Inebriated and irate, police say, a 28-year-old Indiana man abandoned by his drinking buddies from LaPorte in Forest Park was seen by police destroying and tossing out numerous planted flowers from planters in front of Francesa’s Fiore and along Madison Street around 2 a.m. on June 20.
He allegedly told police, “I know I was wrong, but don’t arrest me for this crap. I will come back to this restaurant and replant the flowers myself. I was upset and saw something beautiful, and so I destroyed it.”
He was charged with criminal damage to property.
Garage burglaries
A mountain bike worth $650 was stolen from a garage with overhead door left open overnight in the 200 block of Desplaines Avenue on June 19. Another bike was stolen from an unlocked garage in the 1200 block of Marengo Avenue around 6:30 p.m. on June 24.
Four brothers accused of shoplifting
Four juvenile brothers from Chicago were arrested inside Kmart, 7630 Roosevelt Rd., after managers observed them allegedly concealing cans of baby formula in backpacks.
Their father was waiting outside the shop with two other children, according to police, and expressed surprise that his sons were shoplifting.
“I’ve been told they stole before, but I didn’t know they were taking anything now,” he reportedly told police. A son, interviewed by police, allegedly said his father had brought them to the store to take the baby formula, worth $72.45.
The father and six children were taken into custody after police discovered the father had an outstanding warrant for retail theft from Lake County. The children were released to custody of their grandmother.
Burglar spotted by brother
A man who came to his brother’s home in the 100 block of Belvidere Avenue to mow the lawn observed an unfamiliar man wearing a backpack exiting his brother’s front door around 4 p.m. on June 23.
The 41-year-old man fled with the backpack and was spotted by police near Franklin and Elgin, where he dropped the pack and fled. He was arrested by an assisting Oak Park officer.
Inside the backpack were an NEC laptop computer, an electronic scale, a pair of Conair electric clippers, a pair of dirty socks, razors, deodorant and a watch.
Andre Johnson, of Chicago, who was on parole at the time of his arrest, was charged with felony burglary. Johnson was paroled from Menard Correctional Center in March 2010 after serving less than three years of a six-year sentence for residential burglary.
He has been convicted numerous times since 1990 for theft and residential burglary. Johnson is being held at Cook County Jail on $200,000 bond, awaiting a June 28 court hearing.
These items were obtained from the records of the Forest Park Police Department, June 19-24, 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
