At a car wash on the 900 block of Harlem Avenue Jan. 30, a woman was drying her 2022 Mercedes-Benz when a man in an Acura SUV pulled into a neighboring spot. He exited the Acura and got behind the wheel of the Mercedes-Benz before the woman locked him inside her car and began yelling at him. The man exited, returned to his Acura and drove away.

Also on Jan. 30., a woman narrowly averted the theft of her 2019 Audi SUV. After parking at a gas pump on the 200 block of Harlem Avenue, a man entered the driver’s side of her car. As the woman distanced herself and the Audi’s fob from the vehicle, the man got out and approached her, but drove off in a gray sedan when she started yelling. The man stole a wallet inside the woman’s car.

On Feb. 2, a woman reported that on Jan. 31, she parked her four-door sedan on Des Plaines Avenue around 8:45 p.m. When she returned around 12:30 a.m., she found her rear passenger window shattered. No items were missing from the vehicle.

Thefts

  • A man entered a business in the 7200 block of Washington Street on Jan. 30, pocketed $55.34 merchandise and left without paying. Police canvassed the area before detaining the man on the 100 block of Harlem and placing him in custody.
  • After returning from vacation, a man noticed that some of the contents of his toolbox were missing at his work on the 0-100 block of Harlem Avenue. On Jan. 30, he reported that, while he was gone, his colleagues had moved the toolbox to a supervisor’s office and now $300 of tools were gone.
  • On Jan. 30, a woman reported that a package containing a MacBook Pro was stolen from her residence in the 7500 block of Brown Avenue on Jan. 11.

Destruction of property

The owner of a property in the 200 block of Des Plaines Avenue filed a report on Jan. 30 because her balcony was damaged. Her neighbor had witnessed a moving truck hit the balcony on Jan. 27, but the vehicle’s registration could not be obtained.

Abandoned vehicle

A 2000 Toyota Echo was found abandoned on the 800 block of Thomas Avenue Jan. 30. The vehicle had tickets dated Jan. 22 on its windshield and major damage to its front end. Police issued another ticket for violating the two-hour parking limit where the car was found, plus one for an abandoned automobile.

Landlord-tenant dispute

A woman and her live-in boyfriend visited their property management office on the 1000 block of Des Plaines Avenue Jan. 29. There to ask about maintenance work orders, the boyfriend began threatening a worker, who had to “drag him out.”  Because of this, previous similar experiences and lease violations, the property management company said it will begin eviction proceedings.

Possession of controlled substance

Following a premise check at a CTA Blue Line station on Jan. 30, officers noticed a man on a train car holding a bag of an off-white powder and a piece of drug paraphernalia. They arrested him on the 700 block of Des Plaines Avenue for possession of a suspected controlled substance. At the police department, officers found another two bags of white powder in the man’s jacket, which later tested positive for methamphetamine. 

Suspended or revoked driver’s license

  • On Jan. 30, a woman was pulled over in the 7300 block of Madison Street for her 2014 Buick’s expired and suspended registration. The driver received citations for these two offenses, plus two more for being unable to provide proof of insurance and driving with a suspended license.
  • While on patrol on Jan. 31, an officer pulled over a 2001 Ford pickup with a suspended registration. The driver also had a suspended license and received two citations.

Cannabis citation

A business on the 7000 block of Madison Street violated village ordinance on Feb. 1. Officers entered to place a wanted subject in custody and noticed the smell of cannabis. They confiscated two bags of suspected cannabis and gave the business’ manager a local ordinance citation.

Identity theft

  • A woman in the 500 block of Des Plaines Avenue reported Jan. 31 that her credit card was stolen and used at an ATM in Forest Park earlier that day, resulting in a loss of $203.
  • On Feb. 2, a woman on Harrison Street reported her identity had been stolen. The week prior, she received an email from financial institution CHIME informing her that a checking account had been opened in her name, though she didn’t authorize opening a new account.

These items were obtained from Forest Park Police Department reports dated Jan. 20 through Feb. 2 and represent a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Anyone named in these reports has only been charged with a crime and cases have not yet been adjudicated. We report the race of a suspect only when a serious crime has been committed, the suspect is still at large, and police have provided us with a detailed physical description of the suspect as they seek the public’s help in making an arrest.