Police were dispatched to the Mobil gas station on Roosevelt Road on Oct. 1 for a vehicle invasion. Dispatch told police that a man in a pink hoodie told a woman to drop her keys in an attempt to take her car. The woman later told police that she exited her car with her keys, and a man got in the passenger side of her car and tried to start it before getting on his bike and fleeing. While en route to Mobil, police saw a man matching that description riding a bike, so they parked their car in the path of his bike and told him to stop. According to the police report, the man dropped the bike and started jumping fences and running through backyards and alleys. Police lost sight of the man in the 900 block of Lathrop Avenue and requested assistance from Oak Park and River Forest police to create a perimeter around the area. Nearby residents told police they saw a man enter a backyard and not leave it. The owner of that property allowed police to search the yard, where they heard a noise coming from a crawl space underneath the porch. After calling for the man to come out, police entered the crawl space with a ballistic shield and instructed the man to come out from the corner of the crawl space. He was charged with motor vehicle theft, criminal trespassing to a residence, and resisting police.
Open alcohol
While on patrol on Sept. 27, police saw a man standing outside his car at 7400 Randolph St. with a clear cup of red liquid. According to the police report, officers suspected the liquid was alcohol partially because of the man’s proximity to Pioneer Tap, where police have seen people drinking outside. Police approached the car, where a woman sat inside, smelled alcohol and saw an open bottle of tequila on the floor of the car. Police asked the woman to exit the car, and reported that she repeatedly refused and became argumentative, so police assisted her out of the car and handcuffed her to protect officer safety, according to the police report. Both the man and woman were charged with having open alcohol.
Motor vehicle theft
On Sept. 29, police were dispatched to the 600 block of Harlem Avenue. There, a man said he parked at a Thorntons gas pump and exited the car but left it running. An unknown person got in the car and drove north on Harlem. Camera footage from the gas station confirms the theft. The man said his wallet and phone were in the car, which police entered as stolen in their system.
Criminal damage to property
On Sept. 30, an employee of the Forest Park Public Library reported that, on Sept. 26, a woman broke the outdoor outlets in front of the building and destroyed a flower planter. The employee told police the woman was removed from the premises and presented with a suspension notice but threatened to come back. The employee said she didn’t want to sign complaints against the woman if she was located.
In-state warrant
Police were dispatched to the 500 block of Ferdinand Avenue on Sept. 30 after they got a call that two subjects were tampering with cars. Police located subjects matching the given description near the intersection of Thomas and Jackson. One of the men had a pair of Adidas golf shoes and a White Sox jacket. Police found him to have a warrant out of Cook County, which he was charged with. According to the police report, officers found no obvious evidence of vehicle burglary in the area.
House fire
Police were dispatched to the 800 block of Lathrop Ave. on Oct. 2 for a fire inside a residence. Upon arrival, police reported that they saw no fire but smelled smoke. The tenant told police that he was sleeping and, when he woke up, saw a ceiling light fixture on fire and called 911 before splashing water on it. Police saw a burnt light fixture in the kitchen.
These items were obtained from Forest Park Police Department reports dated Sept. 27 through Oct. 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.