A 22-year-old Lyons man who was kicked out of Doc Ryan’s bar last summer after he became belligerent and tried to hit a bouncer came back nine months later to try to finish what he started.

The Lyons man originally got in trouble at Doc Ryan’s on June 17, 2022, at around 11:56 p.m. The staff cut him off after they felt he was too drunk. The man got upset and tried to keep the staff from getting out from behind the bar. The bouncer pushed the alleged assailant toward his friends and advised them to take him and leave. The man then tried to hit the bouncer, but the bouncer ducked, and the man ended up hitting another man standing nearby. At the time, Doc Ryan’s staff didn’t want to press charges – they simply wanted to make sure the man didn’t return.

The man returned to Doc Ryan’s on March 25 at around 11:23 p.m. As the victim was checking IDs at the front door, the alleged assailant came up to him and punched him several times. The bouncer fought back. After the police arrived, he said he wanted to press charges. 

The Lyons man told the police that the attack was in direct response to last year’s incident. He was charged one count of battery and released on bond. 

Robbery

A man wearing a full-face mask robbed a 7-Eleven location at 7749 Roosevelt Rd., stealing around $400 to $500 in cash.

The robber allegedly went into the store on March 25 at around 11:15 p.m. According to security footage and witness testimonies, he went into the back of the store to get sunglasses, came up to the counter, put the sunglasses down, then pulled out a handgun and demanded that the cashier empty the contents of the cash register into his bag. After the cashier complied, the robber ran out. The cashier said that he couldn’t see where the robber ran to because a group of customers happened to come in at around the same time. 

A witness described seeing the robber park his car in the parking lot east of the 7-Eleven, go into the store, run back out and head east on Roosevelt Road. 

Reckless driving

A group of six drivers were doing doughnuts and causing “burnouts” at the Forest Park Plaza parking lot, 7600 Roosevelt Rd.

The police were tipped off about the incident in the late evening of March 24. The “burnouts” happen when the cars rev up their engines without moving, which causes friction that creates smoke. As the police arrived at around 10:11 p.m., the drivers fled the area, driving east on Roosevelt Road and south on Desplaines Avenue.

Six cars were involved — a 2006 Ford Sedan of unknown color, a white 2021 Ford carryall, a red 2022 Hyundai sedan, a silver 2025 Chrysler 300, a red 2022 Nissan sedan and a blue 2019 Chevrolet Camaro. The police were able to get the license plates, and all drivers were cited for reckless driving.

Sewer cover thefts

Four sewer covers were stolen throughout Forest Park on March 19, not far from where four other sewer covers were stolen a day before.

Three sewer covers were stolen in the alley of the 1000 block of Elgin Avenue – two of them behind the same building. Another sewer cover was stolen a few blocks west, at 1000 block of Ferdinand Avenue. While there was a security camera near one of the sewer covers at Elgin Avenue, the police weren’t able to obtain the footage at the time of the report.

The police have no leads, and no definite evidence whether the thefts were connected, or if there’s any link to the March 18 thefts – but it has not been ruled out, either.

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, March 19-26, 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