Two face armed robbery charges
Two men from Chicago were charged following a robbery, July 26.
Police were called by a resident who heard a woman screaming about 4:30 a.m. in the 300 block of Elgin Avenue. Officers located a woman who said she was robbed by two men, one of whom was armed with a stun gun.
The woman told police she was sitting in front of a business in the 7200 block of Madison when two men approached her. One walked past her and the other waited in front of her. The man behind her then grabbed her in a headlock and demanded money while shocking her with a stun gun. She gave the men her backpack and iPhone. One of the men then began to lift her shirt and she began to scream, causing both men to run.
Police later learned that Melrose Park police had two people in custody for a suspected armed robbery, and they matched the description of the two who robbed the woman in Forest Park. Melrose Park police had recovered a stun gun from the men and they were positively identified by the victim in Melrose Park.
Forest Park police charged both men, identified as Sharelle D. Sims, 19, and Dominique O. Brown, 23, with armed robbery and unlawful restraint.
Man charged with public indecency
Forest Park police charged a 64-year-old Riverside man with misdemeanor public indecency and trespassing on July 25 after staff members at the Forest Park Aquatics Center, 7501 Harrison St., complained that he was exposing himself in the men’s locker room and appeared to be “aroused.”
The subject had left the pool by the time police arrived. They later arrested him at his Riverside home, where the subject denied wrongdoing. He posted bond and awaits an Aug. 9 court date.
According to the police report, staff at the pool reportedly had banned him from the property last year although they did not call police at the time. Last summer, an employee said he observed the offender with a GoPro camera in his possession.
The employee didn’t actually see the subject recording anyone with the camera, but the subject had the camera sitting on the changing bench and quickly put it away upon seeing the employee, according to the police report filed July 25.
The offender apparently showed up about a few days before the July 25 incident but left the scene as an employee approached him. The employee at that time made a written report that the subject had returned to the pool despite the ban in 2015.
On July 25, an employee reported seeing the subject take off his swim trunks and walk back and forth to the showers numerous times in the presence of children and that the subject appeared to be “sexually aroused.”
The subject reportedly told police he has a bladder condition that explains his frequent trips to the locker room and that he was allergic to chlorine, which forces him to wash off often because of the pain it causes.
Police said the subject had no previous arrest record.
California man charged with trespassing
A 30-year-old man from La Mesa, California, was charged with disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing to state-supported property after he walked on the CTA tracks multiple times at 3:13 p.m., July 31. Police were called to the CTA Blue Line station at Harlem Avenue after the man was seen walking on the CTA tracks and then getting back on the platform. Police were told he then got back onto the tracks and was told to stay off them by a CTA employee, and he complied. When a Forest Park officer was on the platform, he again walked onto the tracks and then onto freight line tracks nearby and told the officer he was looking for his dog. He was taken into custody and charged. Oak Park police later located the dog, which was reported injured, and they took it into their custody.
Lawn furniture stolen for fifth time
Lawn furniture valued at $150 was reported stolen at 7:39 a.m., July 26, in the 800 block of South Elgin Avenue. The stolen item was the fifth reported stolen from the resident’s yard recently. Police later found the furniture in the possession of a 28-year-old man, of no known address, in the 800 block of Harlem Avenue. He was charged with trespassing and possession of stolen property.
Romeoville man charged with drug possession
A 35-year-old Romeoville man was charged with possession of a controlled substance after a traffic stop at 6:28 p.m. July 28 in the area of Desplaines Avenue and Interstate 290.
Jason D. Sperka was stopped for failing to use a turn signal and could not provide identification. After giving police a false name, they discovered his identity and conducted a search of his person. Police discovered 14 small bags of a substance that later tested positive for heroin. Sperka was additionally charged with a felony for driving on a suspended or revoked license and possession of drug equipment.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, July 25-31, 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 Matthew Hendrickson
