A 33-year-old Forest Park man was arrested on multiple charges Friday after police said he drove through a red light and did not exit his car after an officer asked him to.

According to police, they saw the man in a Kia speed through a red light at Circle Avenue and Madison Street and pulled him over. Police said they asked for his driver license and he said he didn’t have it on him. They reported that because of his “erratic” driving and because he couldn’t produce his license, an officer asked him to step out of the car. He declined. The officer asked again. The man reportedly said “it was yellow.” The officer asked him to step out of his car again and the man said there was “no probable cause” to require him to get out of his vehicle. The back-and-forth continued, and police said the man became “argumentative.”

Police said because of this and because of “officer safety concerns,” the officer tried to open the car door, but it was locked. He then reached inside to try to unlock the door. As he did, the driver yelled and began pulling on his right wrist, police said, and there was a brief struggle. Another officer on the scene joined in, and together, they were able to open the door. An officer said he continued to ask the man to exit, and when he didn’t, one of the police officers placed a hand cuff on left wrist while the man held onto the car’s steering wheel to prevent himself from being pulled out of the car. Police said they believed he was trying to put the car in drive, which would have put them in danger. A struggle ensued and police performed a “emergency takedown” on the man. He was extracted from the car and more police arrived on the scene

Police said they then cuffed the man and searched his car, finding a suspected cannabis vape cartridge. 

After he was read his rights, the man said he did not run a red light, that he usually has his license on him, that he was not smoking marijuana and that he did not feel safe.

Police said video captured the man going through a red light. He was charged with cannabis possession or use, obstructing identification, resisting a police officer and for violating traffic signal laws. An October court date has been set.

Apartment break-in

 A woman who lives on Desplaines Avenue reported that her blue purse, car key, credit cards and identification were missing last Saturday morning after she saw a man in orange shorts flee her bedroom as she was sitting down for a meal. According to police reports, the woman said she ran out to do some errands and pick up her meal, then returned to her home and sat down at her desk. As she began to eat, she saw the man run from her bedroom and she chased him down a stairway. A neighbor also saw a man running down the hallway. No one was caught. An estimate for the loss was not immediately available.

Tagging train cars

An unknown person tagged train cars #5091 and #5092 with graffiti early Saturday morning on the CTA Green Line. They had been were located on the tracks outside the maintenance bay near Harlem Avenue. No estimate on the cost of the damage was available.

Dog custody fights

Forest Park police reported making multiple trips in September to a Harlem Avenue apartment complex to intervene in a quarrel between a former couple who continue to share custody of a dog. A man moved below the apartment of his former girlfriend and has called police several times, including last Friday, because she has come into his apartment without permission to retrieve the dog. He wanted to press trespassing charges against her. On at least one occasion, the former girlfriend said that he had sent her a text message to get the dog and when she tried to reach him, she couldn’t. She said she had entered his apartment without permission in the past and didn’t see why it was an issue now. Police declined any action and told the pair to cease contact for the night, noting they could take action in the future if the fighting continued.

Crosswalk encounter

A man walking in a crosswalk at Desplaines Avenue and Adams Street reported that a woman speeding in a white Range Rover nearly hit him Friday morning, so he hit the car’s rear door with his hand to alert her so he wouldn’t be injured. He said he caused no damage to the vehicle. Police reported that the woman continued to follow and harass him. She told police that as she was driving through the crosswalk, he banged on her car and she had to drive around him to prevent him from doing so. She said she wanted to talk to him about the incident. Police said she asked that he be arrested for touching her vehicle. An officer reported he told her it was a non-criminal act. 

These items were obtained from Forest Park Police Department reports dated Sept. 20 – 24 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.