Jennifer S. Williams, 28, both of Maywood, were arrested the afternoon of Sept. 2 after allegedly concealing 57 pieces of merchandise valued in total at $323 in a canvas bag and attempting to leave the Walmart store, 1300 Desplaines Ave., without paying. They each were charged with a single count of felony retail theft.
Later that night Walmart security personnel observed three people allegedly attempt to sneak 55 items valued at $433 out of the store without paying. Leatricia Haralson, and Carribeon S. Brown-Ballard, both 23 and from Oak Park, and Christine Ballard, 25, of Chicago, were each charged with one count of felony retail theft.
The afternoon of Sept. 5, Maria Williams, 25, of Maywood was allegedly observed shopping for three hours at Kmart with her two small children. Police say she used her LINK card to purchase food items, but “returned” $110 worth of merchandise she had not previously purchased, and left without paying for $212 in other merchandise. She was charged with a single count of felony theft.
These items were taken from the records of the Forest Park Police Department between Sept. 1 and Sept. 8, 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 Bill Dwyer
