Police are looking for two suspects involved in an armed robbery that occurred at Suburban Liquors, 7612 Madison, on the afternoon of Sept. 16.
Descriptions of the robbers are still vague, Deputy Chief Tom Aftanas said. Police report that both suspects are male – one is bald, the other donned a gold colored baseball cap. The two suspects entered the store, and the bald man pulled a gun from a dark bag that he kept in his front right pocket. He then demanded that the clerk surrender the money in the cash register and walked around the counter to retrieve the cash, while his partner stuffed a bag with $370.
“The detectives sent out a critical reach flier this morning to other departments to see if any similar type of crime has occurred. As of today [Monday] they have not received anything,” Aftanas said.
When contacted, the owner of Suburban Liquors stated that he did not wish to comment on the incident.
Man tries to roll away with tires
Twenty-year-old Jeffrey Morgan, of Forest Park, was arrested for allegedly trying to steal tires from a local car dealership on 7911 Roosevelt, in the wee hours of Sept. 15.
The father of the lot manager for Park Plaza Dodge was smoking a cigarette on a nearby balcony when he saw Morgan push a tire under the fence from the dealership’s lot. He woke his son, who was inside the residence sleeping, and police were contacted.
When authorities arrived, a search of the property was conducted, and Morgan was found hiding under a grey SUV.
Based on the car jack and lug wrench within the proximity and a missing tire on a nearby van, it was alleged that Morgan was attempting to steal tires.
Morgan told police that his car had suffered a flat tire on Interstate-290, and that he had decided to steal a tire as a replacement. He continued by adding, that when he arrived at the lot, he thought the van’s tires “had nice rims” and wanted to steal all four to give to his father.
The total damage suffered by the car subsequent to the removal of the tire was $511.
Morgan was charged with felony theft and criminal damage charges; and, a misdemeanor for criminal trespass to land.
High-speed chase
On the eve of Sept. 18, police pursued a 16-year-old boy with no driver’s license through a labyrinth of turns up and down streets in Oak Park and Forest Park.
The youth, who was driving his brother’s car without a valid license, was initially pursued after he committed a traffic violation on Harvard, near Marengo.
The boy then led officers on a winding chase through the two towns, crashing into two police cars, and an idling car on the street.
He abandoned the vehicle when he crashed it into the fence of a home on the 700 block of Maple, and fled on foot. He was quickly apprehended, though.
At the station the teen told police that he borrowed the car to visit his girlfriend. He reportedly fled because he was afraid of being arrested for driving without a valid license.
His offenses include: operating an uninsured motor vehicle, hit and run, improper lane usage, failure to yield from stop sign, failure to signal, no driver’s license, resisting arrest, reckless driving, aggravated assault, and attempting to elude an officer.
Taser used to restrain thief
On the morning of Sept. 13, police arrested and Tasered a 43-year-old Chicago man accused of retail theft and resisting arrest.
A store manager at CVS pharmacy, 7216 Circle, told police that she saw Audre Johnson conceal $52.90 worth of soap bottles in a bag, and then leave without paying.
An officer then found Johnson, based upon the manager’s description, aboard a train at the CTA Green Line Harlem station. Johnson was sitting beside a bag with multiple bottle of soap.
When the officer attempted to talk to Johnson, he reportedly walked away, and then placed his hands in his pockets and kept them there despite commands from officers to remove them.
At this point, two officers attempted to place Johnson into custody, but the suspect purportedly refused to submit to arrest. He was pulled to the ground, but supposedly continued to struggle. And when an officer announced Johnson would be Tasered, the other policeman let go of him, so as to avoid being struck.
A Taser was reportedly deployed three times to subdue a fleeing Johnson, who was then apprehended and taken to police headquarters.
He was charged with felony retail theft, due to a prior conviction, and two counts of resisting arrest.
Retail Theft
Lee Jones, 48, of Cicero, was arrested on the night of Sept. 13, after she allegedly tried to steal three cans of Enfamil baby formula from Wal-Mart, 1300 Desplaines. After she was arrested, she told police she sniffs two bags of heroin daily, and that she steals the cans and sells them to “a store by her apartment.” Jones was charged with felony retail theft due to her criminal record.
These items were taken from the records of the Forest Park Police Department between Sept. 12 and Sept. 19, 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 Nick Moroni
