Cash pocketed at Kmart
Police were called to Kmart around 4:20 p.m., Nov. 3, after security staff observed a 20-year-old female cashier allegedly removing currency from her cash-register drawer and stuffing it in a back pocket. The woman, from Cicero, tried to leave the store for the day but was stopped. Surveillance video reportedly confirmed the attempt. Police recovered $150 and charged her with theft.
Heroin bust
Police observed a 2001 red Mercury, which failed to make a complete stop at Harlem and Lexington around 8:40 p.m., Nov. 4. The officer observed the female driver, age 21 from Bolingbrook, making furtive movements with her hands near the center console. Through tears, the driver explained she didn’t have insurance and wanted to “get home to her kids.” That was the least of her problems, as she was driving on a suspended license, and a purse in the center console was found to contain a pink wallet stuffed with baggies of heroin weighing one gram. The 19-year-old passenger insisted the driver had shoved the narcotics-filled wallet into her purse. Police released the passenger without charge, but charged the driver with possession of a controlled substance.
CTA buttock-grabber returns
CTA personnel called police when they recognized a 30-year-old Chicago man at the 711 Desplaines Ave. Blue Line Terminus as someone who had allegedly grabbed the buttocks of a 22-year-old customer on Oct. 21. He had been warned not to show his face again but returned Nov. 5 around 1:15 a.m. Cops took him into custody and charged him with trespassing.
Catalytic converter stolen
A 70-year-old man reported that the catalytic converter on his 2006 Lexus had been removed with a cutting tool, overnight Oct. 31-Nov. 1. The car had been parked in the 1000 block of Desplaines Avenue. The repair cost $2,100.
Laptop, cash from unlocked car
An employee of Thornton’s gas station, 601 Harlem Ave, the owner of a Ford SUV, said he parked at the station around 2:20 p.m., Nov. 6, and went to work, leaving his car unlocked. When he returned to the vehicle, a Toshiba laptop and a wallet containing credit cards were missing. Also gone were a driver’s license and GPS unit. Video surveillance showed two men who strolled into the parking lot, tried the door of his parked car, opened it and waltzed away with his belongings.
Friends don’t fight friends in front of cops
A 28-year-old River Forest man drove to Madison Street and Thomas Avenue to pick up his 32-year-old Oak Park buddy who was reportedly too intoxicated to drive around 8:50 p.m. on Nov. 7. The driver maneuvered his 2001 Lincoln into Constitution Court, directly in front of a squad car. The officer watched as two doors opened and the two exited the car and began to fight. The officer exited his car and tried to speak to the two, who were still throwing punches and striking each other. The officer arrested both.
Road rage
A 65-year-old man told police a North Riverside man, driving a red 2013 Ford Explorer, accidentally cut him off as he drove his 2000 Pontiac southbound on Desplaines Avenue near Roosevelt Road around 3 p.m., Nov. 8. The driver of the Pontiac allegedly hurled a water bottle at the Explorer’s car, at which point the Explorer driver exited his car with a stick intending to thump him. Police arrived just in time to issue them both a ticket for fighting.
Selecting funeral gifts
Bernard U. Jones, 40, of Chicago was observed at Walmart, 1300 Desplaines Ave., around 5 p.m., Nov. 8, allegedly removing jewelry, watches and cellphones from displays and concealing them on his person. Security pounced when he exited the store with $508.88 worth of merchandise. He told police he stole items to give as gifts at several funerals he planned to attend. He was charged with felony retail theft over $300.
Transportation stolen
An 11-year-old Forest Park resident locked his Huffy bike to the Forest Park Public Library bike rack around 1 p.m., Nov. 8, from which it disappeared. His mother filed a police report.
A 2002 Chevy Aveo was stolen from the parking lot of R Place in the 1500 block of Harlem. The victim who owned the car said he left a spare set of keys inside the vehicle in case he got locked out. He also lost a key to his apartment.
Speeding cellphone user nabbed
Police clocked a Lake Station, Indiana woman, age 22, tooling down Harlem in a 2006 Ford Taurus, at 52 miles per hour in a 30 mph zone around 6 a.m., Nov. 9. The officer noticed she had a cellphone in her hand. She said she had no license because she left “in a hurry” but officers eventually got her real name. When they did, they realized she was wanted for allegedly shoplifting in Hobarth Indiana, failure to appear on a prostitution charge in Elk Grove Village, and a battery arrest in Lake Station. She was held for neighboring police personnel.
These items were obtained from the records of the Forest Park Police Department, Nov. 3-9, 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
Contact:
Email: jlotus@forestparkreview.com
Twitter: @FP_Review
