Police were called to the 7200 block of Washington Street March 25 in connection with a dispute between a man and a store clerk. The customer yelled at the clerk after he told him to pay for the bottle of Arizona tea that the man was concealing by the door. The clerk said the man then walked behind the register, pushed him in the chest and attempted to take more items before leaving with the stolen Arizona bottle. When police addressed the man, he denied making physical contact and appeared paranoid, police said. He was arrested for one count of retail theft and battery.
Fire
On the night of April 1, a fire broke out at Epyk Luxury on 7446 Madison Street. Oak Park, River Forest, North Riverside and Cicero fire departments assisted the Forest Park Fire Department in fighting the fire. No other details were immediately available.
Suspicious circumstances
On March 27, police were dispatched to a residence on Des Plaines Avenue because a woman believed a maintenance person was entering her apartment without her consent. The day before, when she returned home from work, her toilet seat was up and the bathroom door was closed, which she said was not how she left it. And March 27, she got home from work to find the bathroom light on and the door partially closed. She didn’t report any items damaged or stolen, although, in January, she filed a police report for a theft she believes happened as a result of maintenance’s unauthorized access to her apartment. She said she intends to move out of the unit.
Motor vehicle theft
While on patrol March 28, police received reports of a stolen vehicle traveling west on I-290. When the 2020 Kia Sportage exited at Harlem Avenue, police pulled it over on the exit ramp. Two men were in the car wearing black facemasks and police placed both in custody. The driver was 18 years old and didn’t have a valid Illinois driver’s license. His passenger was his 13-year-old cousin, who was arrested in December for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. Police recovered a handgun, bag of cannabis and two cups of suspected alcohol from the car. The driver was arrested, and his cousin was transported to the juvenile detention center at 1100 S. Hamilton Avenue.
Fraudulent check
Police were dispatched to Waldheim Cemetery March 28 for reports of a fraudulent check. On March 26, Fifth Third Bank called the cemetery to notify them that one of their employees attempted to cash a check for $8,227.12, but the check was fraudulent. The cemetery had previously not done business with the person who wrote them the check, and there is no loss of funds to the cemetery.
These items were obtained from Forest Park Police Department reports dated March 25 through March 28 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.