Leave your car running, get it stolen
He told police he took his key fob with him and that the vehicle, which is keyless, shouldn’t operate without the fob. The man told police he was inside his apartment for about 40 seconds, but in that time, someone got in his car and drove off.
A 31-year-old Forest Park man also called police on Feb. 15 at about 1:40 p.m. to report that someone stole his 2014 Honda RDX while he was unloading groceries at his home in the 7300 block of Randolph Street.
The man told police he that parked next to the east side of the building and left his vehicle running while he took groceries inside. When he returned three minutes later, his vehicle was gone.
Caught in the act
Forest Park police responded to a home on Marengo Avenue (police redacted the block number in the report) after a resident called to report that she’d just interrupted two men attempting to gain entry to the back door on Feb. 17 at 1:20 p.m.
The two men, surprised by the woman’s appearance, ran out the back gate and fled in a vehicle waiting in the alley. Police found pry marks to the home’s back door and a broken window, but it did not appear that anyone gained entry.
Vehicle burglary
A resident of the 600 block of Hannah Avenue contacted police on the morning of Feb. 14 to report that someone entered his vehicle, which was parked in his open, unlocked garage overnight.
Taken from the vehicle was a black North Face jacket valued at $250, a checkbook, work keys and a money clip holding identification, a credit card and $100 in cash. The offender also took a deposit bag containing $1,500 belonging to the victim’s employer, according to the police report.
Company cited for tenant’s noise
Police are now ticketing the company that owns an apartment building in the 7400 block of Washington Street after repeatedly responding to complaints of loud music for months.
Forest Park police responded again to the building, which has been declared a chronic nuisance, on Feb. 9 at about 9:50 p.m. for a loud music complaint. According to the report, the building’s owner has been trying to deal with the issue, but the disturbances continue “to the detriment of the neighborhood and negatively affect the quality of life of the neighbors.”
Panhandler arrested
Forest Park police arrested a panhandler asking for money at the Harlem Avenue/I-290 interchange and charged him with possession of a controlled substance on Feb. 16 at 10:25 a.m.
Police said the 55-year-old Chicago man was holding a sign and approaching vehicles for money on the eastbound exit ramp. Police arrested him for soliciting in the roadway and reported finding a small plastic bag containing a white powder that tested positive for heroin.
The man reportedly told police he solicits money from motorists and then uses that money to buy heroin in Chicago.
CTA shelter damaged
A CTA employee called police on Feb. 15 at about 6:50 a.m. after discovering someone had kicked out a panel on one of the wind-breaker shelters on the Blue Line platform between Harlem and Circle avenues.
The damage occurred overnight, the employee surmised.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Feb. 13-17, 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
