Police were flagged down for an accident on the 600 block of Harlem Avenue on the evening of Aug. 9. They pulled into Thorntons gas station, where a Jeep was parked next to an Audi. The driver of the Jeep was visibly upset and said the Audi driver turned left into the gas station directly in front of her. Police reported that the man driving the Audi behaved abnormally, as he was sweating profusely, speaking quietly and shaking. According to police, officers have arrested several people on heroin in the gas station parking lot. Though the man denied having heroin in his car, police found 22 bags of suspected heroin — or nearly 19 grams, which police determined was too much for personal use — in the Audi’s center console. After police handcuffed him, the man told them he’d been using heroin since 2008 and just bought $100 worth on Chicago’s West Side. Police charged him with possession of a controlled substance and delivering a controlled substance.
Resisting an officer
Police were dispatched to a Beloit Avenue residence on Aug. 9 after dispatch advised that a male subject was actively striking a female and not letting her leave. Police reported that they heard a woman screaming inside the apartment when they arrived. The man opened the door to police and was belligerent and screaming, according to officers, who reported the presence of two children who were visibly upset.
According to police, the man continued arguing with officers and pushed one as they were speaking. When officers tried to handcuff him, he continually resisted by tensing his arms and body. Police eventually handcuffed him and escorted him to the front steps. Police spoke with the woman, who said she stayed the night at the man’s apartment and, that morning, the two fought about child custody, an argument that escalated when the woman said she was leaving with the kids. She reported that the man grabbed her shirt, refused to let her leave and prevented her from calling police. She also said she’s made similar reports with police in the past and that the man didn’t hit her, so she refused to sign complaints. Police charged the man with four counts of resisting or obstructing an officer, and they completed a report for the Department of Children and Family Services.
On Aug. 12, police were told that a man who was wanted by their department was being released from Loretto Hospital, where security directed police to a back stairwell. Upon seeing the man, police instructed him to face the wall and put his hands behind his back, which he briefly did before running toward the stairwell. Police reported that there was a brief struggle before the man was placed into custody. He was charged with three counts of resisting or obstructing an officer.
Public urination
While on patrol at 1 a.m. on Aug. 10, police saw a man urinating against a fence in the 100 block of Rockford Avenue. Police reported that the man smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech and said he was coming from Pioneer Tap. He said he didn’t use the bathroom at the bar because they were getting ready to close. Police cited the man for public urination.
Burglary
Police responded to the 1500 block of Harlem Avenue on Aug. 13 for a burglary. The caller told them that, after midnight, a man in all black got out of a red hatchback car and urinated in the alley before entering the backyard of a residence in the 1500 block of Elgin Avenue and stealing a lawnmower. Police were unable to identify the man at the time of the report.
Theft
On Aug. 13, police were dispatched to the 100 block of Harlem Avenue after a woman reported that a man stole her bag and fled down the street. The woman told police that she attempted to use the bathroom at Taco Bell, but when it was occupied, left her bag on a chair and walked across the street. When she returned, a Taco Bell employee told her a man took her bag, which she said had her phone, credit cards, keys and clothes inside. After watching surveillance footage from the store, police broadcasted the man’s description on their radio. Using the village’s cameras, police located the man at Harlem and Circle before he got on an outbound Green Line train. The woman said she’d sign complaints if the man is located.
Aggravated assault
On Aug. 15, police were dispatched to the Chicago Bulk Mail Center for a person with a gun call. Officers performed a felony stop on the reported vehicle waiting to enter the loading dock. Police ordered the driver out of the car and put him in handcuffs. They searched the vehicle and found a revolver in a bag in the truck’s sleeper compartment, which they determined to be a replica gun. The man who called police told police that he was instructed to pull in front of the offender’s truck. The man then approached the victim’s window, yelling that he was in the Latin Kings gang and would kill him before retrieving the gun from his truck and pointing it at the man. The offender was charged with aggravated assault.
Fallen tree
Just after 5 a.m. on Aug. 17, police were dispatched to the 500 block of Beloit Avenue for a tree that fell on a car. The tree fell from the west side of the street and blocked the roadway, according to the police report. Police informed the car owner and public works department of the damage.
These items were obtained from Forest Park Police Department reports dated Aug. 8 through Aug. 17 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.