Stolen car crashes in Austin
A man crashed a stolen car into a garage in Austin, after being chased by Forest Park police through the city. Police ran a registration check of an Oldsmobile at a stop sign at Marengo and Adams and realized it was stolen two days before in Chicago. Officers tried to curb the vehicle at Harlem and I-290, but the Oldsmobile entered I-290, weaved in and out of cars in the center lane and then exited at Austin Boulevard.
After weaving through neighborhoods, the car finally crashed into a garage and utility pole at 5254 W. Harrison St. The driver, passenger and backseat passenger all fled eastbound down an alley. An officer caught one suspect, 16, as he tried to hop a fence behind 5226 W. Congress Ave. He was charged with criminal trespass to a vehicle and resisting an officer, and released to his mother that night. Officers were not able to locate the other offenders.
Car entered, lunch bag stolen
Two men stole a lunch bag from an unlocked car parked on the 800 block of Hannah Avenue about 1:49 p.m. on Jan. 22. A Forest Park man said he stopped by his nephew’s house to pick up a power tool, parked his car and left the door unlocked. Two men walked up to the vehicle and opened the driver’s side door, according to video footage from cameras mounted on the home. They took the lunch bag and walked east on Hannah Avenue, down South Harrison Street alley. The lunch bag was later recovered in the parking lot of Tacabron, 7332 Harrison St.
Copper pipe taken from Park District
At some point between 9 p.m., Jan. 17 and 5 a.m., Jan. 22, someone removed two copper downspouts from the Park District of Forest Park, according to a police report. One of the downspouts was located on the south side of 7501 Harrison St.; the other was located on the east side of the building.
Restaurant burglary
At some point between 11:57 p.m. on Jan. 20 and 12:05 a.m. Jan.21, someone stole $1,000 from Fuji Grill, according to a police report. The store owner walked into 315 Harlem Ave. the next day and noticed the black bag where he stores money missing.
Fake money
A woman used a counterfeit $100 bill at Twisted Cookie about 4:20 p.m. on Jan. 19, according to a police report. She made a $4 purchase at 7401 Madison St. and received $96 in change.
A woman used a phony $100 at Bed Bath and Beyond about 7 p.m. on Jan. 20. She made an $11 purchase at 215 Harlem Ave. and received $89 in change.
Truck batteries lifted
At some point between 2 p.m., Jan. 23 and noon, Jan. 24, someone removed four 12V batteries from two trucks parked at 7400 Greenburg Road. The batteries were left unsecured outside.
Car ransacked
A woman parked her car about 5 p.m. in her stall in the parking lot of her home at 1037 Desplaines Ave. on Jan. 23, according to a police report. When she returned to her car about 11:20 a.m. the next day, she found the car unlocked and the center console and glove box ransacked, but nothing was taken. She suspects she accidentally unlocked the car via remote the night before.
Warmed-up car is now hot
A man’s Mercedes Benz was stolen, after he left it unattended, unlocked and running at 7305 Circle Ave. on Jan. 25, according to a police report. The man went outside to warm up his car about 3 a.m. in the rear parking lot of the building. When he returned 30 minutes later, his car was gone.
Apartments evacuated after laundry fire
Residents were evacuated from a building on Marengo Avenue about 5:10 a.m. on Jan. 26, after a small fire broke out in the laundry room, according to a police report. Forest Park firefighters extinguished the flames and said there was no sign of foul play.
Burnt soup, kitchen fire
Police and firefighters responded to a fire on the first floor of a building on the 200 block of Circle Avenue about 11:22 p.m. on Jan. 26. Officers saw a woman exiting a window from the first floor, and helped her out the structure. She told them she works as an overnight nurse, put chicken soup on the stove, fell asleep and then woke up to the smell of smoke. Firefighters extinguished the fire.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Jan. 22-29, 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
