A car drove through a fence and around the backyard of a home on Hannah Avenue Oct. 12, not long after police say the vehicle’s occupants were visiting a haunted house in Schiller Park.
The Forest Park Police Department was called to the 800 block of Hannah around 10:30 p.m. and officers were immediately directed to 29-year-old Chicago man, who was walking away from the scene of the accident. Police said the man refused to comply when officers asked him to stop and was eventually arrested using an “emergency takedown.” He was taken into custody for resisting arrest.
During their investigation, police learned that the man was allegedly fighting people at the haunted house before he and the rest of his group left and drove to Forest Park. At some point on their way to see a friend in the area, the man jumped out of the back seat of the car and began walking away. The rest of the car’s occupants tried to coax him back into the vehicle when one of the other occupants took the wheel and crashed. One witness told police the car drove back-and-forth through the yard multiple times.
The driver was cited for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and reckless driving.
Man arrested after fleeing from stolen car
A 27-year-old Joliet man was arrested after allegedly taking off on foot from a stolen car when Forest Park police approached him.
Officers located a black 2015 Toyota Avalon in the 7500 block of Jackson Street at around 4:45 p.m. Oct. 12 and discovered it was reported stolen in Oak Park last month. The Avalon parked before officers attempted to pull it over, but when police approached the car, the man driving got out and ran from them. After a brief foot pursuit, the driver, later identified as Jacob Carpenter, was arrested in the yard of a home in the 500 block of Ferdinand Avenue.
According to police, Carpenter said he had purchased the car one week earlier but did not have the title. He said he ran from officers because he had an active warrant for his arrest in Will County.
The Cook County State’s Attorney approved charging Carpenter with felony possession of a stolen motor vehicle and one count of resisting arrest.
Burglar shatters glass door, swipes thousands in cash
Security camera footage shows a man with a crowbar break the glass front door of a Harlem Avenue business before stealing thousands of dollars cash in the early hours of Oct. 8, police said.
Law enforcement arrived at the business in the 300 block of Harlem after an alarm was tripped a little after 4:30 a.m. An initial report indicated security camera footage was unavailable because the thief had poured an “unknown liquid” over the system, but footage was recovered the following day.
In that footage, police say a man can be seen breaking the front door with the crowbar, then entering an office. He later leaves the office holding a hammer and, police allege, thousands of dollars in cash.
The burglar is described by police as a man, whose race was not reported, wearing a blue hoodie pulled over his head, a mask, black sweatpants, white shoes and white gloves, carrying a black or gray backpack with orange straps.
Unregistered sex offender arrested with taser, weed
Police took a man into custody Oct. 11 after finding that he was classified as a sexually violent predator but had not registered as mandated after being released from prison in 2019.
Michael Milner, 43, of Hillside, was spotted near the Forest Park CTA Station on Des Plaines Avenue just before 9 a.m. Oct. 11 by an officer who had “prior knowledge” of Milner’s status as a sex offender. When the officer approached, Milner left a duffle bag behind on the bench where he had been seated and attempted to flee.
After he was detained, Milner claimed the bag did not belong to him but police said a cell phone inside the bag included a “selfie” of Milner. The bag also contained 23 individual baggies of marijuana totaling less than 3 ounces (78 grams), a “POLICE” brand stun gun and cigar wraps, according to police.
Milner was taken into custody on suspicion of failure to register as a sex offender, possession of cannabis over 30 grams, unlawful possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and the delivery/manufacture of cannabis over 30 grams.
Catalytic converter sawed off and stolen
A Forest Park woman who woke up to a loud sawing noise watched out her window as a group of men removed the catalytic converter from her vehicle early on the morning of Oct. 7.
The woman in the 7200 block of Dixon Street could not describe the two or three men she saw from her window just before 5:30 a.m., but she told officers the men left the area and traveled south on Harlem Avenue in a dark-colored sedan.
Officers did not find the suspects but did confirm the woman’s suspicion that her catalytic converter had been sawed off and stolen.
Apologies offered after open-container violation
A man apologized for his companion’s behavior after the pair were cited for carrying open alcoholic drinks in the 7600 block of Madison Street a little after midnight Oct. 14.
The two men were stopped by Forest Park police as they walked down the street and claimed they had recently left a nearby bar. One of the men, who police described as “unsteady on his feet” and “highly intoxicated” allegedly began arguing and threatening officers, continuing even after being placed in the back of the squad car.
The second man later apologized to officers for both the open-container violation and his acquaintance’s rude behavior, police said.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Oct. 7-14, 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 Andy Viano
