A man accused of passing bad checks at two Riverside businesses on Aug. 9 is in Stephenson County Jail after police in Freeport charged him with possession of a stolen motor vehicle.
John Loresch, 42, was picked up by police in Freeport, a town about 25 miles west of Rockford during a traffic stop on Aug. 14, said Riverside Detective Sgt. David Krull. He was also charged with reckless driving and driving on a suspended license. He was allegedly driving a vehicle reported stolen out of Maywood on Aug. 13.
Several days earlier, Loresch was reportedly in Riverside, where he passed bad checks at Grumpy’s Café and Mollie’s Public House. He reportedly told employees at the businesses that he needed the money for an emergency. He wrote a check for $250 at Grumpy’s and for $70 at Mollie’s, according to police. When the checks were presented for deposit, they were returned for insufficient funds, police said.
The checks reportedly included Loresch’s name and Naperville address, and a Mollie’s employee also copied information from an ID he was carrying. Loresch has been convicted 17 times for larceny in Illinois. He has also been charged 16 times for forgery, although he has never been convicted.
In addition to the Riverside incidents, Loresch is suspected of passing bad checks in Des Plaines, Elmhurst, Naperville and Oak Park.
Heroin possession, delivery
A Cicero man suspected of dealing heroin in the west suburbs was arrested by officers from the West Suburban Directed Gang Enforcement task force last week in the parking lot of a Cicero pharmacy.
Riverside police were credited with the bust, since the information regarding the alleged drug dealer, Scott A. Gillespie, originated in a Riverside investigation. Police received information that Gillespie, 36, was to make a heroin deal in the parking lot of Walgreens, 4800 W. Cermak Road, around 11 p.m. on Aug. 12.
When police arrived they reportedly spotted Gillespie’s black Plymouth in the lot, and detained him. Officers reportedly found 5.38 grams of heroin in his possession and received consent to search his home in the 1200 block of 58th Court. There police reported finding 16 grams of heroin, packaging materials and $2,500 in cash.
Gillespie was charged with possession of controlled substance, manufacture of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. Gillespie is being held at Cook County Jail with his bail set at $100,000.
Riverside police charged Brookfield resident Robert J. Ciesielczyk, 37, with possession of a controlled substance after an officer reported Ciesielczyk riding erratically on a bicycle in the vicinity of Harlem Avenue and Longcommon Road on Aug. 12 at about 8 p.m.
While the police officer was talking with him, Ciesielczyk reported reached into his pocket. The officer ordered him to remove his hands from his pocket, and reported finding a used hypodermic needle. Ciesielczyk allegedly told the officer he had injected heroin a half hour earlier.
Police also reported finding 10 bags of heroin, totaling 2.21 grams, in Ciesielczyk’s shoe. While he was not charged with selling heroin, police said Ciesielczyk admitted he intended to sell some of it.
“Mr. Ciesielczyk had all his heroin packaged for distribution at the time of his arrest,” said Police Chief Thomas Weitzel. “The offender was a rolling drug store for heroin.”
Ciesielczyk is in Cook County Jail being held on $50,000 bond.
Alcohol plus bat equals trouble
A 19-year-old North Riverside woman was charged with battery and illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor after she reportedly got into an argument with a 22-year-old Brookfield woman and punched her in the face repeatedly.
Police said that Kristena Williams and the other woman had been drinking earlier in the evening on Aug. 12. At about 10:30 p.m. the Brookfield woman wanted to drive home, but Williams prevented her from doing so, because the woman had too much to drink.
That provoked a verbal altercation, which was broken up by a neighbor. When the neighbor left, however, the argument resumed and the Brookfield woman reportedly grabbed a baseball bat out of the trunk of her car.
Williams allegedly grabbed the bat from the woman, knocked her to the ground and began punching her in the face. Police arrived to find the Brookfield woman in hysterics and covered in blood. She was taken to a local hospital for treatment of her injuries.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments from Aug. 9 to Aug. 15 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
