A malfunctioning pistol saved the life of a female manager of USA Beverage on May 15 when a disgruntled long-time employee, who lived upstairs, returned to the store and announced he would kill her and himself. The woman had opened the back door of the store at 7:05 a.m. when she was pushed from behind by Angel Villa, 37, of Forest Park, who had worked at the store since 2004 and had quit the week before.
Villa allegedly told her “You’re going to pay. You are the reason [the owner] fired me. I’ve got a lot of my people watching you and your kids. I’m going to kill you, kill [the owner] and kill myself.” Villa allegedly tried to force the woman into the basement, where there are no cameras. When she resisted, he threw her to the ground and pointed a small gray handgun at her head. He allegedly pulled the trigger twice, but the gun did not fire. At that point he removed the magazine and examined it. Just then, the owner of USA Beverage arrived at the shop and entered through the back door. He recognized Villa, who pushed past him and fled out the back door. Police arrived and found a .380 round of live ammunition on the liquor store floor. Villa was said to have escaped in a dark green older model Chevy Caprice. His upstairs apartment was empty when police searched it. Villa is described as a Hispanic and was wearing a gray jacket and dark pants.
Armed robbery at Subway
A 20 year old Chicago man who used a BB gun to hold up a Subway restaurant on the 300 block of Harlem was chased and struck with a squad car as he fled on foot around 9:40 p.m. on May 19. The shop owner told police Darryl J. Jordan, 20, ordered a soda from the shop and then when the manager opened the cash register drawer, Jordan produced what appeared to be a handgun and ordered the cashier to “get back.” Jordan allegedly removed all the cash from the register, as well as the tip jar and fled on foot. Police spotted Jordan in the gangway of 250 Elgin, holding his side as if he was attempting to secure a handgun. Fearing that Jordan was about to use the handgun on an officer, the cop struck Jordan with the right front corner of his vehicle, knocking him to the ground. Jordan got up and ran eastbound and the officer gave chase on foot and tried to deploy his Taser, which failed. The officer captured Jordan in the alley behind the 200 block of Harlem and the clerk was transported to the scene where he identified Jordan. Police confiscated a black suitcase filled with $239 in cash and found a black Pietro Beretta plastic 6mm BB gun in the alley. Jordan was charged with aggravated robbery.
Police chase bleeding motorcyclist on sidewalk
Police responded to a call about an accident involving a motorcycle in the 600 block of Harlem around 10:20 p.m. on May 18. They were told that the motorcyclist had fled the scene. An officer responding saw a Honda motorcycle traveling eastbound on Jackson, with a rider who was bleeding profusely from his head and face. The officer pulled up next to the rider and asked if he’d been in an accident, to which the rider allegedly responded “yeah.” The biker agreed to pull into a parking lot, but then suddenly sped away at a high rate of speed to Harlem, where he rode up on the sidewalk, then sped on the walkway to Elgin, then around the block to Harlem again with a police car giving chase with lights activated. He finally pulled over on Harlem and Adams and was placed into custody and charged with traffic violations and resisting an officer.
Don’t mess with my little brother
Police broke up a fight in a gift shop in the 800 block of Beloit on May 15 around 3 p.m. after a man entered the shop and asked to speak to an employee. The employee came to the front of the shop and the visitor allegedly jumped over the counter and began punching him in the face. When police arrived, the two were wrestling on the floor. The aggressor stopped fighting and allowed himself to be handcuffed by police and taken to the station. He later told police the store employee, a grown man, had punched his 12-year-old brother the day before. He was charged with battery.
These items were obtained from the records of the Forest Park Police Department, May 14-21, 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.
– Complied by Jean Lotus
