Criminal sexual assault
On June 4, police were dispatched to Thornton’s on Harlem Avenue, where a woman said she was sexually assaulted in the alley behind the gas station. The woman told police she was a prostitute and was approached by a man and got in his car. She said the man pulled down his pants and started driving erratically, and when she tried to jump out of the car multiple times, the man threatened her life. He stole $30 from her before she got out of the car and called police from the gas station. She said she didn’t want to sign complaints against the offender.
Assisting police
Just before 9:45 p.m. on May 31, Forest Park police heard on their radio that there were shots fired near Harrison Street and Austin Blvd. and a request for emergency assistance. Forest Park police arrived on the scene and helped with traffic control in the area. That evening, an officer from the Oak Park Police Department fatally shot a man during a traffic stop.
Aggravated unlawful use of weapon
The evening of May 30, police were dispatched to the 1300 block of Des Plaines for a domestic battery with an offending vehicle fleeing on Roosevelt. Police pulled over the car in the 7100 block of Roosevelt and asked the driver to exit the car. According to police, there were two juveniles in the back seat and a semi-automatic pistol in the driver’s door. The driver was detained and told police that there was a physical altercation inside the vehicle on Des Plaines between him and his girlfriend, who accused him of infidelity. He later told police that he pushed his girlfriend’s head into the dashboard several times while driving. His girlfriend got out of the car to retrieve one of the passengers who got out of the car, and he drove away. Police reported that the man had small bleeding cuts on his face and arms, but he declined medical attention. The man was charged with domestic battery and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.
Criminal damage to property
Police were dispatched to the 1500 block of Circle on May 29 after a man called to complain about a vandalized toilet at Rieger Park. According to the man, one of his sons went to the bathroom and found a large rock in the toilet. According to police, the man’s other son was recently cited for a separate incident at Rieger Park regarding a vandalized toilet. Police said they’re working with the park district to acquire video footage around the time that the toilet was broken. No one was charged at the time of the report.
Attempt to disarm officer
While conducting a premise check June 1, police saw a man sitting on a bench at the CTA Blue Line terminus in Forest Park. Police reported that he was sitting in front of a “no loitering” sign and had received previous trespass warnings for the location. Police told the man to leave the station, and the man said he was waiting for a bus but didn’t say where to. According to police, the man smelled of cannabis and got up to board a bus on the north end of the terminal but was denied entry. Police asked the man if he had cannabis on him, and he said he did. Police searched him and his bag and found cannabis and suspect cocaine on him, then asked the man to put his hands behind his back. The man pulled away from police and, when they tried to handcuff him, attempted to pull away and run. Police kept a grip on the man, who grabbed an officer by the vest and pulled on his taser, resulting in the officer striking the man’s face three times and forcing him to the ground. He was charged with attempting to disarm a police officer, possession of cannabis and controlled substance, battery and two counts of resisting an officer.
These items were obtained from Forest Park Police Department reports dated May 29 through June 4 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.