A man who told police he was homeless and lives in the woods near Brookfield Zoo was Tasered and arrested for threatening another man with a knife in front of Kmart at 11:12 a.m. on April 11. The victim told police he was exiting the Kmart at 7630 Roosevelt Rd., when he was approached by another man who allegedly stated he wanted to fight, saying, “I’ll cut you up!” and “I got people on the phone in a car to get you!” and “Let’s go!” The man allegedly pulled out a silver pocket knife with a 3-inch blade and the first man fled back into Kmart, where staff called 911. When police arrived, the armed man fled northbound on foot through the Kmart parking lot toward Roosevelt Road. When he failed to comply with a verbal command to stop, the police officer unholstered his X26 Taser and shot one cartridge at the man, who then fell down and allowed himself to be handcuffed. At the station, the man told police he uses the pocketknife for fishing and camping. He was charged with aggravated assault and misdemeanor obstructing justice.

Aggravated battery

A bar fight at closing time on Madison Street left one man with an 8-inch gash in his face and lacerations on his neck, April 13. A man told police he and his companion were getting dirty looks from a patron of Slainte and moved across the street to Zambonie’s. At closing time on the sidewalk, the two encountered the belligerent man again, a 25-year-old from Berwyn. A fight erupted and the Berwyn man allegedly broke a beer bottle and slashed the victim on the neck. The victim told police that he heard the man say, “I’m going to shank him,” and felt something cut him on the left cheek. Meanwhile, his companion was being kicked and stomped in the head by an unknown offender. When police questioned the Berwyn man, they found a blood-covered, closed, folding pocket knife in his right pants pocket. When asked why there was blood on the knife, he reportedly replied, “I cut my finger.” He was taken to the station and charged with felony aggravated battery. The victim required 13 stitches to the cut on his left cheek.

Planned to return the vehicle ‘today’

Police pulled over a 55-year-old man from South Elgin on April 13 at 8:30 a.m. for a traffic stop and the driver told him that a week earlier he had “borrowed” the grey 1999 Buick he was driving from a friend in Cicero, after allegedly visiting to “get high” on crack cocaine. The owner of the car told police he had left car keys on the counter at a residence and they disappeared. The car was reported stolen to Cicero police on April 7. The driver said he intended to return the car that day, but was driving a companion to a medical appointment at Hines Veterans Hospital. The South Elgin man was charged with criminal trespass to vehicle. Police confiscated the Buick.

These items were obtained from the records of the Forest Park Police Department, April 5 Ð 14, and represent a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Unless otherwise indicated, anyone named in the report has only been charged with a crime.

-Compiled by Jean Lotus