Crime

CRIME Knife-wielding man accidentally stabs himself

A 26-year-old Oak Park man apparently stabbed himself in the thigh after being removed from a Madison Street bar, according to the Forest Park Police Department.

Officers first arrived outside the bar in the 7500 block of Madison Street a little after 10:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 13, to investigate a stabbing. Witnesses told police a man and his girlfriend had just left the scene in a vehicle and were headed to the hospital.

A preliminary investigation revealed that a man and his girlfriend had been kicked out of the bar earlier that evening since the man had previously been banned from the same location. The man refused to leave and allegedly pulled out a pocket knife to threaten the bartender. He was eventually escorted from the bar with the help of his girlfriend, but a scuffle ensued outside, and the man stabbed himself with the pocket knife in his upper thigh.

Other officers continued the investigation at Rush Oak Park Hospital where the stabbing victim told police he was walking toward the bar exit when someone pushed him from behind because he was walking too slowly. At that point, he became angry and “blacked out.” He did not remember how he had been stabbed but claimed he did not stab himself.

The man was given a citation for trespassing.

Burglary charges fi led after attempted car thefts

One man was arrested after a group of people attempted to steal two Dodge Chargers from the lot of a car dealership in the 7900 block of Roosevelt Road, early on Friday, Dec. 17.

Forest Park police were called to the dealership around 4 a.m. after they were alerted by a security monitoring company that “multiple subjects” were attempting to steal two Chargers. When the first officer arrived, a silver sedan with “multiple occupants” sped away from the scene but one person was unable to get into the car as it drove away.

Officers pursued that person, later identified as 19-year-old Alontae Miller, of Chicago, on foot and deployed a Taser to subdue him. Miller was eventually taken into custody.

Miller later admitted to police that he was hired as “security” for the group, and that he knew they intended to steal the cars. He has been charged with one count of felony burglary.

Alleged thief tries ‘Fifth Amendment’ with cops

A 21-year-old Chicago man accused of stealing several items from a Thorntons Gas Station was charged with resisting arrest after refusing to comply with a police officer early on the morning of Dec. 16.

Forest Park police were directed to the alleged thief who was walking away from the gas station in the 600 block of Harlem Avenue just before 2 a.m. The suspect was taken to the ground by officers after allegedly ignoring multiple commands to stop.

Once he was handcuffed, the man was combative. When asked for his name and date of birth, the man replied “Fifth Amendment” numerous times. None of the items allegedly stolen from the gas station were located in the man’s possession.

A fingerprint analysis at the Forest Park Police Department revealed the man’s identity. He was charged with resisting a police officer.

Angry ex leaves message in shea butter

A woman believes her apartment was ransacked by a man who was upset about their breakup because the intruder also left behind a crude message.

Forest Park police responded to the woman’s apartment a little after midnight on Dec. 16 where she showed police an open window and said that when she returned home, she looked in the window and saw that someone had been in the apartment.

Officers went inside and found “clothing strewn about, broken mirrors, bedsheets on the floor, food and dishes emptied from cabinets, drawers from the dresser pulled out [and] all the items from the closet emptied,” according to a police report. A wall-mounted TV had also been smashed and the words “now we done” were written with shea butter in the living room.

The suspect was not immediately located.

Catalytic converter thieves target cab company

Several people allegedly stole the catalytic converters from 17 vehicles parked in a taxi company lot in the 7400 block of Roosevelt Road on Friday, Dec. 17.

Forest Park police were alerted to the thefts by the cab company’s general manager, who relayed that surveillance footage showed up to four people enter the lot early that morning, remove the catalytic converters from 17 vehicles, and move them under a fence and into the alley. The suspects were described as wearing dark clothing and face masks.

No one was arrested.

Man buys PlayStation with phony cash

A buyer from Facebook Marketplace allegedly scored a PlayStation 5 console and controller from an unwitting seller using $750 in counterfeit bills, according to the Forest Park police.

The seller contacted police on Dec. 16 and told them they had arranged to meet the buyer in the parking lot of the police department to complete the transaction. The buyer asked to see the PlayStation to verify its authenticity, then handed over the cash in $50 increments and left the scene with their purchase.

Shortly after the transaction, the buyer noticed that the bills were fake and all had identical serial numbers.

The Facebook page used by the buyer disappeared after the bogus sale was completed.

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Forest Park Police Department, Dec. 13-19, 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 Andy Viano

RESCUE

Car drove into river

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local hospital where she was being treated for non-life threatening injuries.

Chiappetta, who arrived on scene shortly after the woman was pulled to safety, said that in his more than two decades as a member of the fire department, he’d never experienced that type of water rescue in Forest Park.

“Between the police department and fire department, I can’t say enough about the guys,” Chiappetta said. “Public safety is our job and they risked their lives today to save that woman.”

Gross said the officers and the bystander who went into the water as part of the initial rescue “will be receiving lifesaving awards” at a later date.

The precise cause of the accident is unknown, but according to a crash report the woman was driving westbound on Roosevelt between Desplaines and First avenues when she experienced a “medical emergency” and the car veered across the roadway, through a Pace bus shelter, into some trees and eventually into the river, just south of the Roosevelt Road bridge.

The car was later pulled from the water.

COVID

Cases rising

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demic.

The village also lost another resident to the virus, bringing the total number of deaths from COVID-19 up to 32 Forest Parkers. A 69-year-old woman died on Dec. 14 after contracting the virus, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner.

Forest Park does, however, continue to boast a relatively high vaccination rate, with now 82% of residents receiving at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 62.3% with what is described as a complete vaccine series. Those numbers outpace the CCDPH rates, which are at 76.8% and 59.2%, respectively.

The CCDPH vaccine totals also reveal a geographic disparity in vaccination rates, with the percentage of people with at least one vaccine dose at 84.5% in the CCDPH’s north district, 76.6% in the west, 68.6% in the southwest, and 66.2% in the south.

In addition to the vaccines and boosters, Rubin also offered guidance for those planning to gather for the holidays.

For those who are vaccinated, she recommended everyone wear masks inside private homes if they are gathering with people not from their household, and that party attendees test three days in advance of the event and again the morning of the gathering.

For those who are unvaccinated, her guidance was unambiguous, recommending they “do not celebrate with others outside of your immediate household.”