A 26-year-old Cicero woman was spotted by police in a car on the 7200 block of Roosevelt Road, preparing a dose of heroin in a syringe on the night of April 12.
Police approached the vehicle and saw Mirabel Landa bent over with a “loaded” syringe between her feet near where she also had a “wide” purse that contained several hypodermic needles.
An officer ordered Landa and another passenger out of the car, at which point Landa reportedly admitted to having an unspecified amount of heroin in a baggie.
A search of the car was performed and additional contraband was found: one metal container with a blackened underside (reportedly an indication that it was used to cook heroin), two straws that contained traces of an “off-white” substance that resembled heroin, and nine unused syringes. This was in addition to the loaded syringe and the bag of heroin that the officer initially found.
Landa was arrested and charged with two counts of possession of drug equipment. Deputy Chief Tom Aftanas said she was not charged with possession of a controlled substance because the heroin baggie that was found only contained traces of the drug – not enough for that charge.
The other passenger was released without charges.
Passed out behind the wheel
A Maywood man, found passed out behind the wheel of his running car on the 7700 block of Roosevelt Road early April 17, was taken into custody for multiple offenses.
An officer spotted the vehicle and tried to wake up the driver, 24-year-old Michael McKinney, by banging on the car’s window. After some time, McKinney eventually woke up, but appeared intoxicated.
McKinney was ordered out of the car, but he refused, so the officer had to assist him in stepping out. During the ordeal, the officer reported smelling alcohol on McKinney and noted that he was slurring his speech. McKinney was unable to produce any proof of insurance.
He was handcuffed and taken to headquarters. While there, he submitted to a Breathalyzer test and his blood-alcohol content registered at .172 – more than twice the legal limit of .08.
McKinney was charged with two counts of DUI, two traffic citations, and a single count of operating an uninsured vehicle.
A passenger who was also sleeping inside the vehicle was released at the scene without charges.
Dope-shooting couple
A Romeoville man was caught injecting heroin into the arm of his Lockport girlfriend in the parking lot of a Forest Park gas station on the afternoon of April 11.
Police received an emergency call stating that a couple was “getting high” in the parking lot of Thorton’s gas station, 601 Harlem Ave., and when the officer responded, he found Jonathon Weglarz, 23, sticking a needle in 20-year-old Julie Carlock’s tied-off arm.
Weglarz and Carlock were ordered out of the car and police found less than a gram of heroin and a syringe.
Both were arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance.
Man sticks Bluetooth in ear in shoplifting attempt
Police arrested a 23-year-old Chicago Heights man on the night of April 15 after he allegedly attempted to shoplift a Bluetooth earpiece from Walmart.
Rogelio Mendoza allegedly grabbed the earpiece and went to a section of the store where there were no security cameras so he could remove the merchandise from its packaging.
Mendoza reportedly placed the device into his ear and paid for several other unspecified items, then left the 1300 Desplaines Ave. store without paying for the earpiece.
A security guard apprehended Mendoza in the parking lot after noticing he was not wearing the earpiece when he entered the store.
The police were called and Mendoza was arrested and charged with retail theft.
These items were taken from the records of Forest Park Police Department, April 11-17, 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
