Police charged a Monee man with criminal trespass to a vehicle and with the theft of lost or mislaid property early July 26. Thirty-year-old Shawn Kammer was initially stopped by authorities on the 7700 block of Van Buren St. when he fit the description of a suspicious person looking into vehicles.
When officers made contact with Kammer it was discovered that he had attempted to leave a backpack containing $1,500 worth of items next to a vehicle that was reportedly burglarized. The car’s doors were unlocked and one of the items in the bag was a hard hat that bore the name of the company to which the car was registered.
Kammer admitted the bag was his and ceded to planning to sell the contents – a cell phone charger, a GPS device, a flashlight, and elevator maintenance equipment, among other things – but claimed that someone else had robbed the vehicle and placed the items in his knapsack. He was subsequently arrested and received the aforementioned charges.
Attempted theft turns violent
A man fought a CVS security guard following an attempt to steal several boxes of Breathe Rite nasal strips from the 7216 Circle Avenue store on the morning of July 26.
Otis Taylor’s alleged bid at swiping the said items blew up in his face when a store security guard confronted him and the stolen nasal strips dropped from under his shirt.
Police officers arrived in the parking lot and reportedly found Taylor grabbing at the throat of the drug-store security guard that pursued him out the door.
Staring down an officer’s pointed Taser, Taylor ceased fighting with the security guard, and was taken into custody. He was charged with felony retail theft, due to a prior conviction for the same offense last year, criminal damage to property, and battery.
Stolen property
A Chicago woman was charged with being in possession of stolen property on the eve of July 28, after police discovered that the registration sticker on her license plate was reported stolen.
Twenty-six-year-old Nicole Drane was first pulled over on 1st Avenue, near Interstate-290, after an officer ran a computer check on her vehicle and learned that its registration had expired in March, and that is was also suspended for insurance violations.
Drane was arrested and, in addition to the aforementioned offense, she was charged with driving with a suspended driver’s license, operating a motor vehicle with a suspended registration, having an in-state warrant, and operating an uninsured motor vehicle.
Drug offenses
Police arrested two suspects with a substantial amount of drug equipment on them early Aug. 1.
Thirty-five-year-old James Stutchman, of Wayne, and 29-year-old Kellie Shaw, of St. Charles, were found idling in a car that was illegally parked on the lawn of a residence on the 900 block of Marengo Street.
When police approached the vehicle – located against a tree – to find out what Stutchman and Shaw were doing, Stutchman informed an officer that he and Shaw were “just making out.”
As Stutchman was talking, the officer reported seeing a belt and a syringe cap, which are signs of heroin use. Also on Stutchman’s lap was copper wool; which, according to police, is commonly used as a filter for crack pipes.
Stutchman and Shaw were ordered out of the car; and, inside the vehicle, authorities found a total of five syringes and one crack pipe.
The two were arrested and each was charged with being in possession of drug equipment.
A vehicle that was initially stopped because its registration expired a year ago contained two persons that were arrested after hypodermic needles were found on them.
On the afternoon of Aug. 1, Police halted a vehicle driven by Adam Uchyn, 27, of Itasca, in the Walgreen’s parking lot, 7200 Roosevelt Rd., for the abovementioned infraction.
When it was discovered that his license was suspended, Uchyn was ordered out of the vehicle, a pat-down was conducted and police found a syringe in his pocket. At this point, he was placed into police custody.
Following this, the identifications of the vehicle’s other two passengers were requested. Shaun Sutter, 27, also of Itasca, told police that he did not have any ID, and offered a false name in an attempt to shield a Chicago Police Department arrest warrant for a DUI charge.
Authorities ran the name through the system, and the search yielded a photograph of a different person. Only then did Sutter provide his real name. Subsequently, he too was ordered out of the car, and, on the ground, near his feet, another needle was found.
Sutter informed police that, prior to the traffic stop, the three were on their way to the West Side of Chicago to purchase heroin.
The two men were then taken to headquarters, and the third passenger was released from the scene. Sutter was charged with being in possession of the hypodermic needle, having the in-state warrant and obstructing an officer; while Uchyn received offenses for possession of the hypodermic needle, an expired registration, operating an uninsured motor vehicle and driving with a suspended license.
These items were taken from the records of the Forest Park Police Department between August 4 and August 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 Nicholas Moroni
