A 61-year-old Forest Park man was arrested for allegedly groping a woman after begging her for money and following her.
The victim and her young daughter visited the Forest Park Public Library, 7555 Jackson Blvd., on March 1. As they left the building at around 2 p.m., the alleged offender approached the victim, asking her for money. The victim ignored him and headed east on Jackson. The alleged offender followed her. The victim picked up the pace, but the alleged offender caught up with her and kept asking her questions. At some point, the alleged offender touched her buttocks without her consent.
The victim tried to put some distance between herself and the alleged offender. She ended up hiding out inside Kribi Coffee, 7324 Madison St., until the alleged offender left the area.
The man was caught on a security camera. He was subsequently arrested and charged with one count of battery.
Nuisance property
Forest Park police shut down a house party at a two-flat on the 1100 block of Troost Avenue after an attendee called to say that someone stuck a gun to her head.
The call came in on March 4 at 12:46 a.m. The dispatcher heard screaming in the background. The caller hung up, and the dispatcher tried to reach her without success.
The police drove to the property and tried to get inside. “Numerous female occupants” denied that there were any problems and tried to keep the officers out. After Forest Park officers couldn’t reach the property owner, a Brookfield man who has been renting it out on the Airbnb short-term rental booking platform, they reached out to their Brookfield counterparts. The Brookfield police were able to reach the owner.
The owner arrived at the building within 20 minutes. By that point, many guests had left, but about 60 to 70 people remained inside. The owner told them to leave. It took until 1:50 a.m. for the officers to clear everyone out.
The property has a record of multiple complaints about rowdy parties from Dec. 23, 2022 onward. There have been several instances of guests refusing to leave the premises when officers arrived to shut parties down. The owner said he was trying to screen the renters.
Attempted motor vehicle burglary
The owner of a white 2022 Kia Sportage chased off a would-be burglar after getting an alert of a theft in progress on his phone.
On March 2, at 6:59 p.m., the victim got an alert on his phone after his home’s doorbell Ring camera at the back gate was activated. His car was parked in the rear of his house on the 7700 block of Wilcox Street. The camera was activated when the suspect opened the back gate. It captured him trying to pull on all the door handles.
The victim ran out and pushed the suspect away from the vehicle. The suspect ran south on Jackson Boulevard. The victim got into his car and followed the suspect as he ran toward Desplaines Avenue and headed to the Forest Park Blue Line CTA terminal. Once the suspect was inside the station, the victim called the police.
Bar open past closing
The Panda Café bar, 7600 Madison St., was cited twice in less than a week for being open and serving alcohol after the 1 a.m. closing time.
The first incident occurred on Feb. 27. An officer was driving past the bar at around 1:29 a.m. when he saw two patrons with open alcoholic beverages sitting inside. Under Forest Park liquor regulations, all bars are required to close no later than 1 a.m. The officer spoke to the employee on the premises, and the customers left the bar without incident.
The second incident occurred on March 5 at 1:05 a.m. This time, around 30-40 patrons were inside, music was playing, several employees were “actively working” and many people were drinking.
In both cases, the bar was cited for staying open and serving alcohol after the cutoff. The hearing on the citation is currently scheduled for April 12 at 5 p.m. at the Forest Park Village Hall.
These items were obtained from reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Feb. 27 to March 3, 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
