The New Year shoplifting list at Walmart
A beef tongue, anchovies, a package of thyme spice and sink cleaner were the items found stuffed into the jacket of a 46-year-old Forest Park man, who allegedly shoplifted the groceries from Walmart around 5:30 p.m., Jan 1. Security guards recognized him from previous shoplifting encounters. He was arrested and charged with retail theft.
Meanwhile, a female Walmart customer allegedly stuffed 14 items worth $332.83 into her backpack around 6 p.m., Jan. 2. These included an accordion binder, two NBA jersey shorts, lotion, two Bluetooth Headphones, Oil Sheen, pens, a cellphone and a hand mirror. Store security said she tried to leave the store after ringing up only one item at the self-checkout. When she was taken into custody, she reportedly told Forest Park police she was planning to sell half the items and keep the rest. Because the value of the items was over $300, Yazmin N. Renteria, 22, of Berwyn, was charged with felony retail theft.
SUV occupants, passed out
Forest Park police responded to First Avenue and Bataan Parkway in Maywood after getting a call around 8:45 a.m., Dec. 30, that three people were passed out in a 2000 Kia Sportage blocking the roadway. An ambulance was dispatched and police arrested a sleepy male driver, age 40, from Chicago, who was slumped at the wheel of the running vehicle. Two other passengers were passed out drunk. Emergency medical personnel treated all three and one woman was taken to Loyola Hospital. The driver was issued tickets for DUI, suspended license and obstructing the roadway.
New Year’s antics nipped
A passing officer patrolling Madison Street on New Year’s Eve around 1:40 a.m. saw a young man acting as if he were going to start a fight in front of 7421 Madison St. Even though it was 12 degrees outside, the man removed his jacket and threw it to the ground. When questioned, a relative of the jacketless pugilist said there was no trouble. The young man, from Forest Park, turned out to only be 19, intoxicated and carrying an altered fake ID. He was arrested and charged with underage drinking.
Two 21-year-old Oak Park men were arrested after police saw them throwing a 10-inch Christmas tree ornament back and forth across Madison Street around 1:20 a.m., Jan. 3. They were charged with standing in the roadway and interfering with traffic.
Garage burglary thwarted
Police said a woman recovering from surgery took too long to hobble to the front door after the doorbell rang at a residence in the 100 block of Lathrop Avenue around 12:10 p.m., Dec. 31. Through the window, she saw an unknown man walk behind her house and observed a 1995 Silver Oldsmobile Aurora parked in front of her house. Then she heard the rear porch door of her home opening. She thought it was her husband coming to take her out to lunch, but he walked in the front door. The husband went to the back of the house and saw two unidentified men standing in his yard trying to open his garage service door. He shouted and the men fled. Police could not find the offenders, who did not gain entry to the house or garage.
A man told police his sister’s purse and his wallet were taken from an apartment in the 400 block of Marengo Avenue sometime overnight, Jan 2-3. Total loss was not provided.
Vandalism
Someone threw a shot glass and broke a front plate glass window at Starship Subs, 7618 Madison St., around 2:20 a.m., Jan 3. Damage amount was not given.
Between Dec. 29 and 31, someone punctured three of four tires on a 1996 Jeep Cherokee parked in the 300 block of Marengo Avenue. Estimated damage was not immediately available.
Catalytic converter thefts
Dec. 30-31, someone cut the catalytic converter off a 2001 Jeep Cherokee parked in the municipal lot at Beloit Avenue south of Madison Street.
Another catalytic converter was removed from a 1999 Jeep Cherokee parked in the 500 block of Ferdinand Avenue also between Dec. 30 and 31.
Pot smoke, loud party
Forest Park police had to slide two citations under the door of an apartment where a loud party was taking place in the 1000 block of Beloit Avenue in the early hours of New Year’s Day. Officers answered complaints around 2 a.m. about the smell of marijuana and loud music. The 53-year-old male resident of the apartment, whom officers have ticketed before, refused to open the door to officers or turn down the music.
Patrol nabs driver with DUI history
Around 2:20 p.m., Jan. 3, a Forest Park officer patrolling the I-290 expressway noticed a problem with the license plate holder on a 1999 Chevy Express van. When he ran the plate, the picture resembled the driver, a man with several driving-with-license-revoked convictions for DUI. Kiwun D. McDonald, 31, of Hillside, told police he was on his way to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago to take alcohol classes to get his license back. Due to his past history of arrests, he was charged with felony aggravated driving with license revoked. The Chevy was seized.
These items were obtained from the records of the Forest Park Police Department, Dec. 30-Jan. 3, 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
