Doggone it! Forgot the pooch
A 25-year-old Forest Park woman said she walked her dog to the gas station at 1200 Hannah Ave. around 8:30 a.m., May 19, and tied it to a fence. She then left the gas station, forgetting her dog and walked home without her canine companion. A concerned citizen summoned the Animal Care League in Oak Park, which took custody of the animal and used a microchip reader to identify the owner. Around 11:30 a.m., the woman told police she remembered where she had left the dog but found it missing from the fence. The animal had no current rabies shots or village license, so the owner was issued a local citation for not having a dog license. She was sent to Oak Park to retrieve her pooch.
Cellphone while driving
A 25-year-old Bellwood man was observed by Forest Park police speaking into a cellphone while driving, on May 19 around noon. As he tried to turn southbound onto Harlem Avenue from the 7200 block of Dixon Street. Police curbed the car, and the driver reportedly said he was a tradesman who was talking on the cellphone because “his boss had given him another job to do in Oak Park.” Police observed paint rollers and tools in the 1999 Honda Accord. He was issued three local ordinance tickets for failing to have a driver’s license or proof of insurance as well as talking on the phone while driving. The Honda was towed for an administrative hold but the driver was able to retrieve his tools to finish his work.
Police curbed a 23-year-old Maywood woman who was allegedly driving while speaking into a cellphone around 12:30 p.m., May 19, near Madison Street and Thomas Avenue. The driver was found to have a suspended license due to “financial reasons.” Her 2009 Kia Sportage was towed for an administrative hold, and she was issued local ordinance citations for unlawful use of a cellphone while driving and suspended/revoked license.
Failure to yield
Around 3:40 p.m. at Madison Street and Hannah Avenue, police stopped a 25-year-old Elmwood Park man, who drove his 1999 Ford through the pedestrian crossing just as a woman was trying to cross the street. The driver was given a local ordinance citation for failure to yield.
Lunchbreak at the CTA
At 3 p.m. May 14, a 50-year-old Chicago woman reportedly entered the employee-only lunch area of the CTA station and began “yelling and screaming” at employees, insisting she was “trying to go to college.” Instead she went to the Forest Park police station, where she was issued a local ordinance citation for criminal trespass.
Bike hardware switcheroo
A woman told police she parked her Trek mountain bicycle at the CTA Blue Line station, 711 Desplaines Ave. around 6 a.m., May 19. When she returned around 4:45 p.m., she noticed her front and back LED flashing lights were missing and her bike seat had been removed and replaced with another, inferior seat. Total loss was reported as $100.
An unsecured children’s Mongoose bicycle was removed from a rear yard in the 500 block of Hannah Avenue, sometime between May 18-19, the child’s mother reported. Loss was $150.
Cellphone snatchings
A woman told police she was riding the westbound Blue Line el around 4 a.m., May 21, “listening to her iPhone.” Three unknown men entered the train car at the Harlem station and allegedly snatched the phone from her hands and fled the train just as the doors closed. Loss was estimated at $200.
A woman told police she left her Cricket phone unattended at the Forest Park Public Library, 7555 W. Jackson Blvd., around 3:47 p.m., May 21. When she returned to the study table, the phone was gone. Surveillance video showed a male wearing a white baseball cap picking up the phone and fleeing the library eastbound on Jackson Boulevard. Estimated loss was $60.
Rummage, ransack and run
A man in the 500 block of Marengo Avenue told police he looked out of his back window around 6:30 p.m., May 21, and saw two young men entering his 78-year-old neighbor’s car parked behind her house. He said the two young men exited the car and ran westbound on Adams Street from Elgin Avenue. Police caught up to an 18-year-old fitting the description of one of the offenders, who was running and sweating profusely. When ordered to stop, the man swore at the officers and tried to wriggle away while being handcuffed. “It took the threat of being tased before [the man] was cuffed,” reports said. The car was found to be ransacked, but nothing of value had been taken. Meanwhile, police found another 16-year-old subject nearby who was identified because he was wearing sandals with socks. The two were charged with criminal trespass to vehicle, and the older was also charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The minor was released to the custody of a relative.
Girl fight
A feud between an 18-year-old woman and a 21-year-old woman who have known each other since childhood turned into a battery charge for one after the two encountered each other, with friends, around 12:15 a.m., May 22, near the 7500 block of Harrison Street. The two had exchanged harsh words at Navy Pier previously, but when they met each other again in Forest Park, witnesses said the 18-year-old at first passed the victim but then turned around and attacked, allegedly scratching her face and arm. The alleged attacker and her group fled the area. Police arrested her at her Forest Park home and was issued a local ordinance ticket for battery.
Biting shoplifter
Police were summoned to Walmart, 1300 Desplaines Avenue, after a 21-year-old Riverdale woman was reportedly observed stuffing $118.14 worth of merchandise into her purse around 9:40 p.m., May 22. She then allegedly tried to leave without paying. When loss prevention security staff tried to stop her by grabbing her shopping cart, she allegedly bit the security guard and fled in a 1995 Mercury. Forest Park police caught up with her northbound on Desplaines Avenue. She was charged with retail theft and battery.
Catalytic converter
A van left in the parking lot east of McGaffer’s in the 7700 block of Roosevelt Road had a catalytic converter removed with a cutting tool sometime between May 16 and 19. This is the second incident of catalytic converter theft from this parking lot. Another incident occurred in March.
Garage burglary
A woman told police someone broke into her closed but unlocked garage in the 1100 block of Thomas Avenue, overnight May 18-19, and ransacked the 2011 Jeep parked inside. She said she left her purse inside the car containing two wallets with driver’s license, social security card, debit and credit cards, as well as a wallet filled with gift cards for Home Depot, Barnes & Noble, and Oberweiss. No total amount was given as missing. Police advised her to fix her garage-locking mechanism.
These items were obtained from the records of the Forest Park Police Department, May 19-23, 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
