Police responded to Walmart on Dec. 5, when a man said he was in the self-checkout and two other men started filming him. He said one approached him in an aggressive manner and tried to take his phone before both men held him on the ground and punched him. The victim said the men got inside a car in the parking lot, where police found them and took them into custody. Video provided by Walmart confirms the interaction. The men were each charged with one count of battery.  

Burglary from motor vehicle  

On Dec. 5, police were dispatched to Circle Avenue for a stolen phone. A man told them that an unknown offender broke his work van window and stole his phone from the center console. The man tracked his phone to a building near where the van was parked. The man said he’d sign complaints if the offender was located. 

On Dec. 13, a man came to the police department to report a burglary to his work vehicle earlier that day. The man said he parked the work van on Elgin Avenue and locked the vehicle before completing his job. He added that, when it’s cold, sometimes the lock on the sliding passenger door doesn’t fully lock and he found several tools missing, totaling over $5,700. 

In-state warrant  

Police were dispatched to 601 S. Harlem on Dec. 10 for a retail theft. While on route, police saw a subject matching the description of the offender running down the street and into the Harlem Blue Line station. Police caught the man, who repeatedly gave them a fake name. He stole three packages of gummy worms, and the caller said they only wanted the money back, not to sign complaints. The man was charged with two in-state warrants that were outstanding. 

Death investigation 

A woman called police on Dec. 11 to report that her father was unconscious and not breathing. When police arrived at the residence, they found the man slumped on the couch. Police reported that the man had no pulse but was still warm to the touch. The man’s wife said she last spoke to him about 20 minutes prior, at 2:45 a.m., and he didn’t want to get off the couch because he didn’t feel well. Police reported that she said the man started breathing heavily before becoming unresponsive. The family also reported he had cancer. 

Police were dispatched to the CTA Blue Line Forest Park station for an unconscious man in a train car who wasn’t breathing. Police delivered sternum rubs and Narcan to the man with negative results. Forest Park police and fire, plus River Forest police, confirmed rigor mortis was starting. According to the police report, there were no signs of foul play, and the man appeared to be homeless.   

Possession controlled substance  

Police were dispatched to the alley in the 200 block of Harlem Avenue for a person down. Police reported that a man was laying in the middle of the alley but said he was OK and didn’t want medical attention. When the man stood up, police reported that they saw four bags of suspected heroin on the ground, which he later told them was fentanyl for personal use. He was placed into custody and was found to have two serviceable warrants for his arrest, which he was charged with along with possession of a controlled substance.  

DUI 

While patrolling Des Plaines Avenue around 5 p.m. on Dec. 14, police saw a car driving without headlights or taillights. As police followed the car, it crossed the lane into oncoming traffic, so cops pulled it over. Police reported the smell of alcohol on the driver, suspected vomit on the car door and his chin, and that the driver had glassy eyes and slurred speech. Because of negative temperatures, police took the man to the police department to continue a DUI investigation. After completing field sobriety tests at the station, police concluded that he was intoxicated. His BAC was 0.194, so he was charged with one count of a DUI and another for BAC being over 0.08, plus improper lighting and improper lane usage.  

‘These items were obtained from Forest Park Police Department reports dated Dec. 4 through Dec. 14 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.