Police were dispatched to the CTA Blue Line station at 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 19 for a man who was threatening personnel with a crowbar. Police made contact with the man and ordered him to surrender the crowbar, which he eventually did. CTA security said, earlier on the train, he asked the man to give him the crowbar, but the man was uncooperative and threatened to hit him with the crowbar. The man was charged with aggravated assault.
Aggravated fleeing
On Nov. 14, police saw a car traveling down Harlem at 60 miles per hour in a 30 mile-per-hour zone. Police curbed the vehicle in the 300 block of Harlem Avenue but, as the officer got out of the police car, the driver fled. Police pursued the car, which ran several stop signs before it got away. About 20 minutes later, Elmwood Park police advised Forest Park police that they saw the car parked and had the driver and two other occupants of the car detained. They said the driver appeared to be highly intoxicated and spat on officers. Forest Park police found two cans of Cutwater drinks near the center console and placed the driver into custody. At the police station, officers found MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, on the driver. He was charged with aggravated fleeing, driving under the influence, illegal transportation of alcohol, four traffic sign violations, speeding, failure to signal, possession of a controlled substance, having a suspended license and resisting officers.
Leaving the scene
While on patrol Nov. 15 around 3:30 a.m., police found a crashed and abandoned car in the 1200 block of Harlem Avenue. Police reported that the front of the car had disabling damage and appeared to be stuck on a raised curb in the Walgreens parking lot. Police saw three men walking on Roosevelt Road and reviewed street cameras, confirming that the three men were in the crashed car. Police saw the subjects get in another car and drive down Harlem Avenue. The crashed vehicle was towed, and an administrative hold was placed on it.
Hit and run
Before 9 a.m. on Nov. 15, police responded to the intersection of Elgin and 14th, where a man was walking in the middle of the street, and a car was parked on the side of the road with the door open. Police detained the man, who had dried blood around his mouth, hands and clothes. Police checked street cameras at Roosevelt and Harlem and saw the man driving the car attempt a wide turn south on Elgin, slowly hitting a light pole on the street. Police reported that there was no damage to the light pole. The man was charged with a hit and run and failure to reduce speed.
The morning of Nov. 21, police were dispatched to Harlem and 38th Place in North Riverside, where police had a subject in custody. The victim told Forest Park Police that, at the intersection of Harlem and 13th, another driver caused an accident and left the scene before exchanging information. A crash report was filed for the offending vehicle.
Domestic battery
On Nov. 15, police were dispatched to the 7300 block of 14th St. for a property damage accident. Police reported a Jeep facing west in the southbound lanes impacted with a Chevrolet parked in the southbound lanes. Upon arrival, police said a man was screaming and threatening people on the sidewalk. One of the witnesses told police the man hit her. Another said she was driving down Circle Avenue when an animal crossed the street, and she swerved and hit the parked Chevrolet. She said the man, who owned the car, was in the passenger seat, got out of the car, opened her car door, and hit her in the arm and face. She said when witnesses tried to intervene, the man brandished a knife and yelled at them. Police found a knife in his car. The man was charged with domestic battery, and the woman driving the Jeep was charged with failure to reduce speed and for not having insurance.
Fire
On Nov. 20 around 1:30 a.m., police were flagged down by someone in the 1100 block of Lathrop Avenue. The person directed police to a unit where there was a fire. Police reported that there was smoke in the building’s stairwell and hallways, along with the apartment where it started. The tenant was still in the apartment, but the fire was out. He said he burnt hot dogs before putting the fire out.
These items were obtained from Forest Park Police Department reports dated Nov. 14 through Nov. 22 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.