Man threatened, beaten with handgun in garage
A man told police he was pistol-whipped and threatened with a handgun to his head around 5:10 p.m. on April 6 in the alley behind the 100 block of Marengo. He said he observed two men walking through the alley as he was entering his garage to retrieve things from the trunk of his car. He told police he greeted the men, and then turned into his garage to open the car trunk. Allegedly, the men came up behind him and one produced a black semi-automatic handgun and pointed it at the victim’s head. They then attempted to push the man back further into his garage, he told police, but he began to resist and yell. At that point, the armed man allegedly turned him around and beat him on the back of his head with the gun, which caused a large gash. According to reports, the victim continued to yell, at which point a neighbor came to the alley and witnessed the two offenders running southbound. None of the victim’s property was taken, police reported. Another neighbor also told police she saw the men running eastbound on Dixon and then southbound on Elgin. A police search of the area yielded no results.
Residential burglary
Neighbors in the 300 block of Desplaines Avenue summoned police, April 7, after they noticed the door to an apartment in their building appeared to have been pried open while the occupant was in the hospital. Police said the lock plate had been pried away and there was a large hole in the door and numerous wood chips on the floor. Neighbors said the man’s residence had been burglarized during a previous hospital stay in 2011. When the apartment owner returned home, he told police the following items were missing: Two Panasonic Blu-Ray players, a HP laptop, a coffee can containing quarters and another container of change.
Disturbance at Dunkin Donuts
Forest Park police responded to a disturbance outside Dunkin Donuts, 7200 Circle Ave., around 1:30 a.m. on April 1, where a 25-year-old Chicago man was flinging garbage outside the establishment. The man told police he was angry that employees had told him that buses ran at that time, but they were wrong. A name-check revealed he had an open warrant from Montgomery police for a violation of a court order. He was arrested and served with an in-state warrant.
Damage to motor vehicles
Someone smashed the passenger window of a 1998 Ford Explorer parked overnight, April 1, in the 800 block of Hannah Avenue. The car and glove compartment were ransacked, but the owner found nothing immediately missing.
The back window of a white 2001 Suzuki Esteem was smashed in with a rock, overnight April 6-7, in the 400 block of Elgin. The owner did not report anything missing.
Someone broke into a 2010 Kia parked in the 7200 block of Roosevelt Road, overnight April 6-7, and ransacked the interior.
Someone smashed the passenger-side window of a Dodge truck parked in the 7300 block of Jackson Boulevard with a landscaping brick, overnight April 5-6.
Falls asleep in cab, wakes up under arrest
Forest Park police responded to a call of a cab passenger who was refusing to pay his fare at Harlem Avenue and Harrison Street around 4 a.m. on April 5. The passenger, a 31-year-old Forest Park man reportedly asked to be driven to Forest Park, then announced he was not paying his fare and fell asleep, the driver said. Forest Park officers observed the man asleep in the back seat of the taxi and when they woke him up, observed that he allegedly seemed intoxicated. The passenger provided officers with his ID and a credit card to pay the fare. Officers ran a name check and discovered he had an outstanding warrant from Will County and was arrested and charged with an in-state warrant.
Teen in tavern has stolen wallet and ID
A police officer recognized a youth he knew to be underage entering Chalk Tavern, 7414 Madison St., around 1:40 a.m. on April 7. When the officer entered the bar, the youth attempted to leave. The officer advised him that he was not 21, and he reportedly said, “Yes I am,” then pulled from a wallet the driver’s license of another person. Recognizing him from previous encounters, the officer advised him to provide his true identification. The teen said he did not have it. He was placed in custody and taken to the Forest Park Police Station. He allegedly told police he had been in an altercation with the owner of the wallet earlier in the day and “felt that he was ‘losing,’ so he took [the victim’s] wallet.” He said he took everything in the wallet and used the license to gain entry to the tavern. Police contacted the wallet’s owner, who confirmed the two had been in a fight earlier and didn’t realize his wallet was missing. The youth was charged with a local ordinance violation.
These items were obtained from the records of the Forest Park Police Department, April 1-7, 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.
