The evening of Sept. 10, police were dispatched to the 7-Eleven at 205 Harlem after a man refused to leave the store and threatened the clerk with a knife. The clerk told police that a man was sitting outside the store, banging washer fluid jugs on the front window. When the clerk asked the man to leave, the man pulled out a butter knife and threatened to kill him. When police made contact with the offender, the man reached into his pocket and threw eight butter knives on the ground before running away. Police caught the man and detained him, charging him with aggravated assault.
Traffic arrest
The afternoon of Sept. 12, police were on patrol when they saw a car in the 400 block of Marengo that was traveling the wrong direction on a one-way street. Police pulled over the driver, and it was revealed that his license was suspended. The man was given a citation for having a suspended license and driving the wrong way on a one-way street. The car was towed.
Possession of controlled substance
Police were dispatched to the 7200 block of Jackson on Sept. 12 around 1:30 p.m. for a suspicious person looking into cars. Police made contact with the suspect, who said he was homeless. Police asked the man if they could look in his backpack, and the man complied. From his backpack, he pulled out a purse, and police saw two small containers containing white, powdery substance. Police searched the backpack and found a plastic bag, also containing white powder and multiple broken straws. The man was charged with two in-state warrants, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Car theft
The morning of Sept. 10, police were dispatched to 7820 Madison St. for a burglary to a motor vehicle. Police reported that there were multiple vehicles on the north side of the parking lot that had been broken into. At least four cars had broken windows and peeled steering columns. According to the police report, there were no video surveillance cameras that would’ve captured the incident. No one was charged at the time of the report.
Domestic battery
On Sept. 9 before 8 a.m., dispatch told police that they got a call from a woman who was being attacked in a car. Police found the car stopped on the exit ramp at I-290 and 1st Ave. after it ran out of gas. Police reported that a man outside the car had a scratched, red face and said he had a verbal altercation with his girlfriend that turned physical when she hit him. The man said the woman struck his face after finding texts from another woman on his phone, then threw his phone out the window. His girlfriend said the man hit her multiple times in the face and chocked her to the point of losing consciousness, and police reported that she was bleeding above her eye. The woman wanted to sign complaints, so police took the man into custody. He was charged with domestic battery.
Fire
On Sept. 8, a fire alarm went off at Thule Group on Industrial Drive. Police reported smoke billowing from the building and employees standing outside. After the Forest Park and North Riverside fire departments extinguished the fire, the plant controller told police that a failure to a machine in the factory caused the fire. According to the police report, the fire department doesn’t suspect foul play.
Ordinance violation
Around 11 p.m. on Sept 7, police were dispatched to the Harlem Blue Line station after dispatch reported that a person with a gun wasn’t allowing people to leave the train. When Forest Park police arrived, Oak Park police had the suspect detained. The caller told police that the suspect was harassing her and her boyfriend on the train, threatened to pistol whip her, then blocked them from leaving the train. She said she didn’t observe a gun and didn’t wish to sign complaints. Officers also didn’t find a gun. The juvenile suspect was charged with a village ordinance violation and curfew violation.
These items were obtained from Forest Park Police Department reports dated Sept. 7 through Sept. 13 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.