Half-hearted robbery attempts come to naught
A man attempted to rob a gas station, fast-food restaurant and car maintenance facility on Jan. 6. Forest Park police arrived about 3 p.m. at Thornton’s, 601 Harlem Ave., where a cashier told officers that a man dressed in black attempted to rob the store with a knife. Five minutes later, Oak Park police responded to a call from Wendy’s, 11 N. Harlem Ave. in Oak Park, where an offender matching that description attempted to rob the eatery.
The Wendy’s cashier told officers a man dressed in a black coat with fur edges entered the store about 3:05 p.m., approached her register and pointed a knife at her, saying, “Give me all the money in the register.” The offender, who said he had a gun, fled the store and went south on Harlem Avenue. No loss was reported.
About 2:45 p.m., someone matching the description entered Jiffy Lube, 215 N. Harlem in Oak Park, and asked for money, although no attempted robbery took place.
Tool theft
Upwards of $1,000 worth of tools disappeared from a truck parked at HOBO in the Forest Park mall on Jan. 3. A Round Beach Lake man had parked his Chevrolet van at 7630 Roosevelt Road about 12:30 p.m., according to the police report. He entered the store, and 30 minutes later came out to discover someone had punched out the side and rear locks to his truck, and took a jigsaw, nail gun, saw, and floor gun, valued at more than $1,000.
Phone stolen
On Jan. 5, a woman wearing a black leather jacket walked into Citgo, 7323 Randolph St., about 10:15 a.m. The store employee told police he had been stocking shelves and talking on his Bluetooth earpiece when the woman entered the store. The woman shopped near the front shelf, and when she left the store, the man’s earpiece stopped working. He walked to the front of the store, and discovered his cell phone, valued at $975, was gone.
The store employee walked outside and saw the woman walking north on Belvidere Avenue then dart into an alley between buildings. The employee told police he recognized the woman, that she’s a regular customer, whom he believes lives in the area.
Post Office theft
A Joliet woman’s phone was stolen while she worked in the U.S. Post Office’s Bulk Mail Center, 7500 Roosevelt Road, on Dec. 31, according to a police report. Offenders took the LG Phone at some point between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.
License plate theft
Someone removed the rear license plate from a Chevrolet sedan parked at SP+ Parking, 711 Desplaines Ave., about 4:18 p.m. on Jan. 3, according to a police report. The sedan belonged to Vibro/Dynamics, an industrial equipment supplier based in Broadview.
Wallet theft
According to surveillance footage, two women went into a Currie Motors employee’s desk drawer about 1:30 p.m. and stole her wallet on Dec. 29. The Cicero woman said the wallet contained her Illinois ID and driver’s license, Old Navy credit card, Chase credit card, Chase debit card and Best Buy credit cards. The offenders then exited at 8401 Roosevelt Road in a BMW SUV. The victim told police someone attempted to use her credit card in Chicago.
Train track victim
Police rescued a man from the CTA tracks about 12:06 p.m., Dec. 30, after he got high and jumped on the rails. Officers arrived at 711 Desplaines Ave., after CTA employees called police about a man who was lying on the tracks with his head resting on the third rail. They recognized the man from a previous incident when he was high on PCP, a powerful anesthetic. The CTA supervisor told police the power was off on the rails.
Police called for the man to get up, but the man refused to move and made unrecognizable statements. Officers then jumped on the tracks and pulled him up. Once on the platform, the man told officers his name and repeated “PCP” several times. Police handcuffed him for safety because he appeared high on drugs and was possibly suicidal. The man then asked, “What happened?” and said he did not remember lying on the tracks. Officers removed his clothes to check for injuries, and discovered a laceration on the right side of his head, and two zip-lock bags containing suspected cocaine. The man was transported to Loyola Hospital for treatment and a mental health evaluation.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Dec. 30, 2017 to Jan. 7, 2018, 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 Nona Tepper
