Forest Park fire and police units responded to the call of a fire in a location on the 7200 block of Roosevelt Rd. on April 28 at 12:56 a.m. Once there, they discovered the landing at the top of a stairway on fire. A resident said she’d had a friend visiting earlier. She keeps a small plant pot with dirt out on the landing for him to put out his cigarettes. The fire department put out the fire. Since apartment units were not significantly damaged, tenants were allowed to return.

Ten CTA cars defaced

Ten different CTA train cars were defaced with graffiti during the week.

On April 23, three train cars at 1 Harlem Ave. were tagged with paint.

On April 24 around 8 a.m., CTA employees discovered two cars had been vandalized somewhere while they were in service, so they could have been tagged anywhere along the line over the past two days.

A CTA employee called in a report of another two trains being vandalized after discovering graffiti. The employee believes that the incident occurred sometime before midnight on April 25. The cars had been stationary in the CTA yard all day.

At the Blue Line storage yard near Desplaines Avenue two train cars were found vandalized at 9 p.m. on April 25.

On April 28 at 3:57 a.m., an employee discovered two figures dressed all in black painting on a train car deep in the “jungle” portion of the lot at 711 Desplaines Ave. The subjects fled over a fence into Concordia Cemetery and were not caught.

Cash stolen from unlocked car

$30,000 in cash was allegedly stolen from a truck on April 26 sometime between the hours of 4 and 8 p.m. The victim said he’d withdrawn the money from his bank and placed it in a manila envelope, which he put inside a bag. He placed that bag on the seat of the vehicle, then drove to a U-Haul in Chicago and rented a trailer. When dropping off that trailer at the Forest Park U-Haul location, he’d parked on Harrison Street while a worker disconnected the trailer. The victim went inside to fill out some paperwork, leaving the bag containing $30,000 in his unlocked car. When he returned to the car, the bag was still there. But two days later, when he opened the bag to get the cash for his friend, the manila envelope and money were missing. He told police he has suffered a head injury in the past and has trouble with memory.

Fight outside bar

Police were called to break up a fight in front of Forest Park Top Room, 7321 Madison St., on April 27 at 12:53 a.m. A large group of people were physically fighting and yelling, according to the police report. “The group was uncooperative and took several minutes to disperse,” said the police.

One of the subjects involved said the fight had begun as an argument inside the bar. Tap Room staff said the subjects had not been inside the bar.

Fight over bad Xanax at train station

Police were called to 711 Desplaines Ave. on April 27 at 5:42 p.m. for a fight. The reporting officer heard a large commotion and observed several people pointing to the mezzanine. One person told the officer there was a subject with a crowbar, “going after another person.”

Reporting officer requested additional units, then entered the mezzanine of the train station, where he was told by an alleged victim that another man had swung a tire iron at him. The victim pointed to the alleged subject, who was running northbound on Desplaines Ave. He was detained by police.

The subject told police that a man had approached him, asking if he wished to purchase some Xanax. He told the man that his “Xanax” was garbage, at which time three additional unknown men approached, one hitting him in the head with a belt buckle. The subject then picked up a tire iron and swung it at the man who’d hit him with the belt buckle. It is unclear where the tire iron came from.

Neither the man hit with the belt buckle nor the man who was threatened with the tire iron wished to sign complaints. They were sent on their way.

Alleged thefts at Planet Fitness

On April 23 at 4:54 p.m., a customer at a Planet Fitness, 7530 Roosevelt Rd., called police when he finished his workout and discovered that his car keys, which he said had been in his pocket, were missing and his car, parked outside, stolen. His wallet had been in the car, and it contained several important cards. Footage from a surveillance camera will be checked.

On April 25 at 3:09 p.m., a customer at Plant Fitness said he’d locked his belongings in a locker at the gym. After his workout, his locker was ajar, the lock gone, and $110 was missing.

Open alcohol citations given

A man on the 7400 block of Madison Street was given a local ordinance citation for open container when found out on the sidewalk with a white Styrofoam cup containing alcohol. The subject was “cooperative and respectful” throughout the entire encounter with police, according to the report.

On April 25, a man sitting on a stoop drinking a can of beer on the 7200 block of Madison Street was ticketed for open container. When he saw the police, he poured the contents of the 24 oz Magnum 24 Malt Liquor into the village flower planter on the corner. He was issued a local ordinance citation for open container.

Gun found in car of intoxicated ‘slumper’

On April 25 at 12:53 a.m., a man was arrested and ultimately charged with aggravated DUI, driving under the influence, unlawful use or possession of a weapon by a felon, suspended or revoked drivers’ license and operating an uninsured motor vehicle.

Police were dispatched to the 7600 block of Madison St. for a man passed out behind the wheel of a car, which was running in the middle of the alley. When officers turned off the car from the passenger side, they noticed a .45 CAL Taurus PT-145 Millenium Pro handgun in between the driver’s feet and the floorboard. It was immediately accessible and loaded with one round in the chamber and 10 in the magazine.

Officers removed the driver from the vehicle, waking him up, and saw he had glassy, blood shot eyes, delayed speech and was unsteady on his feet. He was taken to the station, where he did not do well on sobriety tests.

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, April 24-30, 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