Semi-skitching sans snow
Around 2:15 a.m. on Nov. 20, police on routine patrol observed a man jump onto the back of a moving 18-wheeler tractor/trailer traveling eastbound on Franklin Avenue from Desplaines Ave. The man dismounted from his perch on the semi when it turned into Farmington Meats. An officer asked the man what he was doing and observed that he appeared highly intoxicated. When asked for identification, the 32-year-old man from Waukegan allegedly yelled, “Harassment, harassment, harassment!” and then reportedly yelled, “Arrest me. Arrest me.” He produced identification but then began to swear at the officer, “making offensive gestures with both hands as he did a little dance,” according to police reports. He then allegedly told police, “Why don’t you go beat on some black man!”
When informed he was free to leave, the man continued his profanity as the officer drove away. When the squad turned a corner, the man appeared at Franklin and Lathrop and allegedly jumped into the middle of the street, directly in front of the squad car. The officer hit the brakes and swerved to the right to avoid hitting him. The man reportedly continued to move so as to be in front of the police vehicle. The officer exited the squad, handcuffed the man and took him into custody. He was charged with reckless conduct and given a local ordinance ticket for public intoxication.
Road rage overflows in coffee shop
A squabble over a parking spot in the 7200 block of Madison ended in an altercation in the Starbuck’s line around 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 20. A man told police a woman had almost caused an accident while parking her car on Elgin. The two encountered each other in the coffee shop, where they began to argue, staff told police. The man claimed the woman hit him with her cane. She told police he threatened her, allegedly saying, “You fat f— b—-, I’ll beat you senseless.” Baristas told police they saw the man shove the woman, causing her to fall backwards onto her buttocks. The woman, who told police she suffers from a variety of disabilities, declined medical attention. The man was arrested and charged with battery.
I have a gun, you know
CTA employees summoned police around 10:30 p.m. on Nov. 21 when a 54-year-old Chicago man reportedly would not exit the train. The man, whom police said appeared intoxicated, allegedly told officers, “I have a gun and I will shoot you.” He reportedly raised his hand up to his chest near a pocket of his jacket and an officer grabbed his hand. “I have a gun, you know,” the man repeated. He was placed in custody and a search revealed he did not have a weapon. He was charged with a local ordinance citation for aggravated assault.
Pepper-sprayed at USA Beverage
A man who got into an argument with the cashier at USA Beverage in the 7200 block of Madison Street ended up pepper-sprayed in the eyes by the store’s security officer after he allegedly called the cashier an expletive and refused to leave the store around 1:40 a.m. on Nov. 23. Forest Park police arrived at the liquor store and found the 33-year-old Chicago man handcuffed and recovering from pepper spray. He told police he asked the clerk if she was “having a nice Thanksgiving” and that the security guard refused the man service. The security guard told police he pepper-sprayed the man after he said he was “not afraid of police” and stepped up to him, “going chest to chest with him,” which gave the guard the sense that he was going to receive a beating, according to reports. The man was transported to Forest Park police station charged with disorderly conduct.
Electronics, jewelry stolen
Person(s) unknown broke into a house in the 1000 block of Harlem via a broken basement window and removed electronic games, a laptop, an iPod, gold jewelry, cash and a cellphone Nov. 21-24. Loss was estimated at more than $6,000.
U-Haul loses another catalytic converter
Managers at the U-Haul, 801 Harlem Ave., told police that a catalytic converter had been removed from a Ford Clubwagon E350 cargo van sometime between Nov. 16 and Nov. 23.
These items were obtained from the records of the Forest Park Police Department, Nov. 20-24, 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.
