Police responded to Planet Fitness on Roosevelt Road May 3 just after 8 p.m. after a man pulled a knife on a couple and fled. Police searched the area but reported that the offender escaped. Police spoke to a man and woman who said they were exiting the gym when a man verbally confronted them outside the front door. They told police that the man was acting aggressively, pulled out a five-inch-long knife and approached them threateningly. The couple got in their car, and the man fled. An employee who saw the incident said they’d seen the man a few times before in the parking lot, but he wasn’t a member of the gym. The couple said they’d sign complaints if the man was located.  

Possession of weapon by felon 

On April 30, police officers were performing a traffic stop in the 700 block of Harlem Avenue when a car stopped behind the police car and started honking. When police approached the window, the driver told them someone was following him. Police saw suspect powder cocaine, crack cocaine rocks and narcotic paraphernalia inside the car. After refusing to step out of the vehicle several times, the man said he was having trouble breathing. Paramedics were called, and the man was escorted to an ambulance.  

Police searched the man and found two bags each of suspected crack cocaine and heroin in his pockets. They found a loaded revolver under the driver’s seat of the man’s car, though he doesn’t have a Firearm Owners Identification Card or Concealed Carry License and is a convicted felon.  

Police placed the man in custody and paramedics drove him to Rush Oak Park Hospital. The man later told police that he had used heroin before driving and purchased the gun from an unknown person on the West Side, which he was carrying to protect him from the person following him. Under Non-Discretionary Pre-Trial Release Conditions, police released the man because of his severe mobility and health issues, including the need for an oxygen tank and prescribed medications. He was charged with two counts of possessing controlled substances and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon. 

Motor vehicle theft  

Police met with a woman on May 1 in the 200 block of Des Plaines Avenue for a motor vehicle theft. She said she parked the car there the night before, and there was broken glass in the parking lot where her car was. The woman was told to reach out to her property management company and provide police with any footage they might have. 

Burglary from motor vehicle  

On May 2, police responded to the 500 block of Thomas Avenue, where a man reported that a rear passenger window of his mom’s car was broken. His mom said over $3,600 worth of property was stolen, including sunglasses, new clothes, a computer and phone. The man said the car had been parked there for three days, and his neighbor reported to police that he heard a car alarm at midnight, but didn’t see anyone in or around the car or on his Ring doorbell camera. The man said he’d sign complaints if the offender was found. 

Reckless driving  

On May 2, police were monitoring a funeral procession traveling from Harlem Avenue, west down Roosevelt Road. Police saw several cars that stood out from most of the funeral traffic by driving recklessly, taking up multiple lanes, or having occupants hanging out of open windows and sunroofs. Police sent citations for negligent driving through the mail to 13 vehicle owners.  

DUI 

While police were on patrol in the early hours of May 2, they saw a car make a lane change without a turn signal, speed to 15 miles over the speed limit, and hit the curb in the 300 block of Harlem Avenue. Police made contact with the driver, who smelled of alcohol, had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech, according to the police report. The man was unsteady as he complied with police requests to step out of the car but refused to perform standardized field sobriety tests. The man was taken into custody and transported to the police department. He was charged with driving under the influence, improper lane usage, failure to signal, operating an uninsured car and speeding.  

On May 4, police were dispatched to 120 Lathrop Ave. for a hit and run around 2:30 a.m. At the scene, a parked Chevy had damage to its rear driver-side door. Half a block north, a Jeep had damage to the front passenger side and was partially on the curb, according to the police report. The driver of the Jeep said she was involved in a hit and run. Police reported the smell of alcohol from the vehicle, and the woman’s speech was slurred. She was argumentative and refused to complete standard field sobriety tests. Police took her into custody, and her son in the backseat was released to the woman’s boyfriend. She was charged with a DUI, endangering the life or health of a child and leaving the scene of a property damage accident.  

These items were obtained from Forest Park Police Department reports dated April 29 through May 5 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.