A couple waved down a police officer at the intersection of Desplaines Avenue and Madison Street on Oct. 8 at 3:35 a.m. to report they’d just been robbed at gunpoint in the alley located south of Madison Street just a couple of minutes earlier.
A 26-year-old Forest Park man said he and a 23-year-old Clarendon Hills woman were walking from his residence to his car when a man sitting in the passenger seat of a white sedan displayed a handgun and said, “What do you have on you?”
The man gave the offender his wallet, and his cellphone. The woman gave the offender her car keys. The white sedan, which had blue neon lights underneath it, drove off.
Police continue to investigate the incident.
Duo beat, rob man in parking lot
Two unknown assailants beat and robbed an 18-year-old River Forest man in the parking lot of a Harlem Avenue strip mall on Oct. 11, taking cash from the victim before driving away.
The incident occurred about 8:05 p.m. outside Jimmy’s Tobacco, 315 Harlem Ave., according to police. The victim told detectives he had just exited his vehicle and was walking toward the store when two men approached from behind, threw him to the ground and then started punching him in the face.
One of the men then removed the victim’s wallet from his pants pocket, took out $40, dropped the wallet and fled in a blue Dodge sedan, possibly a Challenger. The victim, who suffered a cut above his left eye, went into the store to report the robbery.
The offenders possibly had been in the store just prior to the incident, according to the police report. Three people had been inside the store just prior to the robbery, police said. Detectives continue to investigate the incident.
Attempted robbery
Two people have been charged with battery after they reportedly tried to rob a 36-year-old Maywood man as he was walking in the 700 block of Harlem Avenue on Oct. 10 about 1:50 a.m.
According to the police report, the victim said the two offenders — one an 18-year-old Chicago man, the other a 17-year-old juvenile — were walking northbound toward him on the sidewalk so that he would have to walk between them. As the offender walked past, the two proceeded to make a U-turn and walk behind him.
The victim said one of the offenders displayed a pocket knife and demanded the victim empty his pockets. As the victim ran eastbound across Harlem Avenue, the 18-year-old offender reportedly punched him in the head.
Based on the victim’s descriptions, police picked up the two alleged offenders in the alley between the 600 blocks of Harlem and Elgin avenues. Since he lost no belongings, the victim said he would file charges for battery against the two.
The juvenile reportedly was also wanted on a warrant by the Cook County Juvenile Justice division for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.
Man injured in bar fight
Forest Park police charged two 21-year-old Oak Park men with battery and mob action after they reportedly punched and stomped a 39-year-old Elmwood Park man during a fight inside Shortstop Lounge, 7425 Madison St. on Oct. 11 about 12:55 a.m.
When police arrived, they reported finding the victim lying on the floor next to the bar, with his head in a pool of blood. He reportedly told police he had intervened in what he thought to be a verbal altercation between one of the offenders and a woman, at which time the offender attacked him.
The offender told police he was acting in self-defense, and the other offender told police he joined in when he saw his friend involved in a fight.
Witnesses told police they saw both offenders striking the victim multiple times while he was on the ground. Surveillance video reportedly indicated that one offender threw the first punch and the second joined the fray after the victim fell to the ground. A third offender may also have been involved, according to witnesses.
Assault
Forest Park police charged a 26-year-old Chicago man with assault after he allegedly threatened to “come back and shoot” a 60-year-old Bellwood man in the 200 block of Harlem Avenue on Oct. 9 about 1:40 a.m.
The offender, who was arrested in the 400 block of Madison Street in Oak Park, was not armed, according to police. The offender allegedly said he recognized the victim as someone who stole money from him three weeks earlier.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Oct. 7-13, 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.
