An off-duty Aurora police officer’s quick thinking led to the arrest of two Chicago teenagers, who were charged with attempted robbery after trying to hold up shoppers outside Best Buy, 2358 Harlem Ave., North Riverside, just before 6 p.m. on Oct. 21.
According to the report, the off-duty officer, a 36-year-old woman, saw the two boys “confront” a 20-year-old Justice woman, an 18-year-old Stickney woman and a 15-year-old Stickney boy who were standing next to the south parking lot of the store and then leave.
The officer then approached the three and asked what happened. They responded that one of the two boys directed them to empty their pockets and hand over their money. When they told the boy they didn’t have anything on them, the boy left.
After alerting store security, the off-duty officer reported hearing a man screaming “Get him, he has a gun!” from the east parking lot and seeing the two teenage boys running toward her.
The officer got behind the 15-year-old boy, who was reportedly brandishing a handgun, grabbed him by the jacket and forced him to the ground. The officer’s husband and a Best Buy security guard apprehended the other boy, a 14-year-old, and held him until police arrived.
Both boys were petitioned to juvenile authorities, each for three counts of attempted robbery. The 14 year old was released to his parents. The 15 year old, who also had an outstanding warrant for a probation violation, was ordered taken to the Cook County juvenile lockup. He was also charged with unlawful use of a weapon.
Graffiti arrests
North Riverside police petitioned three teenage boys to juvenile authorities for criminal damage to property and criminal defacement for their alleged roles in a graffiti spree on the west side of North Riverside during the overnight hours of Oct. 7-8.
North Riverside Police Chief Anthony Garvey said that the department received an anonymous tip that one of the alleged offenders had been involved. An interview with that person led to the two others. All admitted their involvement, according to Garvey, who described the offenders as two 15 year olds and one 14 year old. Two of the boys were from North Riverside and one was from Broadview.
On Oct. 1-8, 24 separate instances of graffiti were reported in a nine-square-block area from Cermak Road to 25th Street, from 7th Avenue to 10th Avenue.
Burglary
A resident of the 3700 block of Haas Avenue, Riverside, reported that sometime between 8 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 15, someone kicked in the back door of her townhome, entered the residence and removed a 20-inch Samsung flat panel TV from the master bedroom. Police reported that the rear door had black scuff marks on the bottom portion and that the door frame was knocked off the wall, propped up against the bathroom door inside.
Sometime during the overnight hours of Oct. 17-18, two vehicles were burglarized in Brookfield, and in both instances the offender targeted the cars’ global positioning system (GPS) units. In the 4200 block of DuBois Blvd., someone shattered the driver’s side window to enter a 2004 Volvo station wagon. In the 3300 block of Arthur Avenue, someone used a landscaping flagstone to smash the driver’s side window of a 2003 Cadillac sedan.
Drug offense
LaGrange Park resident James Ross, 24, faces a felony charge of possession of cannabis after Riverside police allegedly discovered nearly 100 grams of marijuana inside his 1997 Mercury Grand Marquis during a routine traffic stop just after 5 p.m. on Oct. 18.
Ross was initially pulled over near the intersection of Cowley Road and East Quincy Street for allegedly not wearing a seatbelt, but was arrested when police learned his license had been suspended. During a search of Ross’ vehicle, police reportedly found a brown paper bag on the rear floorboard. The bag allegedly contained three clear baggies containing cannabis. Police also recovered three cellphones.
Asked if he was selling the marijuana, Ross reportedly responded, “Let’s put it this way, I smoke a lot of weed.”
DUI
Riverside police charged Chicago resident Israel Cabral, 29, with driving under the influence after an officer reportedly found him sleeping in his vehicle, which was parked and running, in the left lane of the 2600 block of Harlem Avenue just before 3 a.m. on Oct. 22.
After turning the vehicle off and rousing Cabral, the officer determined that Cabral was intoxicated and had him perform field sobriety tests, which Cabral failed. A subsequent breath test reportedly showed Cabral’s blood-alcohol level at .223, which is nearly three times the legal limit.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments from Oct. 15 through Oct. 22, 2007 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. The cases have not been adjudicated.
-Compiled by Bob Uphues