At 1 a.m. on Aug. 9, Forest Park police helped Oak Park police after Chicago police alerted them that there was a large gathering of teenagers walking west on Roosevelt Road toward Austin. Two Forest Park police officers and Illinois State Police positioned themselves at Austin and I-290, while Oak Park and Chicago police were at Austin and Garfield. The group traveled north on Austin and stopped at Harrison at the Shell and BP gas stations. According to the police report, teenagers were climbing and dancing on gas pumps and parked cars. Police formed a line and pushed the crowd north and to the east side of Austin Boulevard, where “people began to go into the Subway and completely overran the store,” according to the police report.  

Then, police heard gunshots near Madison Street, and the group began to disperse. Police saw a man walking with a gun in his waistband and ordered him and a man he was walking with, who they found to also have a gun in his pants, to the ground at gunpoint. River Forest police took the men into custody. As police continued to try to clear the area, they heard gunshots near Austin and Mason. They relocated to the alley where they heard shots and found no offender or victim but located about a dozen shell casings. More teenagers fled with the second round of gunshots, and Forest Park police remained on scene until Oak Park police released them. 

Deceptive practices  

On July 31, police were dispatched to the Citgo Gas Station on Randolph for a report of a scam. The woman who called police said she used pump three, but a lose screw didn’t allow a flap to go all the way down to finish the transaction. According to police, pump three reset every time the pump was placed in the machine, causing the woman to worry she’d be charged if someone else used the pump. The gas station clerk gave police a screwdriver to remove the screw that looked newer than the others. The clerk said the owner would be at the gas station the following day, but other stations have similar screws in place. According to the police report, most of Citgo’s pumps didn’t have screws in the area that pump three did, nor did pumps at 205 Harlem Ave. 

Warrant 

On Aug. 1 around noon, police reported to 500 Hannah Ave. for a burglar alarm going off at Mt. Moriah Baptist Church. Police found a man sitting on the church steps who told police he was trying to find a pastor and opened an unlocked door. Police said there were no signs of forced entry. Police ran the man’s name and found him to have a warrant out of Cook County. He was taken into custody and charged with the warrant. 

Battery 

Before 1 a.m. on Aug. 2, police were dispatched to O’Sullivan’s on Madison Street after a caller reported he was walking to the bar bathroom, was pushed to the ground and hit. The victim told police he didn’t know the man and was immediately swarmed by the man’s friends who verbally harassed him before he got up and left. When the man reported the incident, the offending man and his friends had left the bar. No one was charged at the time of the police report. 

Aggravated assault 

Police were dispatched to the CTA Blue Line terminal on Aug. 5 before 8 a.m. after receiving a report of a man brandishing a knife. Police made contact with the offender, who was laying down in the train car, and detained him. Police searched the man’s backpack and found two utility knives, which he said he didn’t brandish at anyone. The victim told police he was sitting across from the offender on the train, when he showed a knife and threatened him. The man was charged with aggravated assault. 

Robbery 

On Aug. 7, a man reported to police that, on July 29 at 10 p.m., he was walking on the 800 block of Des Plaines when a man came up behind him and demanded his belongings. The man took his necklace and work scanning device from his bag, valued at $1,000 each, before fleeing. 

Armed robbery 

Before 8 a.m. on Aug. 9, police were dispatched to the 7700 block of Roosevelt after a man was robbed at gunpoint. The man told police that he entered 7-Eleven, bought a pack of cigarettes, and when he tried to get back in his car, a man approached him with a gun and demanded money. The man took out $15 from his wallet, and the offender also demanded his phone and told him to leave the scene. The victim drove to the Dollar Tree parking lot, where an employee helped him call the police. Police found the man’s phone in the 1100 block of Troost, and he said he’d sign complaints if the offender is located. 

Warrant 

On Aug. 9 around 6 p.m., police were dispatched to the 700 block of Circle for a report of public indecency. There, police saw a man walking from the Harlem Blue Line station not wearing any clothes. Police stopped the man but were unable to communicate with him as he only spoke Spanish. Police placed the man in custody and took him to the police department, where they fingerprinted him, revealing he had a warrant for violating conditions of his release while on electronic monitoring. The man was charged with the warrant and disorderly conduct.  

These items were obtained from Forest Park Police Department reports dated July 31 through Aug. 9 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.