On Feb. 6, police visited USA Beverage Company, the liquor store at the corner of Madison and Harlem, to deliver an official notice of condemnation for the property and business. A cashier working at the business called the property owner, who arrived and signed the condemnation notice. Police cleared the business of employees, along with upper floors, where one person was staying and refused further assistance with finding shelter. The fire department secured the building with padlocks.
Criminal damage to property
Police responded to a Marengo Avenue residence on Jan. 31 around 10 p.m. after a man said there was a couple who kicked in the rear door of his neighbor’s house. Police found a couple who matched the suspects’ description. The woman said she previously provided sexual services to the owner of the residence and later discovered the man paid with counterfeit currency, so she returned to confront him. Police made contact with tenants in a second-floor unit, and a man said the woman visited an hour earlier and wouldn’t leave until she was paid, though she didn’t offer any services. The man then provided differing accounts of his story, saying he gave her money to make her leave his residence. The landlord said he wouldn’t sign complaints for the damaged property, as long as the woman paid for repairs. No one was charged.
Aggravated fleeing
While on patrol Feb. 3, police checked the registration of a car driving down I-290 and found it was a felony vehicle. When police tried to pull the car over, the driver drove recklessly and sped away before the car spun out and hit a concrete barrier on the interstate. Police took the driver into custody, found that the car didn’t match its registration plates, and that the car was stolen in Chicago. Police contacted the car’s owner, who said he’d sign complaints against the offender. The driver was charged with aggravated fleeing, reckless driving, speeding, failure to signal, improper lane usage and criminal trespass to a vehicle.
Retail theft
On Feb. 5, police responded to Aldi for a retail theft. Police canvassed the area and found a suspect matching the given description in the 100 block of Maple in Oak Park, running away. Police found drugs and drug paraphernalia on the man, took him into custody and found him to have three warrants out of Cook County. He was charged with those warrants, along with two counts of possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, resisting an officer, and retail theft.
Aggravated battery
Police responded to the CTA Blue Line station in Forest Park around 1 a.m. on Feb. 7 for a stabbing on the train platform. Upon arrival, police reported that the victim was bleeding heavily from his face. The suspect was surrounded by CTA security, who told police they were waking passengers on an incoming train, including the suspect, who was asleep and covered in vomit. When he woke up, the man became aggressive and started spitting on security, then took out a box cutter and stabbed another passenger in the face. The victim told police he is homeless and frequently rides the Blue Line overnight. He said he recognized the suspect as someone who was violent on the train in the past, and tackled him to help security, which is when he was stabbed. He said he wanted to press charges. The suspect tensed his body to resist arrest and at the police station, was belligerent and appeared intoxicated, according to the police report. He was charged with one count of aggravated battery, one count of aggravated battery against a police officer and another with a deadly weapon, and two counts of aggravated assault.
Robbery
On Feb. 8, police responded to the area of the Circle Avenue bridge, where a man was screaming for help, after multiple people called to say he’d been robbed on the train. The man told police that he was riding the Blue Line when another man demanded his belongings and punched him in the face before he could react. The man robbed him of detergent, his coat and $20. The victim was transported to Rush Oak Park Hospital but later discovered to be uncooperative and left the hospital. The suspect could not be located.
Missing persons
On Feb. 8, Riveredge Hospital reported that, the day before, a man escaped, though he was mandated to stay at the institution because of his sex offender status. Police found him at Roosevelt and 1st Ave., where he requested paramedics and was taken to Rush Oak Park Hospital. On Feb. 8, the man was no longer at Rush and was last seen wearing grey sweatpants, a beige hooded sweatshirt and hospital-issued slippers. He was filed as a missing person.
On Feb. 8, a woman reported to the police department that she was concerned about the wellbeing of her daughter, who she hasn’t been able to contact since the beginning of January. She reported that her daughter was living with a friend after being released from Riveredge late last year. The roommate said she also hadn’t seen the daughter since the beginning of January and doesn’t know where she went. The mother asked for her daughter to be reported as missing.
These items were obtained from Forest Park Police Department reports dated Jan. 30 through Feb. 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.
