A 25-year-old Chicago man was arrested Oct. 28 after allegedly stealing a car in Chicago and then trying to steal another car in Forest Park from the 1500 block of Elgin Avenue. 

Forest Park police received a call reporting that, at around 4:05 a.m., the alleged offender was seen walking around and checking the door handles of a car parked on the block. As the officers drove up to the block, the man got into a white 2011 Audi Sedan and drove north in the north-south alley between Harlem and Elgin avenues. 

The alleged offender hit another vehicle and eventually crashed into the guardrail on the 1200 block. He was seen getting out of the car and ran west, jumping the fence and running through the yard toward Marengo Avenue. A subsequent search turned up a .40 caliber Smith and Wesson handgun laying in the grass near the fence the suspect jumped.

Working with their Oak Park and River Forest counterparts, Forest Park police set up a perimeter around the area. They eventually found the alleged offender hiding under a porch at a house on the 1200 block of Circle Avenue. He got out from under the porch and surrendered without incident. 

The alleged offender claimed that he found the Audi parked in a garage in Chicago, near the Grand/Milwaukee Blue Line CTA station, at some point between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. He claimed that the keys were inside the car, and that he used them to drive the car to Forest Park. He claimed that he exited the stolen car on the 1500 block of Elgin to urinate, and that he left after he saw a resident spot him. While he acknowledged that he had a gun, the description he gave didn’t match the weapon recovered at the scene. The alleged offender didn’t possess a valid Firearm Owner Identification card or Concealed Carry License.

The owner of the Audi said that he had no idea how the alleged offender got the keys. 

The alleged offender was charged with motor vehicle theft and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. 

Gun threat

Police were called in after a man drinking on the Forest Park Blue Line CTA terminal claimed that he had a gun. 

On Oct. 25 at around 6:25 p.m., a CTA employee spotted three passengers drinking on the platform. The employee told them that drinking alcohol is illegal on CTA property. One of the men yelled at the employee and, at one point, tapped on his right front hip and said, “I keep it on me at all times.” Believing that the passenger had a gun, the CTA employee called police. 

Police officers stopped him as he was coming down the stairs. The police didn’t find a gun on his person, and the man was released without charges. 

Purse-snatching

A woman walking her dog on the 400 block of Desplaines Avenue on the morning of Oct. 24 had her purse snatched, but the three alleged robbers were subsequently arrested, and her property was recovered.

The alleged incident took place at around 9:37 a.m. Three teens allegedly approached her from behind, and one of them grabbed at the purse and ripped it from her arm. The victim’s keys and phone fell out of the purse, and the victim quickly grabbed them. At this point, the three alleged offenders reportedly ran, heading south on Desplaines Avenue, then east on Adams Street.

The report doesn’t give any details on how the three alleged offenders were apprehended, but it does mention that the contents of the victim’s purse were recovered. Each alleged offender was charged with one count of robbery. 

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Oct. 24-30, 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