An Oak Park man was arrested early Sept. 16 after having two run-ins with police in one night.
Twenty-five-year-old Andre Smith was first cited for disorderly conduct after an officer observed him screaming at a group of people on the 7400 block of Madison Street. Later, Smith was in a car that was pulled over by another officer for a traffic violation, near Marengo Street and Franklin Avenue.
Smith, who was reportedly intoxicated, got out on the passenger side of the car and yelled, “This is my vehicle; ain’t nobody [expletive] driving it but me.”
According to the second police report, Smith was aggressive to the responding officer, so he was placed under arrest. What’s more, while in the backseat of the squad car, Smith allegedly spit on the safety shield and unleashed a barrage of verbal assaults and threats, including, “Don’t ever let me see you in a grocery store.”
In addition to the first citation he received, Smith was charged with aggravated assault, a seatbelt violation, criminal defacement and reckless conduct.
Trying to get away clean
A Chicago man who reportedly tried to steal four bottles of Dial body wash from a local CVS on the night of Sept. 15 was charged with felony retail theft.
Thirty-four-year-old Anthony Richardson stuffed the bottles, which totaled $21.96, down his right pant leg, then tried to leave the store at 7216 Circle Ave., a CVS security guard told police.
The security guard stopped Richardson at the door and recovered the merchandise. Police were called and arrested him.
Cook County State’s Attorney Jessica Bergeman approved an upgrade to felony retail theft because Richardson had previously been convicted of burglary.
Smokey, the bandit
A Chicago man was charged with felony retail theft after he tried to steal approximately $100 worth of Nicoderm smoking cessation gum from the local Kmart on the afternoon of Sept. 16.
Thirty-nine-year-old Daniel James was caught by Kmart security slipping two packages of Nicoderm into his backpack and trying to leave the store, at 7600 Roosevelt Road.
James was held on scene until police arrived, at which point he was arrested and charged with felony retail theft because of a prior conviction of burglary.
No license, no seatbelt, no insurance, and weed
Juan Montoya, 21, of Chicago, was arrested on the night of Sept. 16 for marijuana and driving offenses, after he was initially stopped on Harlem Avenue near I-290 for not wearing a seatbelt.
When the officer pulled over Montoya and asked for his driver’s license and proof of insurance, Montoya could not provide either. The officer then ran his name through a police computer and learned that Montoya was driving with a suspended license. He also had no insurance.
The suspect was placed under arrest, and the officer searched Montoya’s car, finding a small bag with an unspecified amount of marijuana in it.
He was charged with driving with a suspended license, a cannabis control offense, operating an uninsured motor vehicle and a seatbelt violation.
DUI
A 20-year-old Berwyn man with a blood-alcohol content almost three times higher than the legal limit was arrested for drunk driving, early Sept. 18.
Luis Castro was reportedly swerving in and out of lanes on Roosevelt Road, Berwyn and Forest Park sides. When an officer saw him nearly run into a parked car on the 6900 block of Roosevelt Road, in Berwyn, he was pulled over.
According to the police report, Castro failed field sobriety tests. When he was taken to headquarters, he submitted to a Breathalyzer test and his BAC was .232 – neither three times the legal limit of .08.
Castro was charged with two counts of DUI and single counts of improper lane usage, failure to signal and operating an uninsured motor vehicle.
Arrested for trespassing warrant
Morgan Guice, 21, of Maywood was arrested on the morning of Sept. 17 after police responded to a disturbance at the Forest Park Public Library.
When officers responded at 7555 Jackson Blvd., Guice was reportedly arguing with a man he accused of stealing his bike – a claim the other individual refuted.
A name check was performed on Guice, and it was discovered he was wanted by the Cook County Sheriff’s police for trespassing.
Subsequently, he was arrested, and while officers were taking him to headquarters, he reportedly said he would attack an officer if he wasn’t “in a uniform.” When asked if that was a threat, Guice told the officer, “Take it the way you want it.”
These items were obtained from the records of the Forest Park Police Department, Sept. 12-18, 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
