Before 1 a.m. on May 20, police saw a car at Roosevelt and Lathrop weave between lanes and drive over 15 miles above the speed limit. The car pulled into the Shell gas station on Roosevelt, and when police approached the car, they reported that it smelled of alcohol and the driver had slurred speech and bloodshot, glassy eyes. The driver said he left his ID at home and didn’t speak English. In the car, police found about a dozen empty beer bottles and a Mexican passport. With the ID, police found the man to have a DUI, suspended Illinois license and two active warrants for his arrest. He was charged with those warrants, having a suspended license, speeding, improper lane usage, open alcohol, driving an uninsured car, driving without a seat belt, a DUI and an aggravated DUI, or driving with a revoked or suspended license.
Possession of controlled substance
While patrolling the CTA Blue Line Forest Park station on May 15, police saw a man slumped on a train seat, not moving. When police moved the man to see if he was OK, he sat up suddenly. Police found syringes on the man’s lap and escorted him off the train. The man said he had narcotics on him and police found suspect heroin on him. He was charged with possession of a controlled substance and of drug paraphernalia.
Dog bite
On May 16, police were dispatched to the 1000 block of Des Plaines Avenue for an animal bite. A man said he was walking his dog when two dogs ran towards his dog and attacked it. He said the dogs bit his hand and his dog’s legs, and their owner was very apologetic before leaving the area. He said he’d contact police if he found the dogs’ owner.
Open alcohol
While on patrol on May 16 just before midnight, police saw a man walking near the intersection of Des Plaines and Randolph with a plastic cup. Police approached the man and said he smelled of alcohol. They gave him a local ordinance citation for open alcohol. The man said he was walking from Pioneer Tap.
While on patrol May 17, police saw two people sitting with plastic cups at the Park District of Forest Park after it closed. The woman at the scene admitted to having alcohol in her cup and showed police her ID. The man at the scene became irate, according to police, and tried to walk away, pulling his arm from police’s grasp. Police handcuffed the man, who was charged with resisting police and given a local ordinance citation for open alcohol, which the woman was also given.
Suspicious circumstances
Police were dispatched to the 300 block of Des Plaines for a man throwing rocks out his window and burning items off his balcony. The suspect told police that he had just been told he’s evicted and going through a hard time but denied throwing anything out his window. The man said he didn’t want to go to the hospital for evaluation, and police contacted a Forest Park crisis worker about the incident, according to the police report.
Disorderly conduct
Police pulled over a Pace bus in the 2300 block of Harlem the evening of May 17 after a caller reported a man on the bus with a gun hanging from his waistband. Police made contact with the suspect on the bus and put him in handcuffs for officer safety. The man told police the gun was fake, and police took and inventoried the toy gun into evidence. The man was given a local ordinance violation for disorderly conduct.
These items were obtained from Forest Park Police Department reports dated May 15 through May 20 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.