Car-jacking call turns out to be bad trip
Forest Park police charged a 32-year-old Romeoville man with filing a false police report after his story about having his car stolen after being threatened by a crowbar-wielding offender turned out to be not exactly the case.
The man called police on Oct. 23 about 7:55 a.m. from the intersection of Harrison and Ferdinand, saying his silver Nissan X-Terra had been hijacked. Police spotted a vehicle matching that description southbound on Circle Avenue at Harvard Street and detained the driver, a 44-year-old Joliet man.
The driver was bleeding from his right hand and told police, “He hit me with a crowbar!”
Meanwhile, police brought the Romeoville man to the scene, where he identified the Nissan driver as the person who had robbed him of his vehicle.
Police interviewed the Joliet man, and he told them that he and the Romeoville man were together at a party in Joliet and that the alleged victim asked him to go to Chicago to buy cocaine.
The two drove to Chicago where the alleged victim made “several” drug transactions, stopping frequently to smoke crack cocaine. At one point the Joliet man took the keys to the vehicle and told his companion that he should drive.
At that point, according to the police report, the Romeoville man went to the rear of the vehicle, got a crowbar and attempted to strike the Joliet man in the head with it. The Joliet man blocked the blow with his hand. When the Romeoville man lost control of the crowbar, he reportedly ran away, at which time the Joliet man got into the vehicle and drove off.
When questioned about what the alleged offender had told police, the Romeoville man reportedly responded, “I need to go; I have to go to work.” Later he admitted the other man’s story was accurate.
Cops: Mom left infant in car
Police charged a 37-year-old Chicago woman with endangering the life of a child after she allegedly left her infant inside a locked 2010 Hyundai in the parking lot at Walmart, 1300 Desplaines Ave., on Oct. 21.
According to the police report, a security guard called police about 5 p.m., reporting that the infant had been sitting inside the vehicle for roughly 20 minutes. The baby’s mother returned to the vehicle at 5:10 p.m. Surveillance camera video showed that the mother was gone from the car for about 25 minutes total.
Police contacted the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services and turned the infant over to another family member.
Burglary to vehicle
Three Chicago boys between the ages of 14 and 17 were charged with burglary to a vehicle after a resident reported seeing one of them inside and two of them standing outside her vehicle, which was parked in the 7700 block of Taylor Street on Oct. 24 about 7 p.m.
According to the police report, the three boys were seen walking in the street, checking car doors. When they reached the witness’ vehicle, they found it unlocked and one got inside while the others acted as lookouts, according to the police report.
The witness called police and scared off the boys by yelling at them. An officer detained the boys in the 800 block of Dunlop Avenue. While none of the boys had any burglary proceeds on them, according to police, one of the boys admitted that they were “looking for change” to get something to eat.
All three offenders were petitioned to juvenile court.
A resident of the 500 block of Elgin Avenue reported, on the morning of Oct. 23, that during the overnight hours, someone entered her 2007 Honda Accord and ransacked it. Nothing appeared to be missing. There were also no signs of forced entry to the vehicle.
A resident of the 500 block of Circle Avenue reported, on the morning of Oct. 23, that someone had entered her 2007 Toyota Corolla, which was parked in an assigned parking spot at the rear of the property.
Items were strewn throughout the interior of the vehicle. The owner told police the vehicle’s doors had been locked, but police reported finding no signs of forced entry.
Missing from the vehicle were a Garmin Nuvi GPS unit, and Magellan GPS unit.
While the officer was investigating the break-in, he reported noticing a Jeep Cherokee with its passenger side door open parked nearby. Items were also strewn about the interior of that vehicle.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Oct. 19-25, 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
