The body of a 24-year-old Bellwood man was found on a passenger train in Forest Park over the weekend, and police suspect the man may have died of a drug overdose.
According to police, Hassan Damurila had taken the Chicago Transit Authority Blue Line to the Desplaines Avenue terminal at about 2 a.m. on April 12. Damurila was taken to Rush Oak Park Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
According to police, the victim had vomited while on the train. No drug paraphernalia was found at the scene, police said, but vomiting is often indicative of an overdose. The Cook County medical examiner’s office has ruled the cause of death as undetermined, pending the results of a toxicology test, said police. There were no visible signs of trauma.
Teen leads chase with stolen car
Police arrested a juvenile April 10 for being behind the wheel of a stolen car and leading authorities on a brief but high-speed chase through Forest Park.
The 16-year-old boy allegedly tried to get away from a patrol unit shortly after 6 p.m. when the squad car pulled in behind the 2007 Honda Civic as it traveled south along Harlem. The sudden lane changes caught the officer’s eye and a registration check revealed the car had been reported stolen out of Oak Park. The driver of the stolen car allegedly made a quick turn onto Fillmore then north into an alley. When the officer followed the car into the alley, the driver hit the gas.
After turning through several alleys and roadways at high speeds, the Honda finally crashed into a garage at 1134 Circle. The officer quickly positioned his squad car behind the Honda to box it in, but the driver backed into it twice before being wrestled from the car, according to a department report.
Meanwhile, the passenger in the stolen car, 20-year-old Larry Baker, of Chicago, took off running. Assisting officers tracked him down on the 1100 block of Marengo.
While in custody, the two suspects both denied knowing that the vehicle was stolen.
Baker was charged with criminal trespassing, resisting arrest and possession of roughly 2 grams of marijuana allegedly found in his pockets. The driver of the car, whose name was not released because of his juvenile status, was charged with possession of stolen property, fleeing the police, aggravated assault, and a handful of traffic violations.
Cab driver jumps from taxi
A 63-year-old cab driver told police he jumped from his car after two men armed with a pistol had hijacked the vehicle from him. Having been choked, pistol whipped and dragged into the backseat of his minivan, the cab driver was found sitting on the side of the road at about 11:30 a.m. April 6, bleeding from several wounds to his head, feet and hands, according to police.
A patrolling officer found the man sitting at the intersection of Circle and Lehmer. A woman at the scene told police she was driving behind the light green minivan when she saw the driver jump.
According to a police report, the man had picked up his assailants at the Chicago Transit Authority terminal on Desplaines, and while driving with his passengers became suspicious that they could not pay the fare. He pulled the cab into a McDonald’s parking lot at 420 Desplaines and told the men to get out. The driver said he was then handed $3, but before he could continue driving, he was attacked.
As one of the men pulled him from the driver’s seat, the other took the steering wheel of the taxi. A short while later, the cab driver told police, he was able to open the sliding door of the van and jump.
Mugged by three men
A 20-year-old Forest Park resident was reportedly mugged just before midnight April 7 by three men traveling in a white Chevrolet Malibu. While he was beaten by two of the assailants, he told police, the third man rifled through his pockets and stole his wallet, a cell phone and his backpack containing his chef’s clothing.
The alleged attack occurred by a fence at 415 Marengo after the man had parked his car in a municipal lot just south of Circle and Madison. While walking through an alley toward Marengo, the man told police he saw the white car head west through the same alley and made a left turn onto Marengo. A short time later he spotted three men in black hooded sweatshirts, one with a ski mask partially covering his face.
The victim was able to make it to his apartment building on the 400 block of Marengo where he knocked on the door and a neighbor called for help.
These items were taken from the records of the Forest Park Police Department between April 6 and April 13, 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
