Police responded to a trespasser at the Forest Park Public Library on Oct. 8 at 11 a.m. The caller told police that, last year, a man was issued a three-year suspension from the library and was notified then by police. Since then, she said he’d returned 12 times, including on Oct. 8. The woman said the trespassed man has thrown books at and made threats toward employees. After watching the library’s surveillance footage, police found the man on Harlem Avenue. As police handcuffed the man, he pulled away and resisted arrest. At the police department, police searched the man’s bag and found two debit cards with names that were not his.
The man told police that he is homeless and usually stays in Chicago, according to the police report. He said he went to the library to talk to one of the librarians he had previous interactions with and was aware he had a suspension. The man was charged with criminal trespassing, resisting an officer, two counts of possessing a lost debit or credit card, and an in-state warrant.
In-state warrant
While on patrol the morning of Oct. 7, police saw a vehicle in the 8200 block of Roosevelt with a child in the backseat who was hanging out the window. According to police, the driver then turned onto Des Plaines Avenue into the wrong lane. Police pulled the driver over and ran his name, which revealed he had a warrant for his arrest out of Cook County for contempt of court. He was charged with the warrant and received a traffic violation for violating the Illinois Vehicle Code.
Missing person
Police were dispatched to the 400 block of Marengo at 4 p.m. on Oct. 7 for a lost child. On scene, police found a youngster about 3 years old who was crying and asking for his mom. When police asked the child where he lived, he pointed toward Madison. As police were walking toward Madison, the child’s father came out of a Marengo residence. He said he just got home from picking up his daughter and couldn’t find the boy. The man told police that his wife was inside and supposed to be watching the child. Police reported the incident to DCFS, but no one was charged.
Armed violence
While on patrol near 1 a.m. on Oct. 6, police saw a man riding a bike in the street near Madison and Harlem. The bike didn’t have a front headlight on it, which is required by the Illinois Vehicle Code and a Forest Park local ordinance. Police pulled the bike over on Madison. The young man riding the bike said he didn’t have an ID and paused before providing a fake name and birthday. The man asked to get his birth certificate from his backpack, and police said he was not allowed. Then the man ran away. Police chased him, then tased him. The man repeatedly tensed his body and kicked to resist arrest, causing abrasions and cuts to multiple officers’ hands, according to the police report. Oak Park and River Forest police helped detain the man. Police found a loaded semi-automatic handgun in the man’s backpack, along with plastic bags of cocaine and cannabis, and a debit card with his name on it.
The 20-year-old was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, armed violence, delivery and possession of controlled substances, three counts of resisting an officer, obstructing identification, driving without lights, and an in-state warrant for aggravated battery with a firearm.
Retail theft
Police responded to Mint Cannabis at 7207 Roosevelt Rd. the afternoon of Oct. 5, when an employee reported that someone stole 4.5 grams of cannabis on the first of the month. The employee said she didn’t wish to sign complaints if the offender was located.
DUI
While police were on patrol in the 7500 block of Roosevelt Road the evening of Oct. 5, they saw a car in the parking lot of Cardinal Liquors that only had one operating headlight and turned onto the street weaving between lanes. Police pulled over the driver, who they said smelled of alcohol and had slurred speech. The man driving agreed to Standardized Field Sobriety Tests and showed clues of impairment, according to the police report. Police placed the man in custody and searched him; they discovered a cannabis vape pen in his front pants pocket, plus two joints and open alcohol in the back compartment of the car. He was charged with a DUI, having a blood alcohol content over 0.08, a DUI for driving under the combined influence of alcohol and other drugs, improper lane usage, illegal transportation of alcohol, improper lighting, and possession of cannabis in a vehicle.
These items were obtained from Forest Park Police Department reports dated Oct. 5 through Oct. 8 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.