A plastic port-a-potty outhouse in the rear yard of a building being renovated in the 400 block of Beloit was set ablaze sometime overnight on Aug.10. The outhouse was completely destroyed and melted onto the ground, with a nearby garage receiving scorch marks from the flames. The residence’s new owner told police the outhouse was originally at the back of the property near the alley, but someone had tried to ignite it a week ago, so he moved it closer to the house. The house and its deck were not harmed. The owner told police he’ll be installing a video camera, but he wasn’t going to replace the outhouse.
Pep Boys burglary thwarted
Police responded to an alarm call at the Pep Boys auto repair shop on 25 N. Harlem around 1:07 a.m. on Aug. 10 and found a shattered glass panel on an overhead bay door. A motion sensor surveillance camera detected two subjects, around 18 years old and showed one of them kicking out the window square with his foot and reaching his arm or head inside the window ¨¢ which set off an internal motion alarm. The two offenders fled on foot across Harlem.
Shoplifting to support a habit
A 49-year-old Broadview man told police he stole a $179 Garmin GPS from Walmart around 1 p.m. on Aug. 11 because his heroin addiction costs him $100-$200 per day and he was afraid to get sick. Loss prevention agents allegedly saw the man remove the device from a display with a cutting tool and move to the women’s lingerie section, where he allegedly stuffed it down his pants. He then waited in line and paid for a DVD at the cash register and tried to exit the store. He was stopped by security and knocked to the ground where he was handcuffed until police arrived. He allegedly told police he was released from jail seven months ago and has been back on heroin ever since. He said he tried to perform odd jobs to pay for his drug habit and had to resort to stealing when he couldn’t work so he won’t get violently ill. He was charged with retail theft.
A 39 year old man from Hickory Hills allegedly was observed by loss prevention walking the ailes of Walmart for more than two hours, stuffing small items into his pants pockets on Aug. 9 around 4 p.m. When he attempted to exit the store without paying, he was asked to stop and fled down Roosevelt Road where he was observed by arriving Forest Park police officers. The two officers told him to stop, but he kept running, so they performed an emergency takedown and knocked him to the ground. In his pockets were 6 packages of breathing strips, two Oral B refills and a package of windex wipes. The total stolen amounted to $129.41. He was charged with retail theft.
Locked bike missing
A man told police his locked black and red Huffy Stone Mountain bicycle, valued at $99, was removed from the landing outside his apartment in the 7500 block of Brown, overnight Aug. 10.
These items were obtained from the records of the Forest Park Police Department, Aug. 6 – 13, 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
