Four males displayed a handgun and stole the vehicle of a man at the Bulk Mail Facility, 1230 Hannah Ave., on Oct. 15 at 3:55 a.m. The victim said he drives semi-trucks, which are parked in the rear of the location. When he arrived to pick up his truck and begin his workday, a black Ford sedan pulled up with four males inside. One got out, displayed a handgun, and demanded the victim’s car keys.

The victim said he dropped his keys and began running. The assailant got into the victim’s car, a Chrysler 300S, and drove it away, heading eastbound onto Roosevelt, with the black Ford sedan behind it.

In the second vehicular hijacking that day, a man’s car was stolen during an aggravated vehicular hijacking on the 900 block of Ferdinand at 2:02 p.m. The victim, who works as a school bus driver, arrived at the school for his afternoon route, which started at 2 p.m. He parked his own personal vehicle, a Nissan Pathfinder, in an angled parking space along Ferdinand Avenue. But when he got out of his car, a man approached him, said he had a gun, and told the victim to hand over his car keys.

The victim said, “You don’t have a gun,” but this seemed to anger the assailant, who started pushing the victim. A second offender joined in the fight, “sucker punching” the victim, who then handed over his bus keys.

“These ain’t your car keys!” yelled one of the offenders, and both assailants began punching the victim and pushed him to the ground.

When the victim’s car keys fell out of his pocked, one of the offenders picked them up. The victim was able to slide his cell phone under the adjacent vehicle to prevent it from being stolen, even as one of the assailants kept kicking him.

Finally, both offenders entered the victim’s vehicle and drove it away. The victim retrieved his phone and called the police. He was taken to the hospital for injuries.

Man’s car damaged by girlfriend

A man inside Walmart received a phone call on Oct. 15 at 7:27 a.m. from his girlfriend, stating that she was outside in the parking lot and was going to damage his vehicle. Upon going out into the parking lot, he saw his girlfriend near his vehicle. She fled, and he then noticed that his drivers side mirror was shattered. No other damage was observed, and the victim requested a report to obtain an order of protection.

Gun found on I-290

Police located a black Springfield Armory 9mm handgun on the eastbound lanes of the I-290 on Oct. 16 at 5:51 a.m. A safety zone had been created for first responders following a fatal car accident, and while creating this safety zone, the gun was discovered. A partial magazine, missing some parts, was found not far from the gun. According to the police report, the firearm appeared to have been sitting in that location for some time, “as the slide was derailed from the frame and grass and dirt could be seen inside the gun. The gun also had scratches consistent with vehicles running over it.”

Open alcohol citations given

  • A woman on the 7400 block of Madison Street received a citation for open alcohol on Oct. 9 at 11:36 p.m. after trying to conceal the suspected alcohol in her vehicle.
  • Outside a bar on the 7600 block of Madison Street, a man with alcohol in a blue plastic cup poured out the liquid as police approached on Oct. 10 at 1:39 a.m. He was given a citation.
  • On Oct. 10 at 2:34 a.m. a man on the 7400 block of Madison Street was holding a clear plastic cup containing a dark liquid. He was respectful, said police, but was given a local ordinance citation all the same.
  • On Oct. 11 at 2:12 a.m. a woman on the 7400 block of Madison Street was issued a citation for open alcohol after attempting to finish her drink rather than turn it over to the police officer as he requested.
  • Local ordinance violation citations for open alcohol were given to two men on Oct. 16 at 10:48 p.m. on the 7400 block of Madison Street. The two men were holding plastic cups containing an alcoholic beverage. Both are in the U.S. on student visas and said they were not familiar with the ordinance. Police reported that the men were very cooperative, respectful and apologetic.
  • An open alcohol citation was given to a man on the 7600 block of Madison Street on Oct. 18 at 1:57 a.m. He was standing outside a bar, next to a car with a clear cup on the car. The cup had “Miller Lite” markings on the side and contained a brown substance, later identified as beer. By the time police turned the car around and talked to the man, he had poured out the beer and the cup was no longer on the vehicle.

Fight results in knife injury

A man was cut by a knife in a fight on the CTA station at 711 Desplaines Ave. on Oct. 13 at 12:46 a.m. The fight broke out when a woman stepped over a man’s legs as she exited the train. The man yelled at her, at which point a second man stepped in to defend the woman. They began to argue, and the argument grew physical. One of the men retrieved his knife and cut the other.

‘Messing with lots of females’

On Oct. 12 at 8:57 a.m., a man brought his car to the station to report it had been damaged overnight. Police observed large dents to both passenger side doors, a broken window, and large dents to the driver’s side of the vehicle as well. There was also front fender damage, and the windshield wiper arms had been broken.

Police asked the man who might have done the damage, and before he had a chance to answer, a female accompanying him said, “It was some female, I’m sure!” She told the officer that this is definitely the work of “one of the females he is messin’ with.”

When the officer asked the man who could have done it, he shrugged and said, “It could be any one of them; I’m messing with lots of females.”

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Oct.9-18, 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