Shortly before 4:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving, police received a brief 911 call in which a female voice stated, “I need the police.” Authorities traced the call to the 800 block of Dunlop where they could hear screaming coming from a rear apartment. Family members in the residence immediately became combative, according to a department report, and attempted to keep police from speaking with the caller.
Police noted that they have responded to the address during previous family gatherings and usually are greeted with hostility.
Elzie Johnson, 37, of Chicago, allegedly swatted an officer’s hand away as the officer attempted to reach for Johnson’s niece so that he could speak with her. The officer told Johnson he was under arrest for battery. Johnson allegedly resisted, was wrestled to the couch and then stunned with a Taser.
Johnson was charged with two counts of resisting arrest and one count of battery.
Another man, 22-year-old Garvin Hughes of Forest Park, was cited for obstructing a police officer when he allegedly refused to identify himself.
According to various accounts of the day’s events as told to police, the family was arguing over what to do about a girl in the home who had recently brought a knife to school.
Brief chase ends with felony charges
A driver traveling south along Harlem without a registration plate on the front of his car was stopped by police Nov. 29 shortly before 4 p.m. While asking the man for his identification, police allegedly observed nervous and fidgety behavior from the driver and his passenger. The driver of the car, Sedgrick Davis, 23, of Chicago, kept fumbling with his left pant leg, according to a department report.
Police asked the man to step out of the car, patted him down and allegedly recovered more than $2,670 in cash from Davis’ pockets. From his left pant leg, police found 27 grams of cocaine packaged into 49 separate bags, according to a department report.
When the drugs were revealed, Davis allegedly ran from the scene, only to be brought down within two blocks when police used a Taser to subdue him.
Both Davis and his passenger were taken into custody for questioning. Davis was charged with felony drug possession and felony-level distribution charges, and one count of resisting a police officer. The passenger was not charged.
Alcohol fuels violent holiday
Also on Thanksgiving, police were called to the 800 block of Circle where 46-year-old Carl Conner immediately denied any wrongdoing before police could even finish asking what was the matter. He was arrested for domestic battery. Conner was handcuffed and led to a squad car, and as the officer attempted to unlock the vehicle, Conner took off, shouting, “Kill me! Just kill me,” according to police.
Authorities caught up to the man, who showed signs of intoxication, about a half-block away. He went limp, refused to stand up and continued screaming, according to police. Meanwhile, 45-year-old Thorton Pickett, of Bellwood, allegedly came charging at the officers with his hands balled into fists. When police ordered him to stay back, Pickett refused and one of the officers drew his pistol, pointed it at the man and repeated the order.
Pickett still allegedly refused, was shoved by a second officer at the scene and then stunned with a Taser so that he fell to the ground. Police noted in their report that family members said both men had been drinking Bacardi “and other stuff” all day.
Conner was charged with domestic battery and escaping from custody. Pickett was charged with resisting arrest and aggravated assault.
DUI suspect below legal limit
A Poplar Grove man found passed out at the wheel of an idling car allegedly told police he had been drinking at a bar on Madison for several hours, and explained his behavior by telling the officer he’s not much of a drinker.
According to a department report, 29-year-old Jamie Coffee was spotted at 3 a.m. on the corner of Adams and Thomas. He was leaning on the driver’s window and police allegedly noticed fresh vomit directly under the car door. Asked whether he had been drinking, Coffee allegedly said he spent several hours at Doc Ryan’s, and he was simply letting his vehicle warm up. Questioned about the vomit, Coffee “admitted that he was ‘not really being a drinker,'” police said in their report.
Based on the results of field sobriety tests and statements made by Coffee, police arrested him for driving under the influence. While at the police station, Coffee’s blood-alcohol level registered .052 on a breath exam administered at 4:43 a.m. The legal limit in Illinois is .08.
These items were taken from the records of the Forest Park Police Department between Nov. 23 and Nov. 30, 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
