The black 2021 Dodge Charger stolen from Forest Park turned up heavily damaged in Oak Park a few hours later.

The victim said he and his son stopped at Thornton’s gas station on Jan. 8 around 11:30 p.m. He took his son to the restroom and left his car running but took his key fob with him. When the two returned, the car was gone.

The man reported the theft at 1:37 a.m. later that night. He said a friend of his saw the car shortly after it was stolen “with damage to the body.” 

Shortly after the victim made his report, Forest Park police got a call from the Oak Park Police Department about a car matching the description of the victim’s vehicle parked near the intersection of Jackson Boulevard and Euclid Avenue. The car suffered heavy front-end damage, to the point where it had to be towed. 

At the time of the report, the police had no leads about who might have stolen the vehicle.

Burglaries from motor vehicles

Two cars parked a few blocks apart were broken into on the afternoon of Jan. 15, but in both cases nothing was stolen. 

The first vehicle was a white 2018 Hyundai SUV parked in the 7400 block of Washington Street. Its owner said that around 7 p.m., he found the car’s front window shattered, and the inside was rummaged through. 

The second vehicle, a beige 2017 Hyundai Sedan, was parked a few blocks south in the 600 block of Hannah Avenue. It also had a front window broken, and the vehicle was rummaged through, but once again nothing was taken. The owner discovered the break-in at 8:10 p.m. 

In both cases, multiple security cameras could have captured the attempted burglaries, but the police officers were still trying to get the footage at the time of the report. 

Forest Park terminal attack

A 56-year-old Chicago man punched a woman in the face as he was exiting a Pace bus at the Forest Park Blue Line CTA terminal.

The incident happened on Jan. 8 around 8:28 p.m. According to the bus driver, the alleged offender was “acting odd” during the ride. As the victim and her daughter went to exit the bus, the alleged offender walked right behind her, punched the victim in the face and shoved past her and her daughter and exited the bus.

The offender was arrested, charged with one count of battery and released on bail.

Catalytic converter theft

A woman staying at an Airbnb in the 600 block of Harlem Avenue had her car’s catalytic converter stolen.

She parked her white 2010 Toyota Prius on the building’s rear parking pad on the evening of Jan. 11. After discovering the theft the following morning at 10 a.m., she said she would reach out to the unit owner to see if he could provide police with any useful security footage.

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Jan. 8-15, 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