Elderly man claims he was robbed of cash

Forest Park police are investigating a claim by an 82-year-old man that two people forced him — at one point allegedly threatening him with violence — to empty his bank accounts in exchange for a large sum of money the two claimed to have inherited.

Though the man claimed to have been robbed, the description of the incident also has the mark of a common “pigeon drop” scheme, where a victim is promised money, only to be scammed out his own. Victims are often elderly.

The incident occurred on Nov. 24 about 4 p.m. outside Walmart, 1300 Desplaines Ave., according to police. The victim told police he was exiting his vehicle in the parking lot of the store when he was approached by a dark-skinned black female, about 45 years old and wearing a red coat and some type of headwear and a middle-aged black male, standing about 6-foot-3, wearing a greyish brown jacket and cap. The subject reportedly spoke with an “African” accent.

The male subject reportedly told the victim about inheriting a large sum of money and needing someone with a bank account to deposit some of it. At one point, the male subject reportedly said to the victim, “You need to do what I’m telling you because I have a gun.”

According to the police report, the victim was forced to drive the two subjects to the BMO Harris Bank branch at Roosevelt Road and 23rd Avenue in Broadview. There, the victim reportedly was told to withdraw all of his money and give it to the male subject. 

After the victim did so, the female subject told the victim she was placing a bundle of cash inside the glove compartment of the car. However, she told the victim not to deposit the bundle of cash until the following day.

The two subjects then exited the victim’s car and ran into an alley. When the victim looked in his glove compartment, all he found was a bundle of papers, not cash.

 Fire alarm pulled

A 33-year-old Chicago woman was cited for disorderly conduct after allegedly pulling a fire alarm in the main hallway of a condominium building in the 1000 block of Desplaines Avenue about 9:20 p.m. on Nov. 23.

The 911 dispatch center received multiple calls from the 48-unit high-rise building and police were able to obtain surveillance camera video, which showed a female subject pulling the alarm.

Police eventually were able to identify a suspect and interviewed her the following day. She reportedly told police she pulled the alarm because she had been drinking and became angry at a male friend who lived there. She impulsively pulled the alarm, she reportedly told police, as she stormed out of the building.

 Unwelcome guest

Police charged a 31-year-old Chicago man with criminal trespassing after he was found sleeping in the laundry room of a condominium building in the 300 block of Desplaines Avenue on Nov. 28 about 5 a.m.

A resident had discovered the man in the laundry room and notified the condo board president, who called police, who located the man in a fifth-floor electrical room. It was later learned that the man was let into the condo building lobby by a postman delivering mail on Nov. 27 about 1:40 p.m.

The man also allegedly tampered with video security cameras in order to evade detection but was discovered when someone walked in on him in the laundry room.

 DUI

Terry J. Lynch, 45, of Forest Park, was charged with felony drunken driving after he was reportedly found “passed out” in a 1999 Dodge Caravan in the parking lot of Submarine Tender, 200 Desplaines Ave., on Nov. 29 about 2:30 a.m. 

At the time of his arrest, Lynch’s driver’s license was revoked and he reportedly did not have the permission of the minivan’s owner to drive the vehicle. The owner of the vehicle did not wish to press additional charges against Lynch.

A 29-year-old Bellwood man was charged with drunken driving and possession of cocaine after a Forest Park police officer stopped his 2000 Oldsmobile Intrigue, which made a wide right turn from eastbound Chicago Avenue to southbound Thatcher Avenue, hopping the curb and striking a sign, on Nov. 23 about 12:05 a.m.

Police reported that the man’s blood-alcohol content was .191, or more than twice the legal limit of .08. In addition, police reported finding two small plastic bags containing cocaine in the driver’s side door pocket. 

 These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Nov. 23-29, 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