The driver of a 2002 Saturn who failed to signal at Ferdinand Avenue and Roosevelt Road was curbed by police. The smell of cannabis from within was strong, but the 25-year-old Bensenville driver, who appeared nervous, denied anything illegal was in the vehicle. The pungent odor, however, led police to a shopping bag in the trunk which contained a shoebox with 260 grams of pot. Johnathan R. Schiewe was charged with possession of cannabis over 30 grams with intent to deliver.
Overly friendly parking lot help
Two kindly strangers who asked for a woman’s cart in the Walmart parking lot and then insisted on helping her load groceries into her car around 1:20 p.m., July 29, gave the 72-year-old woman an odd feeling. When they left, she noticed her wallet was missing from her open-topped purse.
Morning-after hit-and-run
An awkward neighbor encounter took place when a man in the 7600 block of Adams Street was informed by his wife that a vehicle had smashed into his parked 2007 Cadillac Escalade overnight shoving it forward 5 feet and crushing the rear end. A 2005 Chevy Malibu parked nearby was determined to be the offending vehicle.
The Malibu’s owner, a 26-year-old Chicago man, who was on the scene the next morning, had no driver’s license and an expired insurance card. He told police he hit the SUV because his “transmission somehow got stuck.” When asked why he didn’t call police at the time of the accident, he reportedly shrugged his shoulders. He was ticketed for no valid license, no insurance and failing to reduce speed to avoid an accident, which he failed to report.
“I hit the car, but I didn’t think it was that hard,” was the excuse provided by a 23-year-old Mokena resident after police observed the 2002 Cadillac Seville he was driving bashed into a parked Honda on Desplaines Avenue around 10:30 p.m., Aug. 1, then continued north. He was charged with hit and run.
Catalytic converter thefts
Residents on the 7200 block of Franklin parked on the street after they returned from Pierogi Fest in Whiting, Indiana, July 27. In the morning, they awoke to find the catalytic converter had been removed from their 2006 Honda Element overnight with a cutting tool.
Another Honda Element was relieved of its catalytic converter while parked in the 7200 block of Jackson Boulevard, overnight July 27. Repairs were estimated at $1,000.
Bikes disappear
Someone pried open the service door of a garage in the 1100 block of Marengo, overnight July 26-27. Removed was what the owner referred to as a black “collector” bicycle with large tires worth $1,000.
Another bike was removed from a garage in the 1100 block of Beloit Avenue during the day, July 29. Police found no evidence of forced entry.
An 11-year-old child told police he saw an unknown man riding a silver Next BMX bike, the spitting image of the one just stolen from under his porch, riding northbound from the 800 block of Circle Ave., July 28. Police canvassed the area, but could find neither bike nor rider.
A secured men’s Trek 4000 series bike and its ineffective cable were removed from the first block of Harlem sometime during the day, July 28. Value was estimated between $400 and $500.
A bike worth approximately $200, locked to a pole the night of Aug. 1 near Circle Avenue and Lehmer Street, disappeared while its owner took the Blue Line to and from Chicago.
ComEd phone scam raises suspicion
Police said a fraudulent caller, identifying himself as “Michael Flores” of ComEd, tried to convince a local dry cleaner that he owed $458.59 in delinquent energy payments and his power would be cut off unless he paid. The victim became suspicious when the bogus ComEd employee insisted he purchase a Green Money Pack gift card at Walgreens and read the code over the phone to pay the bill. Police said the business owner was not scammed out of any money.
Diving and driving
A 54-year-old Chicago male Dumpster diver who came to neighbor and police attention as he removed items from the trash in an alley behind the 100 block of Lathrop Avenue was found to have an active warrant for theft from the Chicago Police Dept. and was taken into custody. Left behind were the folding chair and “little child’s plastic 4 wheel toy” he had removed from the waste stream.
Drugs
Police dispatch alerted officers around 1:13 p.m. that several witnesses had called in after seeing a hit-and-run accident take place on the I-290 expressway as a 2002 Ford F-150 XLT was merging on the Austin Boulevard ramp. Cops curbed the pickup at Harlem and Roosevelt, and told the driver he was under arrest for leaving the scene of an accident. But no damaged vehicle was found. Police did recover a .1 gram baggie of heroin on the driver, age 26, of Romeoville, and charged him with possession of a controlled substance.
A 25-year-old male driver from Brookfield came to police attention after making an illegal left turn westbound on Jackson Boulevard from northbound Lathrop Avenue. Police noticed the driver “appeared very nervous” with shaking hands. After asking to search the car, police recovered seven small plastic zip-lock bags stuffed in a Marlboro cigarette box containing a chalky white substance field tested to be heroin. Taken into custody, the driver admitted the drugs were his and that he bought them near Austin Boulevard in Chicago for $80. He was charged with possession of drugs.
Revoked license
Even legally changing his name didn’t stop a 67-year-old Bellwood man from having a revoked license for DUI, which Forest Park police discovered on Madison Street around 9:30 p.m., Aug. 1. They seized his 2008 Ford sedan because of a history of driving with license-revoked charges. Muata R. Tacuma was charged with one felony count of aggravated driving with license revoked.
These items were obtained from the records of the Forest Park Police Department, July 28-Aug. 2, and represent a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Unless otherwise indicated, anyone named in the report has only been charged with a crime.
—Compiled by Jean Lotus
Contact: jean@forestparkreivew
Twitter: @FP_Review
