Man snatches register drawer in 7-Eleven robbery
Employees told police a man entered the 7-Eleven, 205 Harlem Ave., around 3:30 a.m., Jan. 11 and bought nothing. He returned around 4 a.m. and asked the price of bananas. When he took out a dollar to pay for bananas, the clerk said he walked around the counter, implied he had a weapon and demanded, “Don’t look at me, open the register, open the drawer and don’t look at me.”
He reached into the register and grabbed the entire cash drawer, the clerk told police. He then tried, and failed, to stuff it into a backpack. Holding the drawer in his hand, he threatened the clerk telling him not to call the cops. Police checked the alley near Randolph Street where the employee saw him flee but could not find anyone. They will continue the investigation with surveillance tapes from the store.
Attempted burglary
Around 4:40 p.m., Jan. 5, an apartment front door was discovered to have been forced open in the 1000 block of Ferdinand Avenue. The resident told police she checked her home and nothing appeared to have been ransacked or removed.
Beater at the carwash
Around 10:30 a.m., Jan. 6, Forest Park police were summoned to Premier Car Wash, 901 Harlem Ave. A 29-year-old Berwyn woman who had been convicted at Maybrook courthouse of battering a 21-year-old car wash employee followed the complainant, according to witnesses, to his place of work in her 2002 Chrysler Sebring. By the time police arrived, she had parked the car so it was blocking the business driveway and was standing at the bus stop. Cops ran her plate and found she had a suspended license. The Sebring was towed and she was taken into custody, reportedly in a foul mood. The Sebring was also found to have multiple parking violations in Forest Park and was on the boot list.
Catalytic converter theft
A catalytic converter was sawed off a 2004 Chevy Cavalier left in the employee parking lot at Curry Motors, 8401 Roosevelt Rd., during the morning of Jan 8. Surveillance video showed an older model Chevy Malibu or Impala driving onto the lot and then driving away. Offenders weren’t clearly visible in the video. Forest Park police are continuing to investigate.
Permit peeled
A woman told Forest Park police that someone peeled the village of Forest Park parking permit off her husband’s truck while it was parked in the 400 block of Hannah Avenue in a village lot, sometime between Jan. 8-9. She said the same thing had happened in December of 2013.
No-joy ride
A 40-year-old Chicago man left his 2008 Chevy Tahoe running, unlocked and unattended in the parking lot of the 7-Eleven in the 7700 block of Roosevelt Road around 4:40 a.m., Jan. 10. While inside the convenience store, he saw his Chevy pulling away and ran outside only to see it heading north on Desplaines Avenue. Officers observed the car heading toward I-290 and curbed the driver at Kostner and Cermak. The 40-year-old Chicago man who took the car said he had “escaped” from Hines VA Hospital and was suicidal and had PTSD. At the Forest Park police station, the owner identified the car and officers checked with Hines personnel who confirmed the man had “walked away” from the hospital. They agreed to take him back to Hines. Once he got his car back, the victim declined to press charges.
Steak knife scuffle with officer
Around 4 p.m., Jan. 11, an officer was asked to escort a 24-year-old woman to her former apartment in the 7300 block of 14th Street to remove some personal items because she had an order of protection against the 24-year-old male who lived there. When the ex arrived home, he allegedly became agitated when told he couldn’t speak to the woman removing her belongings. When he began to yell at an officer, he was asked to leave the building. On the way out the door, he reportedly picked up a steak knife and held it in an “ice pick” grip, prompting the officer to grab his wrist and then take him into custody. He was charged with reckless conduct.
These items were obtained from the records of the Forest Park Police Department, Jan 4-11, 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
