Masked gunman robs Harlem Ave. 7-Eleven
A man armed with a handgun robbed a Forest Park convenience store during the early morning hours of March 24, making off with an undisclosed amount of cash from the register.
No one was hurt during the robbery, which took place at 7-Eleven, 205 Harlem Ave., about 2:30 a.m., police said.
According to the store clerk, whose account of the robbery was corroborated by store surveillance video, a man wearing a black puffy jacket, with a mask obscuring his face and gloves, entered the store when no other customers were inside.
He drew a gun from his jacket and immediately went up to the counter, telling the clerk, “Give me your money.”
The clerk opened the register drawer and handed cash to the man, who fled the store in the direction of Randolph Street.
Residential burglary
A resident of the 1000 block of Hannah Avenue called police on March 20 to report that someone had burglarized her home between the hours of 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.
According to police, the offender gained entry by propping open a window with a “lawn instrument.” The home’s entry doors remained locked.
Bedrooms on the first and second floor had been ransacked, and the victim said watches, jewelry and about $1,000 in cash were missing from a bedroom dresser drawer. The offender reportedly did not enter the garage or the vehicle inside of it.
Window washer bandit
Forest Park police last week charged a 62-year-old Chicago man with the theft of more than 60 plastic jugs of windshield wiper fluid from 7-Eleven, 7749 Roosevelt Road on March 18 and 19.
The manager of the store contacted police on March 19 to tell them surveillance camera video showed that a man drove up to the store about 2:40 a.m. on March 18. The offender placed 24 bottles of fluid into his vehicle before going into the store to make a small purchase.
The same person returned to the store on March 19 about 10 p.m. and loaded up his car with 38 bottles of fluid before driving off without paying.
On March 20 at 10 a.m., a police officer parked in the 7-Eleven lot reported observing the suspected thief pull into a parking spot near the front of the store. According to police, several boxes containing gallon jugs of washer fluid were inside the vehicle.
The officer arrested the driver, who declined to speak to police about the alleged thefts on the two prior days.
Vehicle break-ins
A 38-year-old Forest Park man contacted police on March 24 to report that his garage, whose location was not identified by police, had been broken into overnight.
The offender gained entry via an unlocked service door. Once inside he used a block of concrete to smash out the window of a vehicle parked inside. Work documents, including checks, appeared to be missing from the vehicle.
Police responded to the 600 block of Marengo Avenue on March 22 after a resident called to report that someone had entered his vehicle overnight. According to police, the contents of the glove box had been thrown about the inside of the vehicle, but nothing appeared to be missing.
Business hit with BBs
Police responded to Randolph Street Barber Shop at 201 Marengo Ave. on the morning of March 24 after someone shot BBs at the plate glass windows of the business several times during the overnight hours.
Weapons, drug offenses
Keandre J. Campbell, 25, of Maywood, faces weapons and drug-related charges and was also charged with violating an order of protection after police were called to 7-Eleven, 205 Harlem Ave. on March 23 about 6:20 p.m. to investigate a domestic disturbance.
According to police, Campbell was armed with a loaded .38-caliber revolver and was in possession of 26 small bags containing heroin and more than $350 in cash when he was detained.
A woman inside a vehicle with Campbell at the time told police she had an order of protection against Campbell and that he had taken the car keys from her during the verbal altercation that prompted calls to police.
Campbell is being held at Cook County Jail, with his bond set at $150,000. He had a preliminary hearing at the Maybrook courthouse on March 27, after the Forest Park Review’s press time.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, March 19-25, 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
