A teenage couple was arrested and charged with felony domestic burglary, early Aug. 5, after one of the two tried to burglarize an apartment on the 1200 block of Circle Avenue.
After they were arrested, the couple, 19-year-old Glenn Roby, of Chicago, and 18-year-old Ashley Hopkinsbey, of Maywood, told police they planned to burglarize the Forest Park residence of one of Hopkinsbey’s co-workers because of recent financial strains. Hopkinsbey is nine months pregnant, and the two have been living in a car for the last two weeks.
A resident in the Circle Avenue apartment complex called police to report a burglary after spotting Roby inside the victim’s residence while the victim was away. The caller added that Roby was seen trying to pry his way out of the complex, which is guarded by a keypad deadbolt lock.
When police arrived and searched the area around the building, they found numerous electronics outside the victim’s window. Officers also looked inside the apartment and observed that various items strewn about.
During the search, one officer detained Roby and Hopkinsbey near a car in the rear of the apartment. When asked what they were doing, the two said they were there to see a person named “Tommy” so Roby could smoke marijuana with him.
Police called the burglary victim and when she arrived on the scene, she confirmed she had not given anyone permission to enter her residence. She said she works with Hopkinsbey, who has been in her apartment on two occasions, and that Roby came to her house the day before, knocked on her door and asked for “Tommy.”
Both Roby and Hopkinsbey were arrested, and during interviews with police, each confessed to planning and being involved in the crime. According to the report, Roby was the one who burglarized the residence. Both received felony charges after Cook County State’s Attorney Eric Bashirian upgraded the domestic burglary charges.
Man tells of death wish
A 22-year-old Arlington Heights man, who allegedly stole a car from Arlington Heights, crashed into a Circle Avenue guard rail at Waldheim Cemetery, flipping the vehicle, as police pursued him on the night of July 30.
Officers chased Nicholas Eich after learning that the car he was driving was stolen, but when two squads tried to curb Eich on the 600 block of Harlem Avenue, the suspect fled at a high rate of speed.
Eich fled until he crashed into the rail at Waldheim, which caused the car to turn “end over end” several times, police reported. He was ejected from the driver’s seat.
A medical team was immediately called and Eich was taken to Loyola Hospital. Before arriving, Eich reportedly told officers he wanted to kill himself, which is why he didn’t attempt to avoid the crash.
Police later contacted the owner of the stolen car, who said she did not wish to sign complaints.
In addition, a detective from the Arlington Heights Police Department told Forest Park police that, previously, Eich admitted to committing a burglary in Arlington Heights, which is likely when he snagged the key to the stolen car.
Eich was charged with two felonies: aggravated fleeing an officer and possession of a stolen motor vehicle. He was also charged with criminal damage to property, reckless driving, speeding, improper use of registration, failure to yield at a stop sign and motor vehicle theft.
Drunk driver, catching Z’s
Police arrested a Forest Park man for DUI and other vehicular violations, early Aug. 3, after spotting him passed out behind the wheel of his car at the intersection of Desplaines Avenue and Madison Street.
Thirty-four-year-old Denis Lowery was found sleeping behind the wheel of his idling car. An officer shouted at him to check on his safety. The officer then ordered Lowery to shut off the car, but Lowery sped away.
He drove to an apartment complex on the 300 block of Desplaines Avenue, parked, got out of the car and headed for the door.
Lowery was halted by the reporting officer who arrested him on the scene because he appeared intoxicated. Lowery refused to submit to sobriety tests at the scene and at headquarters. He was charged with DUI, illegal parking, a vehicle code violation and operating an uninsured motor vehicle.
Domestic battery
A Forest Park man was arrested, early Aug. 7, after he allegedly bloodied his wife during a fight at their residence on the 400 block of Ferdinand Avenue.
According to police, the victim had a three-quarter-inch laceration to the left side of her head after her husband, Shamtil Burks, punched her numerous times during an argument about his drinking too much and staying out late.
Burks was not at the residence when officers arrived, but police found him in the 7500 Madison Street alley where he was arrested and charged with domestic battery.
The victim said she did not want to sign complaints against Burks because it was the first time he hit her. But based on the severity of the wounds – she was transported to Rush Oak Park Hospital for treatment – the reporting officer signed complaints on her behalf.
These items were obtained from records filed by the Forest Park Police Department, July 30 to Aug. 7, and represent only a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Unless otherwise indicated, anyone named in this report has only been charged with a crime.
-Compiled by Nick Moroni
