North Riverside police charged Forest Park resident Warren Mathis, 35, with armed robbery after he allegedly walked into the North Riverside Park Mall and held up a cashier at the Dunkin’ Donuts/Baskin Robbins outlet in the mall’s food court on Aug. 27 just before 2:30 p.m.

According to the report, Mathis rode to the mall in a taxi accompanied by his girlfriend. The cab pulled up to the food court entrance on the east side of the mall and Mathis told the cab driver and his girlfriend to wait while he went inside.

Once inside, Mathis allegedly walked up to the Baskin Robbins cashier, ordered an ice cream cone and paid for it. While the register was open, he allegedly announced the robbery and showed the cashier what appeared to be a blue steel semi-automatic handgun tucked into the waistband of his pants.

When the cashier expressed some hesitancy, Mathis reportedly said that if he didn’t get the money, he would start shooting. Mathis allegedly then grabbed over $300 from the register and walked quickly to the exit, dropping some $120 along the way.

The store manager confronted Mathis at the exit, but backed off when Mathis again reportedly displayed the gun in his waistband. Mathis then hopped into the cab, where mall security guards attempted to stop him.

This time, police said, he took the gun out of his pants and displayed it to the unarmed guards. Mathis also allegedly displayed the gun to the cab driver and ordered him to drive away.

North Riverside and Riverside police stopped the cab near the intersection of 26th Street and Keystone Avenue, where Mathis surrendered without incident. Police recovered $190 in cash and a blue steel starter’s pistol with blank ammunition in it.

According to North Riverside Police Chief Anthony Garvey, eight other police agencies in suburban Cook and DuPage counties, including LaGrange Park, may charge Mathis with armed robberies as well.

Garvey also said that Mathis was on parole after serving time in New Mexico for several prior convictions. His parole was transferred to Illinois from New Mexico last year.

In addition to armed robbery, a Class X felony that carries a possible jail term of up to 30 years, Mathis was charged with aggravated unlawful restraint, a Class 3 felony. He is currently being held without bond at Cook County Jail.

Mob action, battery

A Brookfield man and two juveniles were charged by Riverside police with mob action on Aug. 29 after an Aug. 26 incident in which one of the juveniles allegedly punched a 17-year-old Brookfield boy in the face.

Police reported that on Aug. 26 at 3:40 p.m. the 17-year-old victim was walking to a friend’s house on Pine Avenue in Riverside when four people, two of whom he recognized, surrounded him. During the confrontation, a 16-year-old Berwyn resident allegedly struck the boy while the others looked on.

On Monday morning, Aug. 29, the victim reported the incident to officials at Riverside-Brookfield High School. School officials called Riverside police. The 16-year-old Berwyn youth was charged with battery and mob action. In addition, Edward J. Flint, 19, of Brookfield and a 16-year-old Brookfield youth were charged with mob action for their alleged parts in the incident. Police are still trying to identify the fourth participant.

The youths were petitioned to juvenile authorities, while Flint faces an Oct. 7 court date at Maybrook.

Theft

The owner of Kustom Automotive Recovery, 9014 47th St., Brookfield, reported to police that between 9:30 p.m. on Aug. 31 and 2 p.m. on Sept. 1, someone stole gasoline from a pair of tow trucks parked at the business.

According to the report, 25 gallons of diesel fuel worth $81.75 were stolen from a truck parked on the north side of the building. Another 21 gallons of regular gasoline worth $59.85 was taken from a truck parked within the fenced enclosure on the south side of the property.

The owner said that both vehicles had been filled up on Aug. 21 before being parked overnight.

Criminal damage

A man reported to Brookfield police that he parked his 2001 Cadillac Eldorado at 3 a.m. on the west side of the Douglas Auto Body building on Aug. 31 and at 11:30 a.m. that same day discovered a foot-long scrape on the passenger-side wheel well. Damage was estimated at $1,000.

n During the overnight hours of Aug. 30-31, someone either punctured or let the air out of the right front tire of a 1995 Chevy cargo van parked in the 4500 block of Elm Avenue, Brookfield. A screw was found jammed into the tire’s valve. Damage was estimated at $20.

n The owner of Armenetti’s Beverage, 9034 31st St., Brookfield, reported that just before 8:15 p.m. on Aug. 31 someone threw a rock through the front window of the business, leaving a 3-inch hole in the glass. A witness later reported seeing a group of 10 youths running south from 31st Street in the area of Elm Avenue. The group them split in two groups and fled.

n Brookfield police were dispatched to a home in the 3500 block of Grand Boulevard just after 8:40 p.m. on Aug. 31 after a resident reported that someone had thrown a brick through a 4-by-5-foot front window of the house.

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments from Aug. 27 through Sept. 1 and represents a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Unless otherwise indicated, anyone named in these reports has only been charged with a crime. The cases have not yet been adjudicated.

?”compiled by Bob Uphues