Two Chicago women taking part in a funeral procession were cited for negligent driving after they blocked traffic near the intersection of Jackson Boulevard and Des Plaines Avenue.

The incident took place Sept. 24 at around 1:20 p.m. Forest Park police were alerted that a rowdy funeral procession was heading west on Jackson Boulevard. One of the officers set up his squad car at 7200 Jackson Blvd and saw a 2015 Kia SUV reportedly swerve into oncoming traffic with passengers hanging out of the car windows. An officer pulled up to the Kia and told the driver, a 22-year-old Chicago woman, to stay in the lane. The woman instead blocked the center lane with her car.

During the stop, the officer saw a black 2014 Nissan Murano swerve driving behind them, also swerving into the oncoming traffic, with drivers also hanging out the windows and sunroof. The driver, a 41-year-old woman, also began blocking traffic.

Both women were issued local ordinance citations. 

Armed robbery

A South Dakota man was allegedly robbed at the 7-Eleven location at 7749 Roosevelt Rd. on Sept. 25, at 8:55 p.m.

The victim said he was standing in front of the store when a man in a brown jacket and a black mask approached him, showed his handgun and demanded that the victim give him all his money. The victim gave the robber $250, and the alleged robber ran northwest toward Desplaines Avenue.

While the store had a security camera pointing toward the location of the robbery, the police officers weren’t able to review the footage at the time of the report.

Burglaries from vehicle

Forest Park saw multiple instances of burglaries from vehicles, though some were more successful than others.

On Sept. 23 at around 2:30 a.m., a man living at the 7500 block of Brown Avenue woke up to his car’s alarm going off. The car, a white 2009 Volkswagen Jetta, was locked. The victim went back to sleep, but when he woke up later that night, he saw e-mail alerts from his banks advising him that someone may have fraudulently used his credit and debit cards in Cicero and Maywood.

The victim checked his car and discovered that a wallet was missing from his center console. There was no damage to the car and no sign of forced entry. The victim cancelled his cards.

On Sept. 25, at 3:50 p.m., a man returned to his car, a black 2014 Ford, and found his wallet missing from the center console. The vehicle was parked at 520 Desplaines Ave., and the victim said it was unlocked because he had issues with the car’s lock. 

On Sept. 21, at around 5:48 a.m., a woman living on the 7600 block of Taylor Street discovered that someone broke the driver’s side window of her black 2012 Ford Focus, which was parked in the building parking lot. However, while the burglar opened the central console, they didn’t take anything from the car. The victim said that she had several valuable items in the car including a MacBook laptop. 

Later that day, at 11:56 a.m., a 29-year-old Chicago man allegedly burglarized a white 2020 Chevrolet parked in the alley behind the house at the 1000 block of S. Harlem Avenue. The victim’s son spotted the man rummaging through the car and called police. The suspect left and headed north along the alley, checking car door handles. 

While searching the area, officers spotted the alleged burglar at the BP gas station at 7140 Roosevelt Rd. The officers arrested the man without incident. The officers found “a significant amount of loose change” in the alleged burglar’s T-shirt pocket. He told the police that he was addicted to PCP and was going through cars looking for loose change.

The man was charged with one count of burglary from a motor vehicle.

Stolen vehicles

A silver 2017 Hyundai Elantra was stolen from a parking spot on the 400 block of Elgin Avenue. 

The victim discovered the theft on Sept. 21 at 8:25 a.m. after parking the car overnight. She said she saw a “large amount of shattered glass” left behind at the parking spot. The victim said she had her keys with her and no one else has a spare set. 

On Sept. 24 at around 2:45 p.m., a woman discovered that her car, a grey 2009 Hyundai Elantra, was stolen overnight from the village parking lot at 700 Lathrop Ave. The victim said she checked with the towing companies to make sure that the vehicle wasn’t towed first. She had her computer and other items inside the car, and she said that her I-Pass was used since the car was stolen.

The security camera on the building at 7600 Harrison St., across the street from the parking lot, captured a dark blue sedan and the victim’s vehicle driving east on Harrison Street at 9:19 p.m. 

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Sept. 19-25, 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 Igor Studenkov