North Riverside resident Angel Mateo, 17, faces two felony charges after reportedly pummeling a 16-year-old Brookfield boy near Riverside-Brookfield High School on Jan. 14, leaving the victim with a broken nose and broken orbital bone in his face.
Brookfield and Riverside police were called to the corner of Washington and Hollywood avenues at 4 p.m. for a fight in progress. When they arrived, they observed the 16-year-old victim with a bloodied face. He was taken to Loyola University medical Center for treatment while police investigated at the scene.
While there, Riverside police received a call of a fight in progress in the vicinity of the Forest Avenue bridge. Racing to that scene, police reported seeing Alberto Cotto, 37, punching an 18-year-old male in the face.
After separating the two, police learned that Cotto was the father of the victim from the Brookfield incident. He reportedly had been told one of the people involved in his son’s beating was a black male.
Seeing a black teenager walking down Forest Avenue, he allegedly assumed it was his son’s attacker and went after him. According to police, the teenager was not involved in the Brookfield incident. Cotto was charged with battery.
Meanwhile, police learned from the victim that he was walking westbound on Washington Avenue when he was approached by Mateo and another person. After exchanging words the two got into a fight, with Mateo reportedly punching the victim in the face several times.
While Mateo had left the scene by the time police arrived, they received a tip that he would be at the Maybrook courthouse the following morning for an unrelated offense. Brookfield police arrested him there on Friday and charged him with aggravated battery causing bodily harm and aggravated battery on a public way.
Don’t let them in the door
North Riverside police are warning residents, especially the elderly, to be aware of people posing as village workers in order to gain entry to homes and steal items. Last week, police reported two such instances, while a third took place the previous week.
A 73-year-old woman who lives in the 2300 block of 14th Avenue told police that around 1:15 p.m. a man came to the door posing as a village employee. The man said he needed to check electrical pipes in the basement, and the woman led him there.
Meanwhile, the homeowner heard footsteps upstairs. Checking on the noise, she saw a man enter the side door of the home and saw a third man standing outside a black SUV parked in her driveway.
The two men left the home and fled in the SUV. According to the report, the woman stated nothing appeared to be missing.
About 45 minutes later a man showed up at the residence of an 87-year-old woman who lives in the 2300 block of 15th Avenue. The man said he was a neighbor whose water pipes had burst and asked if he could get some water from the basement. While inside he asked the homeowner if she had change for a $100 bill. Told no, the man left.
Later, the homeowner determined that upstairs some of her belongings in a closet had been tampered with although nothing appeared to be missing.
Alleged drunk leads
cops on chase
A River Grove man whose driver’s license was already revoked for two previous DUI convictions was charged with aggravated driving under the influence, aggravated fleeing and eluding and resisting arrest after he led North Riverside police on a chase that ended in Melrose Park during the early morning hours of Jan. 14.
According to North Riverside police, James R. Damore, 45, was pulled over initially for speeding 50 mph in a 30 mph zone while northbound in the 2300 block of First Avenue just before 2:30 a.m. Damore didn’t pull his 2006 Dodge Stratus over until he reached the area of Loyola Medical Center in Maywood.
During the stop, the officer reported Damore appeared intoxicated and ran his driver’s license on the computer. After learning that the license had been revoked, the officer returned to the vehicle, but Damore reportedly locked the doors and refused to get out. Then he allegedly took off northbound on First Avenue and led several North Riverside police all the way to North Avenue, where he was finally boxed in and stopped.
Although Damore reportedly continued to disobey officers’ commands, one officer was able to open the passenger-side door and jolted Damore with a Taser, allowing them to remove him from the vehicle.
According to the report, a blood draw showed Damore’s blood-alcohol to be .237, which is three times the legal limit of .08.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments from Jan. 11 to Jan. 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 Bob Uphues