Road rage on Harlem Avenue
When a Maywood man failed to immediately accelerate after a traffic light turned green, an offender brandishing a gun pulled up next to him and said, “I’ll (expletive) kill you.”
A Maywood man told police he was traveling east on Roosevelt Road about 5:25 p.m. on March 15, and was stopped at a traffic light at the intersection with Harlem Avenue, according to a police report. When the light turned green, and the driver behind him blasted his horn. The driver made a right onto Harlem Avenue, and told police the offending driver then accelerated and pulled up next to him in the left lane.
The offender lowered the passenger side window, waved a semi-automatic handgun and threatened his life. The victim was able to get part of the license plate number as the other car pulled away.
Man fails to thwart carjacking
A man fought and held onto the back of the car, as offenders stole his Kia from Thornton’s, 601 Harlem Ave. The driver pulled into the gas station about 3:32 a.m. on March 18, according to a police report. Just as he finished putting gas in his car, a man pushed him out of the way and entered the car. The driver said he grabbed the offender and tried to pull him from the vehicle. The carjacker finally managed to put the car in drive and drove onto Harlem Avenue, dragging the victim along with him. Once they got on Harlem Avenue, the man let go and called police. The offender fled south toward I-290. Chicago police located the car and arrested Javan Johnson, 22, of Chicago, in connection with the crime, charging him with vehicular hijacking.
Man with gun passes out on expressway
A rental car was parked sideways across the First Avenue exit on the Eisenhower Expressway, after a man with a gun passed out drunk at the wheel.
Police responded about 7:46 a.m. to the westbound I-290 exit ramp at First Avenue on March 18, where a car was parked across the left lane, according to the police report. Officers approached the vehicle and found a man passed out inside.
The vehicle was still running and in drive, and the unconscious driver had his foot on the brake. Entering the car, the officers smelled alcohol. They tried to wake the man and searched him for identification. They felt a handgun in the man’s left jean pocket. The man woke up and tried to reach for the pistol.
Police started shouting, and took the handgun from the offender. North Riverside paramedics arrived and treated the man, who said the handgun was his partner’s. Paramedics transported him to Loyola Hospital because of his low blood sugar.
Once discharged, he told police he and his partner were in town from Iowa, visiting relatives in Maywood. He said his partner had left the gun in the car that night, as he drove to Austin to visit his aunt. He said he was driving home to his mother’s house when he passed out at the wheel. Police charged him with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, aggravated DUI, no Firearm Owner’s Identification cards for the gun and ammunition, illegal stopping/standing and parking, driving an uninsured motor vehicle and more.
Rogue motorcyclist
After driving recklessly through Elmwood Park, River Forest and Forest Park, police caught a reckless motorcyclist in Oak Park on March 16. Officers spotted the motorcycle heading the wrong way and weaving in and out of lanes on Harlem Avenue about 9:13 p.m., according to the police report. They followed him onto I-290 and later followed him eastbound on Garfield Avenue. Police pulled up alongside the driver to try and identify him, since he wasn’t wearing a helmet or face covering, but they couldn’t see because of the glare. After a series of turns, they followed him onto Wenonah Avenue in Oak Park, where the driver dumped the bike at the dead end. The suspect then climbed the fence and tried to run across the Jewel parking lot at 7036 Roosevelt Road. Police caught him in the parking lot, tased him and transported him to the Forest Park Police Department, where they reported smelling alcohol on the man. At the station, police found he had a revoked driver’s license, three convictions for driving while his license was revoked (DWLR). As officers read him his Miranda rights, he told them, “Go (expletive) your mother.” He was charged with aggravated DWLR, aggravated DUI, and aggravated fleeing/attempting to elude a police officer.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, March 12-19, 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
