A man accused of kidnapping a North Riverside woman may also face felony charges in Forest Park after allegedly leading police on a high speed chase through several neighborhoods.
At about 9 a.m. on Nov. 13, authorities were notified of a possible abduction in Berwyn and it wasn’t long before the red Monte Carlo described in the alert was spotted in Forest Park traveling south along Circle. Officers in an unmarked car called for backup and began following the car. Investigators believed that the driver, 25-year-old Justin Kasper, of Chicago, had used a knife to control the 38-year-old woman riding in the car with him. But as soon as marked police cars turned on their lights and sirens, Kasper allegedly sped off along several side streets.
Police chased him from Beloit to Fillmore and then south on Ferdinand before heading west along Roosevelt.
Eventually, authorities from several neighboring departments helped track the suspect into Hillside where Kasper crashed into another vehicle near the intersection with Mannheim. In a report on the incident, Forest Park police said they would pursue felony traffic charges against Kasper.
Cash swiped from safe
A suspected thief, possibly a teen, wandered into an unlocked office in the back of a liquor store on Madison and took $1,425 in cash from a safe, according to a department report. The incident was reported to police on Nov. 11 at about 1:30 p.m. by an employee at the store, USA Beverage, 7200 Madison, who helped chase the culprit out of the store. A search of the area did not turn up anyone matching the description of the suspect, but investigators were given footage of the incident from the store’s security camera.
Deodorant in demand
Local authorities arrested two suspects in unrelated incidents for allegedly stealing hundreds of dollars worth of deodorant from retail stores in Forest Park.
Oak Park police happened to be in the right place at the right time on Nov. 10, and witnessed 32-year-old Victor Thompson being chased from the CVS at 7216 Circle by an employee who believed that Thompson had stolen several items from the shelves. The officers caught up with the suspect quickly and waited for Forest Park police to arrive on the scene.
“When Thompson was apprehended, 28 unopened bars of various brands of deodorant were found rolled up in his shirt,” police said in their arrest report. The items had a total retail value of more than $120.
Thompson, a Chicago resident, was charged with felony theft based on a prior conviction for a similar offense.
On Nov. 13, at Kmart on Roosevelt Road, security personnel there nabbed 31-year-old James Balark when Balark allegedly tried to leave the store with 42 different items, including deodorant and clothing. Balark, too, was charged with a felony once investigators learned of his prior convictions for larceny.
Witness reports DUI suspect
A Forest Park motorist was arrested for driving under the influence Nov. 14 after police received a call that a red Jeep Cherokee was being driven recklessly near Circle and Roosevelt, and that the driver was “yelling at other motorists.”
Officers found the car on 13th Street and followed the driver into an alley just north of 14th Street. According to a police report, Mark Fisher, 31, blew through a stop sign at Marengo. Fisher got out of the car after parking in the alley and police informed him they wanted to speak with him about the stop sign. The smell of alcohol was evident and Fisher’s eyes were bloodshot, authorities said in their report.
Fisher allegedly failed several field sobriety tests and was taken to the police station at about 10 p.m. While in custody, he submitted to a breath exam and registered a blood-alcohol content of .147 percent, according to police. The legal limit of intoxication in Illinois is .08.
Suspect stunned at station
A homeless man was charged with trespassing and resisting arrest on Nov. 13 after police were called to Kay’s Bakery, 7332 Madison, and found Maurice Dugar inside the store. According to a department report, the responding officer has had “many, many past encounters of exactly the same nature” with Dugar, and in the last seven weeks police had asked him on six occasions not to return to the bakery.
Dugar, 45, was taken into custody for trespassing, though he protested he was trying to get a cup of coffee.
While in custody, according to police, Dugar became increasingly hostile and had to be restrained. Authorities decided to place him in a cell to let him calm down before they continued searching him, but as they approached the cell, Dugar grew combative and was stunned with a Taser.
These items were taken from the records of the Forest Park Police Department between Nov. 8 and Nov. 15, 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
