Burglaries continue near village’s east end
In the past few weeks, Forest Park police have reported a wave of residential, commercial and vehicle burglaries along Harlem Avenue and blocks directly west of the thoroughfare. Last week, police reported several more.
On June 12, around 1:30 a.m. an onsite camera recorded a man, dressed in black shorts with a red shirt obscuring his face breaking into a business in the 300 block of Harlem Avenue.
The unknown man repeatedly kicked in the glass door before finally crawling through the now-smashed bottom part of the door. The burglar took several tobacco products and exited through the back of the store.
Sometime between 6 p.m. on June 11 and 6 a.m. on June 12, an unknown burglar broke into a business in the 800 block of Harlem Avenue and stole between $100 and $150 from the store’s cash register.
The offender reported gained entry by breaking the glass front door, police reported.
On June 9 around 9:30 p.m. a 41-year-old woman left her house in 1000 block of Elgin Avenue to pick her 13-year-old son up from a class at Living Word Church, 7306 Madison St.
When they returned about a half hour later, her son saw an intruder, who appeared to be a teenager, and chased him out the back door of the house. A LG-G2 cellular phone was reported missing along with loose change.
Around 5 p.m. on June 8, a resident of a home in the 100 block of Marengo returned home to find his screen door slashed. On June 10, he discovered his silver HP laptop computer was missing from a desk inside the home and contacted police.
A resident of the 400 block of Elgin Avenue contacted police on June 8, reporting that during the overnight hours someone gained entry to her 2009 Lincoln and removed an HP laptop computer, case and cords; a pair of sunglasses; and loose change.
Between 1 a.m. and 2:15 a.m. on June 9, someone broke into a white 2009 Toyota 4-Runner parked in the 800 block of Ferdinand Avenue. A $150 Michael Kors purse along with a debit card, keys and an Illinois state I.D. card were taken.
A 60-year-old woman told police that she parked her white 2011 Nissan, unlocked, in the alley behind her residence around 8 p.m. on June 8 on the 1000 block of Dunlop for the night.
The next morning she discovered her iPod Touch was missing from the car.
Smash and grab at mall
On June 11 around 6 p.m., Police officers discovered a broken front window at Ladies and Gentlemen Apparel, 7610 Roosevelt Road, at the Forest Park Plaza shopping center.
Two mannequins, without the display items that usually adorn them, were strewn on the sidewalk. Officers checked the store but discovered no further damage.
Car stolen from dealer
On June 8 around 10:30 a.m., an employee at Currie Motors, 7901 W. Roosevelt Road, told police that a 38-year-old man had walked to buy a blue 2015 Chevy Malibu.
The dealership requested some paperwork from the man in order to complete the sale but allowed the man to drive the Malibu, with a dealer license plate now attached, home to grab the paperwork.
The man never returned.
Cocaine and cash
On June 9 around noon, authorities charged Raymundo Martinez, 48, of Westchester, with four counts of possession of a controlled substance and six counts of delivery of a controlled substance and Steven Pasko, 45, of Forest Park, with one count of possession of a controlled substance.
Officers reported finding several plastic bags containing about 190 grams of cocaine, valued at around $19,000, a scale, several more bags containing many different varieties of pills and $10,000 cash in Martinez’s silver 2011 Cadillac CTS.
Police reported seeing Pasko get into Martinez’s car in front of a liquor store in the 7400 block of Madison Street. The two men drove a short distance into the alley of the 300 block of Burkhardt before Pasko left the car and headed into a backyard. Officers stopped both men and began questioning them.
The two presented conflicting stories and eventually Martinez confessed to selling Pasko one gram of cocaine for $100, police said.
Martinez told officers he was dealing drugs to support his family and consented to a search of his home. No drugs were found at his house, but officers did find $20,020 more in cash.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, June 8-14, 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 Tom Vogel
