Just out of jail, man caught with stolen handgun
A 21-year-old Chicago man wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet around his ankle was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, which is a felony, after a Forest Park police officer found him in possession of a stolen Glock 22 .40 caliber handgun with an extended 29-round capacity magazine during a traffic stop on April 17.
A police officer monitoring traffic in a gas station at Harlem Avenue and Randolph Street reported seeing a 1996 Honda cut through the gas station to avoid a red light and head north on Harlem Avenue.
The officer pulled the car over in the 600 block of Harlem Avenue, and the officer reported seeing the passenger, later identified as Oneal, reaching under the front seat as if to conceal something.
In addition, the police officer detected the odor of cannabis coming from inside the vehicle. When he asked Oneal to step outside the vehicle, Oneal reportedly exited the vehicle and tried to run away but was tackled by the officer.
Another police officer who arrived as backup reported discovering the handgun under the seat where Oneal had been sitting. Police also reported recovered a bag containing a small amount of cannabis inside the car.
Oneal reportedly told the officer he had been released from Illinois Department of Corrections custody on April 10 and had obtained the gun two days later “for protection.”
According to police, the handgun was reported stolen out of St. Louis in 2012.
Apartment burglarized
Forest Park police were called to an apartment building in the 1500 block of Harlem Avenue on April 16 by a resident who reported that someone had broken into her unit while she was at work.
The 25-year-old victim told police she left for work at 8:40 a.m. When she returned around 5 p.m., she walked in and discovered that her apartment had been ransacked and her wedding ring, a black backpack, and about $500 in cash were missing.
Police said there were signs of forced entry to the rear door of the unit, and there were pry marks found on the front door and frame.
The wedding ring reportedly was valued at approximately $1,600.
Drug arrest
Three northwest suburban men between the ages of 18 and 21 — two from Hoffman Estates and one from Streamwood — were cited for possession of cannabis, and a 19-year-old Hoffman Estates man was charged with possession of 29.7 grams of cannabis after a police officer reported smelling the odor coming from a 2015 Honda sedan at Thornton’s gas station, 601 Harlem Ave., on April 18 at 5:20 p.m.
The three men ticketed by police possessed between 2 and 9 grams of cannabis, and police also found hundreds of plastic bags, commonly used to package cannabis for sale, inside the car.
Bike stolen from open garage
A resident of the 7200 block of Franklin Street called police on April 18 to report that between noon and 5 p.m. on that day, someone removed a silver men’s Raleigh 400 bicycle from his garage.
The overhead door to the garage was open, according to the police report. The bike was valued at roughly $400.
Vehicle break-ins
A resident of the 7300 block of Randolph Street contacted police on April 16 to report that, during the overnight hours of April 15-16, someone forced down the driver’s side window of her 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee to gain entry to the vehicle, which was parked in the lot at the Citgo gas station across the street from her residence.
Taken from the rear area of the vehicle was a boys X Games NFS 10 BMX-style bicycle. The bike was described as being black with white lettering and red tires.
The general manager of U-Haul, 801 Harlem Ave., called Forest Park police on April 14 to report that between March 25 and April 8 someone removed the rear license plate from a GMC Savannah van that the company uses as a rental vehicle.
SUV stolen from school lot
An 18-year-old woman, who is a student at Proviso Math and Science Academy, 8601 Roosevelt Road, called police on April 16 to report that someone had stolen her green 1997 Chevy Tahoe, which she parked in the parking lot of the school about 7:40 a.m. that day.
The vehicle was left in the lot north of the school, according to the police report, where there reportedly are no cameras covering the area. On March 31, someone removed the catalytic converter from a different vehicle, which was parked in the northwest corner of the same parking lot.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, April 13-19, and represent a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Unless otherwise indicated, anybody named in these reports has only been charged with a crime. These cases have not been adjudicated.
—Compiled by Bob Uphues
