Cops: Teen found driving stolen van
Forest Park police arrested a 16-year-old boy on Oct. 31 about 11:20 a.m. after an officer on patrol observed him driving a Dodge Caravan with Colorado license plates that had been reported stolen on Oct. 27. He had also been seen driving in Oak Park on Oct. 28 near Harlem and Madison.
According to the police report, the patrol officer saw the van turn into the drive-thru at McDonald’s, 7135 Roosevelt Road in Berwyn, and police converged as the van was trapped in the drive-thru between other vehicles.
The 16-year-old driver bailed out of the vehicle, which rolled forward and struck another car, but he was taken into custody after a brief foot chase, police said.
Police reported that the steering column of the van had been peeled and the ignition was damaged. There were no keys found inside the vehicle. Police believe the driver used a screwdriver or similar tool to start the car.
The driver was charged with possession of a stolen motor vehicle, criminal trespass to a vehicle, resisting arrest and several traffic offenses.
The case was turned over to Cook County Juvenile Justice authorities.
Someone stole a 2014 Chrysler van that was being repaired from a service bay at Hawk Dodge, 7911 Roosevelt Road, on Nov. 1, Forest Park police reported.
According to the police report, the vehicle was parked in the service bay with the keys in the ignition when an unknown man entered the vehicle and pulled away and drove around the back of the parking lot where it stopped next to a tan Toyota van. Both vehicles left the area together.
An employee called the vehicle’s owner, who said that neither she nor her boyfriend had picked up the vehicle.
The vehicle was apparently recovered on Nov. 2, though police did not indicate exactly where it was found. However, police were able to recover fingerprints from the shifter of the vehicle and from a McDonald’s drink cup found in the center console.
Weapons offense
A 19-year-old Broadview man faces felony weapons charges after police found a loaded 40-caliber handgun in the car he was driving on Nov. 1 about 5:30 p.m. Police had been called to the area of Circle Avenue and Adams Street for a report of a tan Buick with three occupants shooting a BB gun from the window.
Police stopped a Buick matching that description in a parking lot in the 100 block of Elgin Avenue. After removing the driver from the vehicle, police reported recovering the handgun in a driver’s door compartment.
A BB gun was recovered from the rear passenger seat.
A passenger in the vehicle, a 19-year-old-Brookfield man, reportedly admitted firing the BB gun two times at pumpkins while in Forest Park. Police reported finding the window of a home damaged in the 500 block of Circle Avenue.
The owner of a home in the 500 block of Hannah Avenue called police on Nov. 2 to report that there was a BB hole in the glass front door of his home. Police were unsure if the damage was caused by the same person.
Police charged the driver of the car with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and possession of ammunition without a firearms owner ID card.
The Brookfield man was charged with one count of reckless conduct. A third occupant of the vehicle was released without being charged.
Car, garage burglaries
A resident of the 600 block of Elgin Avenue contacted police to report that sometime during the overnight hours of Oct. 30-31 someone entered her unlocked vehicle, which was parked in the alley alongside the garage, and removed her driver’s license and a debit card.
The offender reportedly attempted to use the debit card at a CTA location in Chicago, but the charge was rejected.
On Nov. 2, a resident of the 600 block of Elgin Avenue called police to report that sometime between 5 and 8:45 p.m. someone had stolen two bicycles from her unlocked garage.
The bikes were described as a black men’s Trek valued at $300 and a white and teal women’s Novara mountain bike valued at $850.
Card skimmer discovered
A customer attempting to get money from an ATM at 7-Eleven, 7749 Roosevelt Road, on Nov. 2 about 6:05 p.m., reported that he was able to pull a card skimmer from the actual card reader on the machine.
Police reported that the replica skimmer, which records customers’ PIN numbers, appeared to have been super-glued to the ATM’s card reader. It’s unclear how long the skimmer had been attached to the ATM.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Oct. 31-Nov. 6, 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
