Forest Park police arrested two men suspected of robbing a CTA Blue Line passenger at knifepoint while the train was traveling west from the city on Feb. 16 around 3 a.m.
The two suspects, identified as 28-year-old Dillon R. Tate, of Calumet City, and 39-year-old Kristen D. Carter, of Chicago, were taken into custody aboard two different train cars waiting at the Forest Park Blue Line terminal at 711 Desplaines Ave. about 3:20 a.m. Each was charged with one count of armed robbery.
According to the police report, the victim said he got on the westbound train at the Pulaski Road stop and observed Tate and Carter “smoking crack.” At the Cicero Avenue stop, after the victim told the two not to blow smoke in his direction, the two men allegedly approached the victim.
Tate reportedly held a knife to the victim’s throat while Carter went through the victim’s backpack and pockets, taking several items including his cellphone, house keys and wallet containing $37 in cash, identification cards and credit and debit cards.
Asked why he remained on the train all the way to Forest Park, the victim reportedly said the two men held him on the train.
Police reported recovering the victim’s cellphone and a credit card belonging to the victim from Carter’s coat pockets and a knife from his pants pocket.
Catalytic converters stolen
- A 25-year-old man called police on Feb. 15 about 7:20 a.m. to report a burglary from a motor vehicle in progress in the parking lot of Dollar Tree, 7709 Roosevelt Road.
The caller told police he saw a black Mercedes Benz parked next to another vehicle and two men wearing black hoodies standing outside it. When he exited the store, the two men got into the Mercedes, which drove away.
According to the police report, the catalytic converter was missing from the vehicle parked in the lot.
- Meanwhile the catalytic converters were sawn from the undercarriages of two vehicles parked in the Bulk Mail Center, 7500 Roosevelt Road on Feb. 17.
A 43-year-old man called police just after 10 a.m. to report that someone had removed the catalytic converter from his 2008 Toyota Tundra pickup truck.
A 65-year-old man called police that afternoon to report that the catalytic converter had bene stolen from his 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander, which was parked in the lot of the Bulk Mail Center between 12:30 and 3 p.m.
Lots of threatening notes
Forest Park police are investigating the appearance, beginning early on Feb. 17, of orange paper sticky notes bearing the same threatening message applied to vehicles and buildings in and around the 1400 blocks of Circle and Marengo avenues.
The first of the notes was called in around 12:20 a.m. on Feb. 17 by someone who found a note stuck to the front door of an apartment building in the 1400 block of Circle Avenue. The note, like the others, threatened to kill “everyone” and to stay away from “T.C.” None of the tenants had any idea what or who the note referred to, police said.
Just after 8 a.m., a resident of the 1400 block of Marengo Avenue called police after finding one of the notes stuck to his daughter’s car, and police reported finding three more nearly identical notes stuck to buildings and vehicles nearby.
About 9:45 a.m., another resident called to report finding an orange sticky note with a threatening message on the front door. A security camera also captured images of the person placing the note there. The person was described as a man wearing a black jacket and pants with a multicolor hood over his head.
A seventh note was called in by a resident about 6:45 p.m. on Feb. 17. The orange sticky note with the same threatening message was left under the windshield wiper of the caller’s vehicle, which was parked in the rear of the property in the 1400 block of Circle Avenue.
Stolen check altered, again
For the third time in the past month a Forest Park resident has reported to police that a check they placed in the mail to pay a bill had been altered and cashed for thousands of dollars.
A 57-year-old woman alerted police on Feb. 16 that a check she wrote on Jan. 26 for $258 to pay her natural gas bill never made it to its destination. The victim said she couldn’t remember exactly where she mailed the bill, but that her bank informed her that on Jan. 28 someone had altered the check and used it to withdraw $5,000 from her bank account.
Burglary from vehicle
A resident of the 500 block of Desplaines Avenue called police on Feb. 19 to report that overnight someone had broken into his unlocked vehicle and removed $300 in cash and clothing valued at $800 from it.
Vehicle theft
- Forest Park police responded to Thorntons gas station, 601 Harlem Ave., on Feb. 19 just before 3 a.m. after a 53-year-old man called to report that someone had just stolen his 2006 Infiniti.
The victim told police his car was parked at a gas pump, running, while he went into the minimart. A short time later, the victim said he heard a loud “bang” and saw his car driving away northbound on Harlem Avenue at high speed.
As the Infiniti was leaving the scene, it reportedly struck a 2016 Dodge Caravan that was southbound on Harlem Avenue. The driver of that vehicle followed the Infiniti as far north as Division Street where he finally pulled over to speak with police.
River Forest police later observed the Infiniti, with its bumper dragging on the ground, heading back south on Harlem where it was last seen getting on I-290 eastbound.
- A 29-year-old man waved down a Forest Park police officer on Feb. 20 at about 7:20 p.m. in the 7200 block of Madison Street to report that someone had stolen his 2009 Toyota Corolla, which had left unattended and running with its yellow flashers on while meeting a friend in the lobby of a business.
Security video reportedly showed two people approach the vehicle. One person is seen entering the passenger side door while the other person walks out of view. The vehicle is then seen driving away eastbound on Madison Street. The victim’s phone, identification and clothing were inside the car.
- A 58-year-old man called police on Feb. 21 at about 6:05 p.m. to report that someone had just stolen his 2001 Hyundai Palisade from a car wash in the 7800 block of Madison Street.
The victim told police he had just finished washing and vacuuming the vehicle and went to get an air freshener on the other side of the car wash, leaving the vehicle running. When he returned, the car was gone. While the victim had the car’s key fob, his house keys, laptop, cellphone and wallet were all inside the vehicle when it was stolen.
Police later learned someone used the victim’s debit card at a Walgreens in Hillside at 7:50 p.m.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Feb. 14-21, 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
