A 54-year-old Brookfield man will not face felony charges for domestic battery for attacking his 72-year-old stepfather on Dec. 17, but only because his elder said he didn’t wish to pursue them.
Instead, the 54-year-old man faces misdemeanor charges for reportedly punching his stepfather and pushing him to the ground for no apparent reason.
According to the police report, the victim drove out to Hillside to pick up his stepson, who got highly intoxicated at an office Christmas party. The stepson fell asleep on the ride home.
When they arrived home in Brookfield and his stepfather woke the man up and told him to put his shoes back on, the stepson reportedly kicked the dashboard, got out of the car and slammed the door. When his stepfather asked his stepson why he slammed the door, the stepson reportedly threw a drink in his face, punched him in the mouth and in the back before pushing him to the ground.
The offender’s 22-year-old son called police, who arrested the man at his Brookfield home.
The Cook County State’s Attorney was willing to file a felony charge against the man due to the fact that the victim was more than 60 years old. However, the victim said he would pursue the misdemeanor charge instead.
Taggers hit North Riverside
The west end of North Riverside was hit with a graffiti spree on the evening of Dec. 16. Police responded to the 2200 block of 15th Avenue just before 9 p.m. after getting a call from a resident who reported his garage door vandalized with black spray paint. Police said the symbols on the garage door appeared to be gang-related.
They found several other locations that had been hit by graffiti, including one other building and a stop sign on the 2200 block of 15th Avenue, two buildings on the 2300 block of 15th Avenue, two buildings and a garbage can on the 2300 block of 17th Avenue and one building in the 9100 block of Cermak Road.
All appeared to have been done around the same time, between 4 and 9 p.m.
Surprise visitors
The landlord of a building on the 7700 block of 26th Street, North Riverside, reported on Dec. 16 at 3 p.m. a possible break-in to an apartment. A tenant of the building told the landlord she entered her apartment about 2:45 p.m. and closed the door behind her. A few seconds later, her doorbell rang. At her door was a man who said work was going to be done in the building and asked if she had any dogs.
When the man walked into her apartment, she yelled at him to leave. At the same time, another man came out of her bedroom and told her he was going to shut off electricity to the unit. The woman picked up the phone and the men left her apartment.
Nothing appeared to be missing from the apartment, according to the police report, although two dresser drawers had apparently been rifled through. The woman admitted to police that she never locked the door to her apartment “because she never thought anything would ever happen.”
Brookfield home burglarized
The residents of a home on the 3500 block of Rosemear Avenue, Brookfield, reported to police that between 11 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. on Dec. 18, someone broke into the home through a front window and stole several pieces of jewelry from one of the bedrooms. The offender also rummaged through drawers in another bedroom, though it was unclear if anything else was missing.
Drunk driving crackdown underway
Cops in Riverside and Brookfield have increased patrols aimed at catching drunk drivers through the state’s “You Drink You Drive You Lose” and “Click It or Ticket” programs, which are funded through grants from the Illinois Department of Transportation.
The patrols began Dec. 17 and will continue through the holiday season. Late night enforcement will be a critical part of the effort, according to Brookfield police Lt. James Episcopo.
“The midnight to 3 a.m. timeframe is the deadliest time on Illinois roads,” he said. “Not coincidentally, the data also shows this time of day has the highest percentage of alcohol involvement and the lowest occupant restraint use.”
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments from Dec. 13 to Dec. 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
