Police dealt with three robberies, two of them armed, the afternoon and evening of Sept. 27. Around 4:30 p.m. a male teenager allegedly accosted a man in the Wal-Mart parking lot, 1300 S. Desplaines Ave., as the man placed his child into a car seat. The thief implied he had a gun, then ripped a gold necklace off his victim’s neck and ran toward the store.
The victim was able to call police, who responded quickly and were met by the victim, who described the man in detail. An officer was able to spot Dominick D. Wellington, 21, just inside the store.
Wellington was arrested, despite resisting being handcuffed. Police say they recovered the gold necklace from Wellington’s shoe, and that the victim identified him. Wellington, who also reportedly signed a written confession, was charged with felony aggravated robbery.
That night two more robberies occurred six minutes apart. An Oak Park man leaving a friend’s house near Fillmore and Elgin avenues was confronted by a gunman in an older white van who pointed a small black semi-automatic pistol at him and said, “Don’t move. Put your hands up.” Holding the gun on him, the thief patted the man down and took a wallet containing $24, as well as the man’s house keys. He then ordered his victim to “look the other way,” and the van drove off towards Harlem Avenue.
Six minutes later on the 1400 block of Elgin Avenue. a Forest Park woman who had just returned from shopping along Roosevelt Road was jumped by a man as she carried two shopping bags. The man yanked the woman’s purse off her shoulder and fled on foot.
Alleged retail thief arrested despite macing security guard
A security guard at the AJ Wright store, 7530 Roosevelt Road, stopped an alleged retail thief with the woman’s own pepper spray the afternoon of Oct. 5. Shakonda K. Ward of Chicago was one of four people confronted by security after reportedly being observed removing store security sensors from merchandise and placing them inside purses for sale in the store.
The four then left the store with assorted merchandise. When confronted, Ward reportedly became loud, flailing her arms, then pushed the security guard and sprayed her in the face with pepper spray, temporarily blinding her. The guard managed to grab Ward’s purse, which contained the stolen merchandise, and wrestled her to the ground, causing Ward to drop the canister of pepper spray. The guard then picked up the canister and chased Ward through the parking lot until Ward stopped and rushed her. At that point the security guard sprayed Ward with her own pepper spray as police arrived. Officers took Ward to the ground and handcuffed her, and recovered the purse, which reportedly contained $102 in stolen merchandise. Besides retail theft, Ward was charged with felony aggravated battery.
Man ‘feels dumb’ after being busted with heroin
An officer on routine patrol the afternoon of Oct. 3 spotted Steven Jackson, 27, of Franklin Park bent over the steering wheel of his car in the Thornton’s gas station lot, 601 S. Harlem Ave. Upon investigation the officer allegedly saw an uncapped hypodermic syringe at Jackson’s feet, a bottle cap filled with water and two open foil packets on Jackson’s knees.
Jackson, who was “shivering a great deal,” was taken out of the vehicle. When the officer asked him if he was all right. Jackson reportedly replied he “just felt dumb for getting caught.”
Jackson was handcuffed, and the officer reportedly found several additional tin foil packets containing heroin on the car floor. Back at the police station after being taken to Oak Park Hospital for a doctor’s assessment-he allegedly admitted injecting two foils of heroin just prior to police arriving- Jackson reportedly told police he’d bought the drugs for $100 in Cicero, and also stated he was trying to get help for his drug habit, which involved injecting two hits of heroin every morning and three each afternoon.
Music loud, license revoked, temporary permit expired
Police attracted to Cesar Gonzales’ allegedly blaring car radio near Madison and Harlem the afternoon of Oct. 3 ran a computer check on his license plate. When his driver’s license came back as revoked, they pulled him over.
After his arrest Gonzales told police he often drives to pick up his son and to go to work if he can’t get a ride. He also reportedly said he had a Job Driver Permit, but that it had expired.
Based on Gonzales’s driving record, the state’s attorney approved felony charges against him.
These items were taken from the records of the Forest Park Police Department between Sept. 27 and Oct. 4, 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
