Forest Park police helped a neighboring department capture a group of teens suspected of flashing a gun during an alleged robbery in Oak Park.
According to a department report, authorities were notified by dispatchers at about 5 p.m. Feb. 1 that a young woman dressed in pajama bottoms was traveling with three other suspects in a grey BMW, and that the woman had committed an armed robbery. A Forest Park officer noticed the car at a gas station at the corner of Madison Street and 1st Avenue on the west side of town. When the officer pulled into the gas station he saw two teens sitting in the car, one of whom appeared unnerved at the site of the officer. After a few moments two more teens emerged from the store, according to police, and the officer saw a young woman in pajama bottoms.
That suspect was later identified as 18-year-old Ashante Wright, of Chicago.
The officer radioed for backup and with that assistance approached the vehicle.
“I asked the driver … if anyone had a gun,” the officer said in his report. “Wright hung her head down, looking toward the ground, and stated, ‘I’m not saying nothing.'”
Police allegedly found a black semi-automatic BB gun under the passenger seat.
In addition to Wright, Oak Park authorities also took 18-year-old Megan Prude and 17-year-old Quintell Jenkins into custody. Both teens are Chicago residents. A fourth suspect, a juvenile, was not publicly identified by police.
Armed robbery charges were lodged against each suspect by Oak Park police.
Police shatter driver’s window
As police looked on, the driver of a blue pickup truck kept glancing downward at the floor of the cab while he sat parked at a gas station on Harlem on Jan. 29, shortly after 1:30 p.m. The area is known for drug activity, according to a department report, and authorities were suspicious.
One of the officers at the scene got out of the unmarked car he was traveling in while his partner pulled the vehicle directly in front of the truck. Police could see through the window a syringe loaded with heroin, and when they knocked on the window, the driver of the truck stuck the needle into the seat, put it in gear and started to pull forward.
With his gun drawn, the officer closest to the driver’s window started banging on the glass, ordering the man to stop. Instead, the driver put the truck in reverse. Police shattered the window and the driver complied.
Scott Speros, 51, of Roselle, was charged with a felony count of drug possession when police allegedly found a plastic bag of heroin in the truck. He was also charged with resisting an officer and possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to authorities, Speros admitted to having used heroin since 1986 and on this day he had traveled to “K-Town” on the West Side of Chicago to buy the drug. He stopped at the gas station in the 200 block of Harlem to shoot up, Speros allegedly told police.
The officer who used his gun to break the window was treated for minor cuts to his hand.
A $29 felony
A 29-year-old Chicago man accused of stealing two inexpensive watches from Kmart on Roosevelt in Forest Park is facing a felony charge, despite the value of the items totaling less than $30.
Billy Dorsey Jr. was arrested Jan. 28 at about 5:30 p.m. after he allegedly hid one watch in his pocket and put a second watch on his wrist before leaving the store. According to police, Dorsey said he took the items to present to his father as birthday gifts. Though the retail value of both items totaled only $29.98, Dorsey’s criminal record prompted authorities to lodge a felony theft charge.
Suspected batterer resents ‘broad’
An Oak Park man returned home following Sunday’s NFL championship game and, according to police, was intoxicated when he began hitting his girlfriend. When police arrived, he allegedly became combative and had to be stunned with a Taser.
A department report on the incident states that John Lloyd, 31, was charged with domestic battery and resisting a police officer.
Forest Park police were called to the 300 block of S. Oak Park Avenue to assist with the incident and were told by the suspect’s girlfriend that she had been struck several times. One of the responding officers from Forest Park was a female, who Lloyd allegedly threatened.
“I’m a trained fighter, I go to the gym all the time,” Lloyd said to the female officer, according to a report. As he spoke, Lloyd clenched his fists and stepped toward the officer. “I’m not going to have some [expletive] broad come in my house and tell me how to live my life.”
When Oak Park police attempted to take the man into custody, he reportedly resisted and became aggressive. A Forest Park officer used a Taser to stun Lloyd.
These items were taken from the records of the Forest Park Police Department between Jan. 25 and Feb. 1, 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
