Bowled over
A 38-year-old Forest View man who works for the Illinois Department of Agriculture told Riverside police on July 22 that about 2:20 p.m., he was doing a routine inspection of underground fuel tanks at the Minuteman gas station, 3346 Harlem Ave.
The man was wearing a yellow safety vest and had put orange cones around the work area, but a car backed out of a parking spot, drove through the cones and struck him. The man went into the mini-mart to call police, but three men got out of the car and reportedly tried to intimidate him into not calling police. One of the men shoved the victim, police said.
Police say the license plate number on the vehicle registers to a Chicago owner whom police are trying to contact.
Bike overboard
A 14-year-old Riverside boy told Brookfield police that on July 22 at 10:10 p.m. he was riding his bike near the curb next to an 18-year-old friend who was on a skateboard heading westbound in the 8800 block of Washington Avenue.
The driver of a dark Jeep heading east honked at the two, and the skateboarder told police he threw up his hands and told the driver of the Jeep they were going to move. At that time, according to the report, the driver of the Jeep stopped the vehicle, got out and began arguing with the skateboarder.
The driver then reportedly grabbed the 14-year-old’s bike and threw it off the Salt Creek bridge into the river before leaving the area eastbound.
N. Riverside car break-ins
North Riverside police reported last week that four vehicles parked in lots along Harlem Avenue were burglarized, July 18-24.
On July 18, someone broke out the rear passenger window of a 1986 Chrysler parked in the lot at Bally’s, 1770 Harlem Ave., and removed a purse containing IDs, a debit card, a pair of glasses and cash.
That same day, someone tampered with the locks of a 2002 GMC Denali parked in the lot of Best Buy, 2358 Harlem Ave., and removed car stereo equipment valued at $900.
On July 23, someone entered a Hummer parked in the Burlington Coat Factory lot, 2208 Harlem Ave., and removed a stereo/navigation system and an iPhone.
On July 24, someone pushed in the lock of a 2003 Pontiac Grand Prix parked at Petco, 2204 Harlem Ave., and removed the stereo unit from the dashboard.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, July 18-24, 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
