A 42-year-old Broadview man arrested on Oct. 15 by Forest Park police in connection with a domestic battery complaint was found dead in his holding cell after being in custody for about 12 hours, Forest Park police have reported.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office did not release a cause or manner of death, indicating a pending investigation. Forest Park police are reporting that the man, identified as Roy C. Rieves, was arrested at 5:08 a.m. and placed in a holding cell. At about 5:45 p.m., an officer conducting a prisoner check reported finding Rieves hanging from the cell door.

Deputy Police Chief Michael Keating said that prisoner checks are scheduled every half hour and that Rieves had been checked on 39 minutes prior. Keating said police have video feeds from all of the cells on a screen in the police dispatch center.

According to police, paramedics attempted to revive Rieves and transported him to Rush Oak Park Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The Illinois State Police Public Integrity Unit will conduct a death investigation, Forest Park police said.

Employee charged with theft

An 18-year-old Broadview man, who told police he was just trying to help himself and his family, has been charged with one count of misdemeanor theft after reportedly taking about $900 in cash from various cash registers at Ultra Foods, 7520 Roosevelt Road, where he worked as a cashier.

Store security called police, saying they were investigating “numerous cash shortages” from registers at the store and had discovered surveillance video of the employee removing cash from the drawer and concealing it on his person.

Security had specific financial information from one theft on Oct. 8, during which the employee allegedly stole about $180 from the register. According to police, the employee allegedly said he “tried to fight the ‘urge’ of taking the money but he could not help it.”

Road rage

A 38-year-old Chicago man faces a battery charge after he reportedly almost hit a 56-year-old man with his car outside the Starbucks at Madison and Elgin, and then got out of the car and punched the victim in the face when the victim yelled at him and flipped him the bird.

The victim reportedly suffered a cut above his left eye, swelling above his left cheek, a chipped tooth and abrasions to his arms and right knee. The 6-foot-2, 265-pound alleged offender told police that the 5-foot-8, 140-pound victim threw coffee at him and struck him in the face first.

The victim claimed the offender got out of the car, knocked the coffee out of his hand and struck him.

Burglary

Police responded to the 600 block of Beloit Avenue on Oct. 10 after a resident called to report that his garage had been burglarized. The victim told police he left his overhead garage door open while he was doing work in his yard about 4 p.m. Within 15 minutes, he returned to his garage and noticed his black Cannondale Adventure 3XL bike with white lettering, a rear rack with black saddlebags and a left side mirror missing. The bike was valued at $600.

A resident of the 7500 block of Harrison Street called police on Oct. 14 to report that sometime in the past day someone removed his gray, black and purple Schwinn hybrid bicycle from his garage.

The offender likely entered the garage through an unlocked side door. The bike was valued at about $350. 

A 37-year-old man called Forest Park police on Oct. 15 about 9:40 p.m. to report that someone had stolen a Samsung Galaxy J7 cellphone from his car while he was picking up two pizzas from Papa John’s, 7744 Madison St.

The victim told police he left his keys in the vehicle while he got out to get the food. When he came back outside, the car was moved about 10 feet backward and was stalled. The phone, which he’d also left inside the vehicle, was gone.

Vehicle theft

A 24-year-old Forest Park woman called police on the morning of Oct. 15 to report that during the overnight hours someone stole her white 1995 Honda Civic CRX, which was parked on 14th Street near Harlem Avenue.

Not very nice

A 56-year-old man was cited for battery and banned from the property at Living Word Church, 7600 Roosevelt Road, after he allegedly deliberately struck a 45-year-old man in the back while in the vestibule of the church.

The alleged offender reportedly ran into the victim intentionally while walking past him, causing the victim to lose his balance. According to police, the victim has made previous complaints against the offender, who reportedly has been making threatening remarks to the victim for more than a year.

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Oct. 10-16, 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.