Midnight drunk bagged at CTA stop
Forest Park officers were summoned to remove a belligerent 38-year-old Chicago man, who appeared intoxicated, from the CTA Blue Line stop at 711 Desplaines Ave. around midnight, Jan. 17. CTA security told officers the man had been asked to leave because he had created a disturbance, but he refused. When police told the man he had to depart on an inbound train, he reportedly began “yelling and swearing” at police and CTA staff. When the officer began to put on his gloves because of the cold, the man reportedly took up a boxing stance with his hands up and fists clenched and stated, “I will —- you up, man.” The officer then “performed a tactical takedown” which brought the man to the ground. In spite of refusing to present his hands for handcuffing after being told he was under arrest, the officer, with help from an assisting officer, transported him to the Forest Park station. He was charged with assault and resisting arrest.
Snow prints show path of garage burglar
Police investigating the attempted burglary of a garage in the 600 block of Elgin Avenue, overnight Jan 17-18, noticed footprints in the snow leading from the garage’s kicked-in side service door into the alley. While the door was broken, nothing was found removed. Police noticed the footsteps led from the alley into the side doors of garages or rear doors of 15 different houses in the 600 blocks of Elgin and Marengo. Officers did not find any other garages tampered with or vehicles parked outside damaged. The footprints ended at the end of the alley when they appeared to cross Jackson Boulevard northbound.
A garage in the 600 block of Harlem was entered by unknown persons who forced open the side door sometime on Jan. 18. Offenders damaged a locked car door and ransacked the vehicle. Owners reported they found nothing missing from the vehicle.
Gun stolen from trunk
A man reported his “Hi Point” 9mm handgun and some ammunition were stolen from his 2005 Pontiac, parked in the 600 block of Lathrop, Jan. 19. Police observed tool marks on the car door. The owner said the unknown offenders got into the car and then released the trunk, where the gun was stored. No estimated loss was reported.
Gas station vacuum cleaned out
A service station manager at the Citgo in the 7400 block of Roosevelt Road told police someone cut open a padlock and pried open the cash box on the coin-operated vacuum at the gas station lot, Jan. 20. An estimated $20 was removed.
Walmart employee charged with felony theft
Walmart loss prevention officers told Forest Park police they believe an employee has been stealing money from the store by taking small amounts from fraudulent refunds and putting it on MoneyPak cards. Walmart security said they observed Charniece Haywood, 25, of Chicago, for 10 days between Jan. 8 and 18. During that time, she allegedly loaded $3,682 onto MoneyPak cards to pay her bills and medical expenses. Walmart security staff provided a video with 20 different separate transactions as evidence. In a statement, Haywood told police she started falling behind in paying bills and “taking money from Walmart was the easiest way to pay bills and support my [drug] habit.” She was charged with felony retail theft.
Retail theft
Police were summoned to Ultra Foods where a 44-year-old woman from Riverside was reportedly observed removing groceries from the supermarket without paying while shopping with her husband and two children. Officers confronted the woman in the vestibule and tried to escort her back into the store. The woman broke away and ran out the entrance doors, tripping and falling in the vestibule. She allegedly resisted arrest and when her husband came into the store demanding to know what was going on, she wiggled away and re-entered the store. The woman reportedly “caused a commotion,” allegedly kicking a detective in the leg. En route to the police station, the woman allegedly gave a false name and address. She told police she thought the items she was seen setting aside in a green bag and then placing in her purse were paid for. Her husband was released without charge. Because she had a previous conviction, she was charged with felony retail theft.
Fleeing suspect strikes squad car
A driver who committed several traffic violations around 2 p.m. near Thornton’s gas station, 601 Harlem Ave., Jan. 21, in front of a Forest Park police vehicle was finally stopped after he struck a squad car on Harlem Avenue. The man allegedly was not wearing a seatbelt and failed to signal as he turned into the Thornton’s lot. Seeing the officer nearby, the driver reportedly cut through the Thornton’s lot onto southbound Harlem Avenue and was observed making furtive movements. A squad car pulled beside him in an attempt to make him stop his 1998 Buick Allure. He struck the squad car on the passenger side. Finally, the driver placed his vehicle in park. At first he locked the door and refused to exit but then opened the door and was helped from the vehicle by an officer. A safety patdown turned up nine hypodermic needles and an aluminum can commonly used to “cook” heroin, as well as a white powdery substance. He reportedly told police he had the needles for his diabetes. The 29-year-old Streamwood man was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, criminal damage to government property, failure to signal, seat belt violations and fleeing a police officer.
Snow equipment removed
Someone removed snow removal equipment from the vehicles of a landscaping company parked in the 1400 block of Marengo, overnight Jan. 20-21. A plow worth $6,480 and two snowblowers worth $700 were removed, as well as a salt-spreader worth $2,680, the business owner said.
Burglary to auto
An unlocked car parked in the 800 block of Hannah, overnight Jan. 20-21, was burglarized. Removed were college textbooks and two cellphones, brand new in their boxes that had not been activated. No estimated loss was provided.
A woman said two packages of Mary Kay products worth a total of $800 were removed from her apartment building vestibule area sometime between Jan. 6 and 14.
Tavern mischief
Police responded to the report of a burglary at Chalk tavern, 7414 Madison St., around 1 p.m., Jan. 23. The owner said he opened the doors for a delivery and noticed an open cash register on the counter. Missing from the register was $427.80, the owner said. The door jamb of the side entrance to the bar was broken.
Police broke up a fight with eight men on the sidewalk in front of Doc Ryan’s in the 7400 block of Madison Street around 1:20 a.m., Jan. 25. Two men were taken into custody for fighting after being observed pulling a subject off the sidewalk and punching him. As all parties denied involvement, police arrested the two men, 21 and 27, that they had witnessed behaving violently. The 27-year-old explained how the fight started: “Some guys were talking s— and so they got punched in the mouth and that’s when everyone started fighting.” The two were both issued local ordinance citations for public fighting.
Four young women, 19 and 18, from Elgin, Wheeling, Marseilles and Desplaines, were arrested at Slainte, 7505 Madison St., and charged with underage consumption of alcohol by a minor around 2:45 a.m., Jan. 26. Forest Park police observed them drinking together at a table and asked for identification. Fake IDs were confiscated from two of the women. The bartender was informed about the underage drinkers and said they checked IDs at the door. They agreed to institute a new routine of checking IDs at both the door and the bar for underage drinkers.
These items were obtained from the records of the Forest Park Police Department, Jan. 21-26, 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
