Around 9:45 p.m. on Sept. 22, police were dispatched to the 7-Eleven on Harlem for a strong-armed robbery. The victim told police that he saw two teenagers loitering inside the store and confronted them, so they exited to the parking lot. As soon as other customers left the store, the two returned. One grabbed the 7-Eleven employee and pushed him away from the cashier’s counter before going behind the counter, grabbing several cigars and leaving. While conducting a premise check on South Boulevard in Oak Park, police saw two young men matching the offenders’ description and detained them. The 7-Eleven employee positively identified the two 16-year-olds and the cigars they stole. As police placed the two teens in custody, one of them fled on foot. Police caught him after a brief pursuit, according to the police report. He was charged with resisting an officer and robbery, and the other offender was also charged with robbery. Both teenagers were taken to a juvenile detention center.
DUI
Before 1 a.m. on Sept. 25, police saw a two-car accident at Harlem and Harrison. The driver of one of the cars said he was turning left when the other car hit him. Police reported that the offending driver smelled of alcohol. Police found cannabis and a bottle of partially consumed liquor in the driver’s car. At the police station, the man provided a breath sample that showed his blood alcohol concentration was 0.14. He was charged with driving under the influence, having a BAC over 0.08, possession of cannabis in a car, improper lane usage, having an expired vehicle registration, and operating an uninsured vehicle.
Dog bite
On Sept. 24, a woman called the police department to report that she was walking near the intersection of Elgin and Madison when she was bit by a dog. She said a woman was walking her dog down the same side of the street as her, and the dog bit her in her right breast. When the victim approached the woman, she said the woman walked away from her as she spoke. Oak Park EMS arrived at the woman’s place of work and took her to Rush Oak Park Hospital for small lacerations from the bite. The woman said she didn’t want to sign complaints against the unknown woman but wanted the incident documented in case of future incidents involving the dog.
Aggravated battery
Just before 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 23, police checked the registration of a vehicle traveling down Des Plaines and found it was expired. Police pulled over the driver, who was unable to provide her license or proof of insurance and said she was driving because the passenger was intoxicated. When police told the two that the vehicle would be towed because of the woman’s suspended license, they both became upset. When police guided the passenger away from the car, she snatched her arm away and hit police. Police performed an emergency takedown on the woman, and the driver attempted to intervene, so police also performed an emergency takedown on her too. During the drive to the police department, the passenger freed one hand from her handcuffs and repeatedly ignored commands to place her hands behind her back. The driver was charged with having a suspended license, operating an uninsured vehicle, having expired registration, and three counts of resisting or obstructing police. The passenger was charged with aggravated battery and four counts of resisting police.
Retail theft
Before noon on Sept. 22, police were dispatched to the Dollar Tree on Roosevelt for a retail theft. Dispatch told police the same woman also stole from 7-Eleven on Roosevelt shortly after robbing Dollar Tree, then got on a PACE bus. Police pulled over the PACE bus and escorted the offender off the bus. Police found stolen bars of soap in the woman’s bag, and the Dollar Tree manager said she’d sign complaints against the woman. She was charged with retail theft.
These items were obtained from Forest Park Police Department reports dated Sept. 21 through Sept. 25 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.