On June 24, the superintendent of Proviso Math and Science Academy called to report fraudulent transfers of funds, according to a police report. Officials said he told them an unknown offender, using the name Gilbane Building Company online, transferred over $949,000 on March 8 and $3.9 million on June 14 from the school. While Gilbane Building Company has a relationship with the school, the offender is not associated with the company, according to the police report. Police said the superintendent was unable to provide them with information about how the transfers occurred but told officers he reported them to the FBI’s Chicago Field Division.

Aggravated assault 

Police were dispatched June 25 to the Forest Park Blue Line station for reports of a woman threatening people with a box cutter. One man, who said she was harassing him, had an altercation with the woman the day before, according to the police report, leading to officials trespassing him from the property for reportedly sexually harassing her. Police reported that the woman appeared to be under the influence of alcohol June 25. Officers found the box cutter after multiple witnesses told them the woman was hiding it in her brassiere. She was charged with aggravated assault. 

Burglary 

  • A man living on Des Plaines Avenue reported a burglary to police June 26. His apartment was in disarray, according to the police report. The man told police he thought his neighbors burgled him, since he’s had previous incidents with them, although he didn’t tell police what those were. Police reported that the man’s door frame was broken, displaying forced entry, and an estimated $4,000 worth of shoes, jewelry and cash were stolen from his apartment.
  • Police received a call June 27 from a woman who said a man was attempting to get in her car, and she was holding him down. When police arrived at the scene around 1 a.m. in the 600 block of Lathrop Avenue, the woman told them that while walking to her car, she noticed a man in the passenger seat of her neighbor’s car. The man told her he was detailing the vehicle, according to the police report. He was wearing the woman’s shoes and had a plastic bag of items she said belonged to her. The man was charged with burglary. 

Suspicious circumstances 

On June 27, a man left his apartment in the 300 block of Des Plaines Avenue to find his next-door neighbor standing outside with an ax. Although the neighbor didn’t threaten the man with the ax, he said he accused him of breaking down his front door, according to the police report. The man and the building’s maintenance manager made the police report because they were worried the man’s future actions could become violent. The man came into the police station on the same day to report that an unknown subject kicked his apartment’s door in and burglarized his home. He told police he approached his neighbor to ask if he saw anything and miscommunication led his neighbor to believe he was threatening him. The man also said he had Ring doorbell camera footage of the offender but refused to provide it before he became uncooperative and stopped answering questions, according to police. 

Armed robbery

On June 28, police were dispatched to the 7200 block of Madison Street for reports of an armed robbery. Two people were doing construction work inside Starbucks when they saw a man stealing tools from their work truck. One worker threw a measuring tape at the man, but it hit the car door. The man then reached inside his waistband and pointed a gun at the worker as the worker ran away, police said.

Aggravated battery

On June 30, police were dispatched to the 600 block of Harlem Avenue for reports of someone stabbed in the face. At the Forest Park Community Garden, two men were struggling over a knife, and one was bleeding from his face, according to the police report. Witnesses told police that both men were asking for money near Harlem Avenue and I-290. The victim intervened to defend another person who the offender was threatening with a knife for his spot on the interstate’s ramp. When the victim went to use the bathroom in the Community Garden, the offender attacked him from behind and attempted to stab him, according to the police report. The victim had cuts on his face, hands and neck, but didn’t want to sign complaints against the offender, officials said. The man wasn’t charged with the stabbing but was arrested for a warrant out of DuPage County, according to police.

These items were obtained from Forest Park Police Department reports dated June 24 through June 30 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.