A Glen Ellyn man was arrested in Forest Park after allegedly stealing a mountain bike and damaging five area cars.

On June 14 police responded to a call at the 7400 block of Franklin Street. There, a victim told them that she had stored her unlocked, GT Aggressor, men’s 26-inch mountain bike on her balcony on June 13. When she returned to the balcony the next morning the bike was missing.

After inspecting the scene, authorities deduced the suspect must have climbed the metal supports to reach the second floor balcony which was approximately 20 feet off the ground. During the inspection authorities lifted several fingerprints and photographed a distinctive shoe print.

At approximately the same time the theft was reported, five ‘criminal damage to autos’ were reported in the same area. At the time of the reports the unknown offender used a bladed instrument to puncture the tire of all of the autos.

At 10:35 a.m. an officer from the River Forest Police Department called the Forest Park Police Department and told them of a similar incident and about a suspect that allegedly admitted to puncturing the tires of five cars on the 8100 block of Lake Street on May 26, 2005.

The suspect was 41-year-old Herman Nitz, of Glen Ellyn. The River Forest officer also said he had allegedly seen Nitz on the corner of Lake and Harlem and gave Forest Park authorities a description of the suspect.

Police located Nitz on the 7200 block of Lake Street. Upon questioning Nitz an officer noticed the suspect’s shoes and asked to see the treads. Upon inspecting the treads the officer believed they were similar to the ones found and photographed at the scene of the bicycle theft, police report.

Officers transported Nitz to the scene of theft and inspected the shoe print and the shoes of the suspect. Police believed they were similar and placed Nitz under arrest after reading him his Miranda Rights.

Nitz allegedly claimed he did not steal the bike but knew who did. The officers than advised Nitz that they had found finger prints under the balcony at which point Nitz allegedly admitted that he stole the bike and that the prints were his.

According to police Nitz then admitted to knowing where the bike was and wanted to return it to the victim. He claimed he sold it for $30.00 to a man in Maywood on the 400 block of 6th Avenue.

Several hours later a woman told authorities that her husband allegedly purchased a bike earlier that day and it matched the description of the one that was stolen. She returned the $249.99 bike to the victim.

Domestic disturbance

A Chicago man was arrested when police responded to a domestic disturbance call on the 900 block Beloit. The incident occurred at 10:59 p.m. on June 19.

The 39-year-old suspect, Demetrus Stewart, was allegedly intoxicated and trying to take his son from his girlfriend.

When the officer arrived he reported finding Stewart yelling at his girlfriend. The girlfriend allegedly informed the officer that Stewart did not live in that residence and that she wanted him to leave. The officer then reported attempting to speak with Stewart but said he was being ignored because Stewart was urging his seven-year-old son to put his things on so they could leave.

The officer reported the son was scared of his father and did not want to go with him but would rather stay with the woman.

The officer, police report, then asked Stewart to step outside, once there Stewart allegedly became very aggressive toward the officer telling him that he made $50,000 more per year than the officer. He also added that he had more guns than the officer did, and that he could “take care of” the officer in a hostile manner.

When the officer attempted to pat Stewart down, he allegedly became enraged and pushed the officer’s hands away.

At that point the officer attempted to place Stewart under arrest, police report. He asked Stewart to place his hands behind his back but the suspect allegedly refused to do so and resisted. Eventually Stewart was cuffed and placed into custody.

Theft

An unknown suspect broke into an apartment and stole approximately $450 in jewelry and cash. The incident occurred on June 15 between 8:50 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. on the 600 block of Hannah.

The two victims had three gold necklaces, two sets of earrings and several dollars in cash stolen.

The apartment was searched for fingerprints and other forms of evidence but everything came up negative.

• These items were taken from the records of the Forest Park Police Department between June 12 and June 19 and represents a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Anyone named in this report has only been charged with a crime. The cases have not yet been adjudicated.

“compiled by Povilas Zukauskas