The tenant of a building in the 600 block of Harlem Avenue had his apartment burglarized and his car stolen while he was in Arizona to attend a wedding.

The victim’s neighbors discovered the burglary when they returned home on Oct. 22 around 1:55 a.m., and noticed the front door was open. They knew the victim was out of town as of Oct. 21 and, upon checking further, saw that the apartment had been ransacked. When the police officers arrived on the scene, they saw evidence the front door was pried open. A green crowbar that the victim said wasn’t his was recovered at the scene. Subsequent investigation also revealed that the victim’s two pet pit bulls were picked up by animal control and the victim’s car, a silver 2011 Acura MDX, was stolen from the driveway. The burglar took the victim’s car keys from a dresser.

When contacted via FaceTime, the victim said he had a friend house-sit and dog-watch his apartment. The friend said he left the apartment around 11 p.m. Police estimate that the burglary took place between then and 12:30 a.m., when the pit bulls were picked up.

The victim said that, while he wouldn’t be able to take a full inventory of what was missing until he returned home, based on what he saw through FaceTime, he believed around $30,000 worth of glassware was missing, most of it custom products of his own design. The Acura has been flagged as stolen.

Battery

A man was attacked at the Forest Park Blue Line CTA terminal on Oct. 22 around 6:45 p.m.

 Police found the victim at the terminal’s north bus bays, lying on his back and bleeding from the mouth. He said he had no idea who attacked him, and that he was drinking before the attack happened.

Officers questioned the witness and a CTA clerk said an unknown female witness told her “a bunch of juveniles” attacked the man then headed north on Desplaines Avenue. 

Because of his head injury and intoxicated state, the victim was transported to Loyola Medical Center for treatment. 

Socker

Two soccer clubs who play at the Park District of Forest Park soccer field, 7501 Harrison St., got into a fight after one of the teams objected to a referee’s call. 

Two over-48 suburban soccer clubs — the Round Lake-based Connection and Schaumburg-based Royal Cracovia — played a game on the morning of Oct. 23. The confrontation reportedly started around 9:14 a.m., when the Connection players got upset with the referee’s call, and one Connection player reportedly grabbed the back of the referee’s shirt. The referee threatened to end the game if the players didn’t calm down, but the player reportedly kept riling up his teammates. The referee followed through on his threat and one of the Connection players allegedly tried to punch the referee but missed and hit a Royal Cracovia player who tried to protect the referee. 

By the time the police officers arrived, Royal Cracovia players had surrounded the referee to try to protect him. 

The referee declined to make a criminal complaint but asked to have the incident documented so he could make a report to Metropolitan Soccer League’s over-48 division. The Connection players were asked to disburse. The police officers escorted the referee to his vehicle and escorted his car to the Eisenhower Expressway to ensure that he left Forest Park safely. 

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Oct. 18-23, 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