Weeping gunman steals purse at dawn
A woman told police she was robbed at gunpoint around 5:40 a.m. as she walked southbound on Desplaines Avenue near Jackson on her way to catch the CTA train to work. A male subject wearing a black knit hat walked toward her and she reported that he was crying and had tears in his eyes. She told police the man pulled out a shiny black handgun from his pocket and said, “Give me your purse, bitch, and don’t even make a scene.” She handed him her large, beige canvas tote, embossed with a picture of a pug. In the bag were $20, credit cards, her Illinois driver’s license and a water bottle. The man walked southbound toward the CTA station, turning at one point and saying, “You did the right thing.” Police from Oak Park, River Forest and Forest Park canvassed the area, but they did not find the suspect.
$3,500 worth of baby formula lifted
A manager at Ultra Foods, 7520 Roosevelt Rd., summoned Forest Park police around 6:45 a.m. on Oct. 26 after he came to the conclusion that one of his employees was stealing baby formula on the overnight shift.
According to reports, Roderick A. Jenkins, 31, of Chicago, was observed on the video on 11 occasions removing 44 cases of Enfamil baby formula cans from the store display and hiding them under the break room sink. He was also videotaped hiding the cases in shopping bags and leaving the store.
Jenkins reportedly told police he had a girlfriend and two small children and stole to buy food for the family.
The assistant state’s attorney approved one count of felony theft for Jenkins. He was taken to Cook County Jail and held on $20,000 bond. Jenkins has a court date in Maywood on Nov. 1.
TVs stolen, stranger sighted
Someone stole two flat-screen televisions from an apartment in the 600 block of Marengo between noon and 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 23. The apartment owner told police she found her kitchen window broken and the front door unlocked. She told police she had seen a man she did not recognize two days in a row. The previous day, he had knocked on her door and inquired whether the apartment upstairs was for rent. She saw him enter a gold Buick with a temporary license plate, which she had seen several times near her residence over the past two days.
Hooky-playing auto burglar caught
A 15-year-old male juvenile from Broadview was arrested around 8 a.m. on Oct. 23 after a crossing guard working at Circle Avenue and Roosevelt Road reportedly observed him tugging on the back of her parked 2008 Chevy Cobalt. When she told him to get away from her car, he reportedly said the trunk was open and he was closing it. Upon closer inspection of the vehicle, the victim said she observed her wallet was missing and the car interior had been ransacked. She later found her wallet under a seat.
Police saw a male matching the description of the suspect in an alley behind the 1200 block of Elgin. When the suspect saw the squad car, he allegedly fled on foot and was caught behind the 1000 block of Elgin. Interviewed at the station, he told police he ditched school at Proviso East and “went into [the] car looking for something.” He reportedly acknowledged the whole thing was a “stupid decision.”
The boy was released to his mother and given a date in juvenile court.
TV shoplifting a bust
A 55-year-old Streamwood man, who had previously been convicted of aggravated robbery and sentenced to 14 years in prison, was observed by Walmart security loading up a shopping cart with a Samsung 32-inch LED TV and a pair of men’s Wrangler blue jeans and rolling it past the registers without paying around 1:20 p.m. on Oct. 27. A security officer stopped Dale B. Anderson and held him for police. Because of his past conviction, Anderson was charged with one count of felony enhanced retail theft. He is being held in Cook County Jail on $40,000 bail. He has a Nov. 1 Maybrook court date.
Extracting intoxicated man from CTA
An intoxicated patron of the CTA allegedly became belligerent and struck two other riders and battered two Blue Line employees around 4:30 a.m. on Oct. 27. When police arrived, they found the 22-year-old man from Chicago pounding on the locked door of a train car. He had allegedly swung at two transit officers and punched a male passenger and threatened to punch a female rider. Police reported the man was intoxicated and slurred his speech, insisting he loved both “coke” and “Jesus.” Then he allegedly turned aggressive, hurling a racial epithet at officers and “insisting that the officers ‘grab my lizard,'” according to reports. He was arrested and charged with trespassing, two counts of battery, two counts of aggravated assault and resisting arrest.
These items were obtained from the records of the Forest Park Police Department, Oct. 21-27, 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
