Three charged in rowdy funeral procession
Two drivers were issued local ordinance violations for passengers hanging out the windows, traveling into oncoming lanes of traffic, and “general disorder” during a rowdy funeral procession on April 5. One driver separated from the group and was charged with reckless driving during the procession.
From about 2:27 to 2:35 p.m., a string of cars traveled west on Roosevelt Road, violating Forest Park’s funeral ordinance, which states “each driver in a funeral or other procession shall drive as near to the right hand edge of the road as practical and shall follow the vehicle ahead as close as practical and safe.” Police also found drivers in violation of the village’s negligent driving ordinance, as well as an ordinance that states passengers must wear safety restraints and stay within the vehicles.
Officers captured vehicle registration numbers from red light camera video at the intersection of Harlem Avenue and Roosevelt Road. They mailed vehicle owners the village tickets.
After watching another processional vehicle dramatically swerve across the yellow line, police pulled over a driver on the 1000 block of Desplaines. Officers approached the driver and asked for his license but the driver ignored them, stating that he was at a funeral. Police said if he did not provide his license, he would be placed under arrest. The man started to roll up his window.
Police reached inside the vehicle to attempt to remove him, but he shifted his body away from them. Officers then displayed a Taser, at which point the man complied with police, exited his vehicle and was placed under arrest. A search revealed he was driving with a suspended license.
The Chicago man was charged with reckless driving, resisting a peace officer, obstructing a peace officer, and driving with suspended license.
Teens flee helping shoplifters
Police arrived at Walmart, 1300 Roosevelt Road, on a call that a group of teens was trying to illegally enter cars at 5:06 p.m. on April 5.
The group ran across Roosevelt and to an alley behind McGaffer’s. Officers spotted them by an alley on the 1000 block of Desplaines. The teens dropped their shopping bags and ran through the alley, with a few entering a home. Police spotted some of them exiting the home and ordered them to stop but the group continued to run. Police tackled one man near the home, another was apprehended on the 7700 block of Taylor, and two others were stopped nearby.
The boys told police they were walking home when a group of girls asked for help carrying their shopping bags. The girls said they were carrying the bags from their broken-down car and waiting for an Uber. When they saw police, the boys said they felt scared and ran. Three of the boys were issued ordinances violations for resisting, obstructing and disarming an officer. Another was released to his grandmother without charges.
Officers recognized the girls from a previous retail theft from Walmart. Bags full of new merchandise with tags still on were recovered from the alley on the 1000 block of Desplaines Avenue.
Thief rides off with Jeep
Sometime between 10:30 p.m. on April 5 and 7 a.m. on April 6, someone stole a Jeep parked on the 900 block of Thomas Avenue. The victim could not remember if she locked the doors.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, March April 1-7, 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.
Nona Tepper
