A man with a gun robbed the 7-Eleven at 205 Harlem Ave. Sept. 2 at 10:24 p.m. An employee reported that the suspect entered the store and drew a black firearm from his waistband. He demanded the register be opened, then took approximately $300. Police did not locate him.

Car stolen overnight

A car was stolen on Sept. 2 on the 1000 block of Harlem Avenue between midnight and 5 a.m. The victim said he believes his car was locked, but he’d been experiencing problems with the key fob, so he’d been leaving it inside the car and using the outer keypad to enter the vehicle.

Wallet lost during scuffle

A man reported losing his wallet after he “got into a scuffle with a homeless guy” on Sept. 2 at 7:17 a.m. near Harlem Avenue and Roosevelt Road. He came into the police department to report that he had been riding his skateboard, got into the “scuffle,” then could not find his wallet, which he believed he dropped during the altercation. He said nobody had been injured in the fight.

Man attacked and robbed in bathroom

A man was attacked and robbed in the restroom at McDonald’s, 420 Desplaines Ave., on Sept. 2 at around 1:30 p.m. He said he’d gone into the bathroom when two unknown male offenders grabbed him and took his iPhone XR and car keys. One of them wrapped his arms around the victim’s neck while the other took his things.

The suspects left on foot, and the victim said he believed the men were trying to find his car because he heard his car lock. He waved down a citizen to call the police. The suspects were not located.

Dog removed from owner

A dog was removed from a garage by the Animal Care League and a citation for animal cruelty given to the owner on Sept. 2 at 2:07 p.m. Police were called by the dog owner’s mother, who said her daughter had gone out of town abruptly, leaving the dog in a cage in the garage. The daughter said a friend would come take care of the dog, but nobody showed up. The mother said she was afraid of the dog, which seemed very aggressive, and wanted to give it food and water but was scared.

The reporting officer was “met with ferocious barking and snarling” upon entering the garage. When the officer approached the cage, the dog was at first trembling, with its tail between its left. But if the officer touched the cage, the dog would lunge.

Police brought canned food, which the dog “devoured,” and gave it two bottles of water. Oak Park’s Animal Care League was called and, after 45 minutes, were able to remove the dog from its cage. According to the police report, “It is the professional opinion of the specialists at Animal Care League that [the dog] not be returned to [the owner].”

Tombstone missing

A report was filed Sept. 2 about a tombstone missing from Forest Home Cemetery. The tombstone was supposed to have been installed on June 25. The woman reporting it missing hadn’t seen it yet, but when she went to visit the grave on Sept. 2, the tombstone wasn’t there. The cemetery manager checked records and confirmed that the tombstone was, in fact, installed on June 25 and doesn’t know who would have taken it.

Man reports burglary; woman reports battery

A man on the 1100 block of Harlem Avenue called police to report a possible burglary in progress on Aug. 31 at 12:19 a.m. when he saw a woman walk past his basement window. She was in his gangway, then started jiggling a doorknob from the outside. He opened the door and let his dogs out. The woman fled southbound on Harlem from his house. Police searched the area but didn’t locate the woman.

A few days later, on Sept. 3, a woman arrived at the police station to report a battery by means of dog bite. She said she was walking along Harlem Avenue on Aug. 31 when a man grabbed her from behind. She managed to escape and ran into a yard. Two dogs came out of the house and one bit her twice.

Police went to the home of the man who’d reported the possible burglary on Aug. 31. He reiterated the events he’d told the reporting officer previously. He added that the woman he’d seen in his yard was rummaging through empty boxes of delivered packages on his property, and that when he let the dogs out she immediately became startled and jumped over a waist-high iron black fence; he said he didn’t see either of his dogs bite the woman, and he thinks she was injured while jumping over the fence. The man’s wife reported the same. 

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Aug. 31-Sept.3, 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 Maria Maxham