Forest Park man charged with possessing child porn
A 49-year-old Forest Park man faces charges that he electronically transmitted sexually explicit images of children under the age 13 from two different email addresses and possessed more images of child pornography on his personal computer.
Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, on Sept. 19, announced the arrest of Eric Whealdon, who has been charged with one count of possessing child pornography, following a joint investigation by Forest Park police and the Cook County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
Whealdon appeared in bond court in Chicago on Sept. 19, where Judge Laura Sullivan set his bond at $20,000. He was scheduled to appear at the Maybrook courthouse for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 22.
According to a press release issued by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, the investigation began after the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children learned that Whealdon “had emailed multiple images of child pornography containing sexually explicit images of children under the age of 13.”
That information was passed along to the state’s attorney’s office, which worked with Forest Park police on the investigation. Police traced the email to a home Whealdon was renting.
On Sept. 16, officers searched the residence and reported recovering Whealdon’s computer, which allegedly contained “multiple images of child pornography.”
Woman robbed at Jackson/Beloit
A woman in her 20s was robbed of her purse as she was walking down Jackson Boulevard and near Beloit Avenue on Sept. 15 about 8:40 p.m., Forest Park police have reported.
The woman told police she was walking eastbound on Jackson Boulevard when she approached two men walking westbound. One of the subjects, who was described as a black male in his 20s, with somewhat “spiked” dreadlocks and wearing a dark blue, hooded sweatshirt and dark cargo shorts, allegedly grabbed the woman’s purse and wrestled it away, knocking her to the ground.
He fled northbound through the Beloit/Thomas alley and then eastbound through a backyard. The other subject, described as a black male in his 20s with short, curly hair, a goatee and wearing a red shirt and khaki pants, reportedly stayed in the area and spoke briefly with the victim after the robbery before leaving the scene.
Police located the purse in the yard of a residence in the 500 block of Thomas Avenue. The only thing missing from the purse was a men’s style wallet, which contained about $40 in cash, credit cards and identification.
The wallet, which contained the victim’s driver’s license, was found by an unknown female the following day by a garage in the 400 block of Hannah Avenue and dropped off at the police department.
Shortly after the robbery, police detained a man who matched the description given to them by the victim. But the victim could not positively identify the man as her attacker and he was released without being charged.
Credit card fraud
A Forest Park man suspected of using stolen credit card numbers in order to make purchases totaling more than $68,000 from Chicago-area Walmart stores was arrested Sept. 15 after he walked out of the Walmart at 1300 Desplaines Ave. with a 60-inch flat panel TV he had just picked up.
Walmart Global Security contacted Forest Park police on Sept. 15 about 1:15 p.m. to let them know that Demetrius Wilson, 34, was suspected of engaging in numerous fraudulent online transactions and that he was now inside the Forest Park Walmart, waiting in line to pick up a TV he had ordered online earlier that day.
Police arrived at the scene as Wilson, wearing a dark CTA hat and a neon vest, was completing his purchase. As Wilson approached a 2012 Chevy Malibu parked directly in front of the store, police moved in and arrested him.
According to police, Wilson had made the online purchase using a credit card number belonging to a Peoria resident. Walmart investigators also provided Forest Park police with evidence of two fraudulent purchases at the Forest Park Walmart, which took place in late August. All of the purchases were for 60-inch Vizio flat-panel TVs.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office approved charging Wilson with one count of continuing a financial crimes enterprise, a felony.
Burglary to vehicle
A Forest Park man called police on Sept. 21 to report that during the overnight hours, someone had removed the Pioneer DVD/CD/radio from his 2011 Subaru Impreza, which was parked in the 7300 block of Dixon Street. Also taken was a pair of gray Adidas gym shoes. There were no signs of forced entry, police said.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department and Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, Sept. 13-21, 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
