Two students throwing snowballs at each other at Riverside-Brookfield High School escalated into fight between two students last week that left a 16-year-old boy hospitalized after allegedly being choked until he was unconscious.

Police responded to a call from the high school, 160 Ridgewood Road, just before noon on Dec. 18 of a student who fell and hit his head.

When they arrived they learned that the 16-year-old boy had been in a fight with fellow student Tomas Kulasaukas, 17. According to the police report, Kulasaukas first smashed a snowball on the victim’s head. When the victim reportedly threw a snowball back at him in retaliation, the incident grew into a shoving match. Eventually, Kulasaukas reportedly got the victim into a headlock and squeezed until the boy was unconscious.

The victim was taken to MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn for treatment. Kulasaukas was charged with battery.

Disorderly conduct

North Riverside police charged Bellwood resident Thomas D. Evans, 18, with disorderly conduct after a North Riverside Police Officer broke up two fights involving the man just after 10 p.m. on Dec. 20 inside the North Riverside Park Mall, 7501 Cermak Road.

According to the police report, a North Riverside police lieutenant observed two men get into a fight outside the Fresh Wear store. The officer broke up the fight and the two men ran away.

A short time later, the same officer reported the two men fighting again, this time outside the Wilson’s Leather store. When the officer again intervened, Evans ran toward J.C. Penney, where he was detained by a mall security guard and later charged with disorderly conduct for creating an incident “in a manner that disturbed approximately 100 mall patrons.”

The other man involved in the fights was released without being charged.

DUI

Riverside police charged Chicago resident Anthony T. Reed with aggravated driving under the influence after an officer reported seeing Reed’s red Chevy cross the double yellow line and swerve in its lane of traffic on Harlem Avenue near 26th Street on Dec. 19 just after 3 a.m.

The officer reported that Reed appeared intoxicated and failed field sobriety tests. A breath test reportedly revealed Reed’s blood-alcohol level to be .104, which is over the legal limit of .08. Police also discovered that he was wanted on a warrant in Vermilion County, Illinois for a previous traffic arrest.

The Cook County State’s Attorney upgraded the DUI chare to a felony since Reed was driving on a suspended license and had an uninsured vehicle. He was cited for other traffic offenses as well.

Chicago resident Daniel De Los Reyes, 24, faces a DUI charge after an officer reported seeing him drive his 2002 Dodge, which had no headlights on, across all lanes of traffic while northbound on First Avenue from Forest Avenue on Dec. 20 at 9:41 p.m. The officer pulled over De Los Reyes at 26th Street, where he reportedly failed field sobriety tests. He refused to submit to a breath test.

In addition to DUI, he was cited for improper lane usage and driving without headlights.

North Riverside police charged Anthony Maskas, 41, of Worth, with DUI after an officer reported finding him asleep at the wheel of his vehicle, which was stopped in a traffic lane at a green light at the railroad crossing in the 8200 block of Cermak Road on Dec. 15 at 4:45 a.m.

Maskas reportedly failed field sobriety tests, but refused to submit to a breath test. He was also cited for improper parking on a roadway and not wearing a seatbelt.

Lockport resident Robert Olmstead, 46, faces a DUI charge after his vehicle rear-ended a 2000 Honda, which sent that car into the rear end of a 2001 Audi in the right lane of traffic on southbound Harlem Avenue near York Road at 8:05 p.m. on Dec. 14. No one was injured in the crash, and Olmstead refused to submit to sobriety tests.

Can run, can’t hide

Maywood resident Walter O. Mims avoided Riverside police for 16 years after being arrested 16 years ago for driving on a suspended license. Apparently Mims never showed up to court to face that charge and Riverside police issued a warrant for his arrest.

But when Bellwood police picked Mims up on an unspecified charge on Dec. 15 at 1:36 p.m., they found out about that warrant and called Riverside police, who arrested him on the outstanding warrant.

 

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside and North Riverside police departments from Dec. 15 through Dec. 21, 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