Police responded to the Aldi on Harlem Avenue the afternoon of Oct. 22 after someone reported a man exposing himself to customers. On the scene, an Aldi employee told police she was at the cash register when she saw a man bothering customers. The man had previously been banned from the store. When she asked the man to leave, he pulled down his pants and underwear, touched himself and jumped around, according to the police report. Police found the man in the parking lot, and he told them he danced in the store, but didn’t take off his pants. The man was charged with public indecency and criminal trespassing. 

DUI 

Before 1 a.m. on Oct. 22, police saw a car traveling 45 miles per hour in a 30 mile-per-hour zone in the 900 block of Harlem. According to the police report, the driver was holding a cell phone and swerved into another lane. Police pulled over the driver, who they said smelled of alcohol, and they saw an open can of Cut Water in the center console. Police asked the woman to perform Standardized Field Sobriety Tests, which showed she was impaired, so police placed her in custody. At the police station, she gave a breath sample and had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.05. She was charged with driving under the influence, operating an uninsured car, improper lane usage, speeding, and unlawful use of a cell phone. 

Assault 

On Oct. 22, police responded to Thornton’s gas station on Harlem for two men fighting. An employee identified the men for police. One of the men said they were involved in a road rage incident on Jackson while attempting to turn into the gas station parking lot. He said he and the other man parked in the parking lot, and the other driver came up to him aggressively and they started to argue. When the man went inside to pay for gas, the other man followed and punched him in the chest.  

The offender told police he was driving in front of the other man, who started honking at him. He said they both went into the store, where the man threatened to meet him later and beat him up, so he swung at him but missed him. Witnesses confirmed the interaction, and the offender was charged with assault. 

Battery 

The afternoon of Oct. 20, police responded to Harlem and Randolph for a battery. A man told police that he was exiting the River Forest Town Center and got into a verbal altercation with another driver who didn’t let him merge onto Harlem. When the car pulled up next to him, the man told the driver she was an asshole. A man got out of the car, punched the window, then punched the man in the head. Police reported that the man had blood on his face and that his driver’s side window was shattered. He said he’d sign complaints if the offender was located. 

Criminal damage 

Police were dispatched to JJ’s Fish on Harlem around 4 p.m. on Oct. 20 after an employee called to report a man with a gun. The employee told police the man was wearing a ski mask and drove away in a silver sedan. He said the man frequents the restaurant and, earlier that day, complained his food was cold and asked to have it remade. When the employee denied him, the man said, “Watch what happens when I come back,” and left the business, according to the police report. The man came back around 4 p.m. and was screaming with his right hand in his front hoodie pocket, taunting the employee before throwing a table across the business. The employee said he’d sign complaints if the man was located. 

These items were obtained from Forest Park Police Department reports dated Oct. 19 through Oct. 22 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.