Cop chase through funeral procession
Officers observed a 30-year-old Chicago man stopping traffic for a funeral procession with his 2006 Chevy Trailblazer by parking to block westbound traffic at Roosevelt Road and Desplaines Avenue around 12:45 p.m. July 24. When officers activated lights and siren to alert the driver to pull out of traffic, he instead drove off west on Roosevelt at a high rate of speed, passing other cars in the procession on the right and then pressing back into the funeral procession. Officers pulled up next to the driver and ordered him verbally to pull over, but he refused and sped through a stoplight at Roosevelt and 5th Avenue in Maywood. He then reentered the procession and his car rear-ended another vehicle around Roosevelt and 9th. Officers stopped the procession and took him into custody. He was charged with 11 traffic violations including two counts of aggravated fleeing to elude an officer.
Open up and say ‘Ah’
Forest Park police curbed a Nissan around midnight July 21 near Elgin Avenue and Fillmore Street after observing the car leaving the 7-Eleven parking lot without turning on headlights. The driver from Oak Park said he forgot to activate them. A familiar odor wafted from the Nissan and the officer took a second look at an 18-year-old front seat passenger, who had flecks of green leaves on his shirt and appeared to be chewing something. He insisted it was “gum” but when asked to open his mouth, it was filled with a green leafy substance, which turned out to be cannabis. He was issued a local ordinance citation.
Commute with a view
Around 8:30 a.m. July 25, a taxi driver at the Blue Line CTA station, 711 Desplaines Ave., pointed out to officers that a 53-year-old Chicago man had unzipped his pants and was fondling his privates in plain view in front of the station. The cab driver said he’d observed the same public behavior from the man on numerous occasions. Officers took him into custody and discovered he had four prior convictions for public indecency. He was charged with one felony count of public indecency. Police found he had 167 prior arrests and 70 convictions. The offender is currently at the Cook County Jail with a bond set at $150,000.
Who’s the blind one?
Officers observed a 25-year-old driver fail to stop for a pedestrian with a cane for the blind in the crosswalk at Harlem Avenue and Adams Street around 12:18 p.m. July 26. The driver failed to yield and then pulled into the crosswalk and cut him off. The pedestrian had to walk out of the crosswalk and around the vehicle. The driver claimed she did not see the pedestrian. She was issued a local ordinance citation for failure to yield.
Hit and run
Police arrested a 49-year-old Maywood woman July 27 after a driver told them she had crashed her 1998 Pontiac Bonneville into a Toyota Highlander around Jackson Boulevard and Desplaines Avenue at 1:30 p.m. and then drove away. Cops caught up with the Bonneville around 9th Avenue and Roosevelt Road. She was charged with hit and run.
Stealing booze from work
A 54-year-old Famous Liquors employee was arrested July 27 after a manager confirmed that he had been hiding bottles of liquor in the men’s room garbage can and smuggling them out after work when he took out the garbage. Police recovered from the employee’s backpack: a bottle of Courvoisier cognac, three bottles of Hennessy whisky, three bottles of Remy Martin and two bottles of Circoc. He told police he was stealing liquor to sell to a friend to pay some bills. He was charged with retail theft and told not to return to the store.
Theft and burglary
A secured men’s 18-speed Free Spirit mountain bike was removed from the bike rack at the CTA Blue Line between 3:15 p.m. and midnight July 21. Value was estimated at $200.
Persons unknown broke into a garage in the 600 block of Hannah Avenue overnight July 21. An unlocked vehicle was ransacked and a pair of children’s ice skates and a bike were missing.
Someone removed a catalytic converter from a Honda Element parked in the 600 block of Elgin between 3:30 and 4:40 p.m. July 23.
A 2003 Toyota Corolla reported stolen by a resident in the 1000 block of Circle Avenue between 6 and 9 p.m. July 27 was possibly repossessed, the victim told police, noting he was not current on the car loan.
These items were obtained from the records of the Forest Park Police Department, July 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
This article has been updated to correct the charges for the man in “Communte with a view” who was charged with one count of felony public indecency.
