A 24-year-old North Riverside man faces felony drunken driving charges after he crashed his 2003 Chevy Suburban into another vehicle at the intersection of Desplaines Avenue and Cermak Road, injuring four people, while allegedly attempting to flee police on Oct. 17 at about 12:30 a.m.

Police say an officer attempted to stop Frank M. Kaczmarczyk’s SUV, which was southbound in the 1100 block of Desplaines Avenue at a high rate of speed, passing other vehicles, weaving in its lane and striking the curb and nearly striking a light pole.

While turning right on to Cermak Road, Kaczmarczyk allegedly lost control of his SUV and plowed into a 2008 Honda Civic stopped at a red light in the eastbound lanes of Cermak Road.

Kaczmarczyk reportedly exited the SUV through the driver’s side window and attempted to flee on foot before being apprehended. All four occupants of the Honda were taken to Loyola University Medical Center with injuries ranging from bruises to broken bones, according to police.

He was also charged with aggravated fleeing and eluding and cited for several traffic offenses. He appeared to be intoxicated and police also reported finding three open beer cans and a nearly empty bottle of tequila inside the SUV.

Unlawful use of a weapon

A 26-year-old Chicago man whose vehicle was stopped for a minor equipment violation faces felony weapons charges after police found a handgun in a backpack inside the vehicle’s trunk and learned the man did not have a valid Firearm Owners’ ID card.

Police stopped the 2001 Chevy sedan in the 700 block of Harlem Avenue on Oct. 16 at about 2 a.m. because it had just one working headlight.

The driver did not have a valid driver’s license or proof of insurance for the vehicle. Police reportedly were given consent to search the vehicle and located an unloaded Bersa Thunder .38-caliber semiautomatic handgun inside the blue backpack in the trunk. The serial number of the gun reportedly had been partially defaced. While the driver admitted the backpack was his, he claimed the gun belonged to a friend who had borrowed the car two weeks earlier.

In addition to being charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, he was cited for three traffic offenses.

 

Vehicles stolen

A Forest Park resident who’d just gotten his booted 2003 Chrysler Town and Country van back from its impoundment reported that the vehicle was then stolen from the parking lot of an apartment building in the first block of Lathrop Avenue while he was at work on Oct. 14.

The van had been booted by the village on Aug. 30 for non-payment of tickets and then towed on Sept. 6. The victim had worked out a payment plan for the fines and gained possession of the vehicle, which he parked in the lot behind the building where he lives.

When he left for work on Oct. 14, the van was still in its parking spot. But when he returned home at about 6:40 p.m., it was gone. The van also contained conga drums, drum sticks and other musical equipment valued at about $2,200.

Police responded to the 1000 block of Circle Avenue on the morning of Oct. 19 after a resident called to report that his vehicle had been stolen from a rear parking apron overnight.

The victim told police that he might have left the key fob inside the vehicle, which may have been unlocked. The vehicle was described as a silver 2017 Ford sedan with a red hood, black passenger side fender and temporary license plates.

 

Package stolen from residence

A resident of The Residences at the Grove apartment complex called police to report that a package had been stolen from outside his front door sometime between 1:40 and 4:45 p.m. on Oct. 17.

The unit’s Ring doorbell captured video of a FedEx courier dropping off the package, which contained about $600 in clothing items, at about 1:50 p.m. The doorbell activated twice subsequently. At 2 p.m. the doorbell camera captured no useful footage, and at 3 p.m. it captured a man with a cane holding a folder. It’s unclear whether the man took the package, according to the police report.

 

Mural defaced, again

For the second time in a matter of days, someone went to the trouble of gluing a piece of cardboard over the word “no” in the sentence “No human is illegal,” which is part of a mural on the Circle Avenue bridge over I-290.

Village Administrator Tim Gillian notified police on Oct. 15 that a 10-by-10 inch piece of cardboard had been placed on the mural, which is at the southeast end of the bridge.

It was the fifth time the mural had been either painted over or otherwise obscured. The last time a piece of cardboard had been placed on the mural was on Oct. 12.

 

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Oct. 14-20, and represent a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Unless otherwise indicated, anybody named in these reports has only been charged with a crime. These cases have not been adjudicated.

Compiled by Bob Uphues