Forest Park and Oak Park police detained an 18-year-old Riverdale man on the morning of Aug. 27 near Rush Oak Park Hospital after someone called to report a man wearing nothing but a towel around his waist and carrying a knife walking in the vicinity of Harlem Avenue and Washington Boulevard at about 9:25 a.m.

Police located the man walking southbound on Harlem Avenue approaching Monroe Street and observed him to be holding what appeared to be a cellphone and a knife. A police officer got out of his squad car to approach the man, who had his hand near his waist, holding a knife.

Two police officers drew their firearms and initially pointed them at the man, who they ordered to drop the knife and lie face down on the ground. The man complied and police handcuffed him and took him into custody.

One police officer reported the man placing something in a raised flower bed of the Rush parking lot just prior to officers confronting him. Police reported recovering two additional knives from the flower bed.

Oak Park police were working to have the man receive a psychiatric evaluation.

Vehicle break-ins

Police responded to the 1300 block of Harlem Avenue on Aug. 27 at about 6:45 a.m. after a resident called to report that someone had broken into his vehicle within the past half hour.

The victim told police that someone had broken the front passenger side window, slashed the front driver’s side tire, ransacked the interior and removed a blue travel bag. The bag contained an iPhone and blood pressure medication.

According to the victim, about a half hour earlier someone rang his doorbell, but he ignored it. Whoever that person was, the victim surmised, was the person who broke into his car. 

A resident of the 1100 block of Marengo Avenue called police on the morning of Aug. 30 to report that during the overnight hours someone entered her vehicle and removed an Adidas backpack containing a Chromebook, school supplies, wallet containing two debit cards, insurance cards and $50 in cash.

A resident of the 100 block of Elgin Avenue called police on the morning of Aug. 31 to report that someone had burglarized her vehicle during the overnight hours. In addition to finding items from the center console strewn around the inside of her car, the victim noticed that a $50 Target gift card, an Apple phone charger and $65 in cash were missing

Bike stolen from CTA terminal

A 48-year-old Chicago man called police on the morning of Aug. 28 to report that sometime since noon on Aug. 26 someone stole his black mountain bike, which had been secured with a lock to a bike rack in the mezzanine level of the CTA Blue Line terminal at 711 Desplaines Ave.

The victim said he had purchased the bike just a few days earlier for $164 at Walmart.

Packages swiped from lobby

A resident of the 7300 block of Circle Avenue contacted police on Aug. 27 to report that two days earlier at 12:05 p.m., someone had stolen a FedEx package from the lobby of his building.

The victim told police that security video showed a FedEx driver delivering a package inside the lobby. A woman also entered the lobby at that time and engaged the driver in conversation while also blocking the driver from the doorbell panel.

The driver placed the package on the floor and marked it delivered before exiting the lobby. At that time, the woman can be seen picking up the package that had just been delivered along with another one before entering the building.

DUI crash

Forest Park police charged a 39-year-old Chicago man with driving under the influence of alcohol and other offenses after he allegedly crashed his red 2003 Ford Expedition into a parked vehicle in the 7400 block of Franklin Street before striking the curb and coming to a stop at Franklin Street and Circle Avenue.

Police responding to the scene observed the Ford Expedition with heavy front-end damage and heavy damage to the front passenger side wheel against the curb on Circle Avenue.

A man standing nearby, leaning against a bike rack, told police he was the driver. A 13-year-old boy who police learned was a passenger in the vehicle also stood nearby. Neither was injured.

Although the driver told police he did not recall his SUV striking another vehicle, a witness told police he saw it crash into a 2021 Kia Telluride parked on Franklin Street. The witness added that the driver got out of the Ford after hitting the curb and finished drinking a canned cocktail mix before tossing it on the ground. Police recovered the can near where the driver had been standing.

In addition to DUI, police charged the man with endangering the life of a child.

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Aug. 26-Sept. 2, 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