An argument inside the Happy Chef restaurant, 1215 S. Harlem Ave, on Valentine’s Day escalated into a fight that led to a customer’s husband getting slashed.
At around 7:53 p.m. a female customer got into an argument with one of the employees, a 44-year-old Chicago man, complaining about the quality of service. The employee asked the customer to leave. The customer did and told her husband what happened. The husband then went inside the restaurant and punched the employee in the face. Another employee led the husband out of the store.
The employee who had been punched became enraged, grabbed his knife and followed the pair outside. He ended up slashing the husband with a knife across the hand, leaving cuts on his four fingers, and ran away.
The employee was detained. The victim was transported to the hospital. He said that he regretted punching the employee, and that he didn’t wish to sign a complaint.
Fraud prevention scam
A man claiming to be a representative of Chase bank scammed a Forest Park woman out of $2,609.
On Feb. 9, at around 5 p.m., the victim received a text message that claimed that a fraudulent purchase was made in her name at a store in Atlanta. The message asked if she wanted to decline the transaction – which she did.
At 5:23 p.m., the victim was contacted by a man claiming to work for her bank, the Chase bank. The victim said the scammer had the details of her account and a correct security question, so she believed he was a genuine employe. He told her that someone took the money out of victim’s account and sent it to the victim’s friend and cousin without the victim’s permission.
The victim reached out to the friend and the cousin with the scammer on the line, and both believed that they transferred the money back. The scammer said it would take a few days for the money to show up in the victim’s account.
When that didn’t happen by next day, the victim became suspicious and contacted Chase Bank. The bank told her they had no record of her speaking to any Chase employee on Feb. 9. The bank launched an investigation.
Stolen purse
A woman had her purse stolen while she was sitting at a table outside Parky’s Hot Dogs, 329 S. Harlem Ave.
The victim was at the hot dog stand on the afternoon of Feb. 13. She placed the purse on the bench. At some point between 3:15 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., someone stole it. The victim believes she saw a man running away with her purse, heading north on Harlem Avenue.
The black Hobo-brand purse is valued at $270. It had her iPhone, $105 in cash, six credit cards, a debit card and multiple ID and medical insurance cards.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Feb. 13-19, 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
