A man wanted by the Illinois Department of Corrections for violating the terms of his parole was arrested by Riverside police on Saturday in Chicago.
Riverside police had been searching for 48-year-old William M. O’Connor for two years after he allegedly passed a bad check in the amount of $1,265 at an East Burlington Street store on Jan. 9, 2009.
Police said the check in question was submitted as payment for a gold men’s ring at Coveny Lane, 30 E. Burlington St. In February 2009, the store’s owner went to police when the check was returned. The account it was written on had been closed for two years, police said.
Recently, police learned that O’Connor was staying in a hotel in the 1400 block of West Diversey Parkway in Chicago. On Aug. 20 at 12:10 a.m. officers went to that address and took O’Connor into custody without incident.
In addition to IDOC and Riverside, at least three other agencies have been looking for O’Connor. Both Lake County and Clarendon Hills have warrants for O’Connor’s arrest, and he is wanted in Homewood for allegedly passing a bad check there.
Since 1994, according to police, O’Connor has been arrested 32 times with 14 convictions. More than half of those arrests were for fraudulent activity.
He was paroled from Dixon Correctional Center in October 2010 after serving 12 months of a two-year sentence for writing a bad check.
Dog-napping at the mall
A Westchester woman told North Riverside police on Aug. 20 that while she was inside shopping at the North Riverside Park Mall, 7501 Cermak Road, someone stole her 1-year-old Eskipoo dog (Eskimo-Poodle mix) from her unattended black Monte Carlo, which was parked in the east lot near the food court.
The woman said she parked her car about 3:30 p.m. and came back to her vehicle 20 minutes later. A witness told her he saw a man reach through the front passenger window and pull the dog through the opening. The man then reportedly handed the dog to a girl who was standing next to him. Both then got into an older model Dodge Caravan and drove away.
According to police, the dog was valued at more than $500.
Passed out at the ATM
North Riverside police charged Kevin McKenna, 41, of North Riverside, with driving under the influence after they reported finding him passed out behind the wheel of his 1997 Chevy G20 van next to the drive-thru ATM machine at West Town Savings Bank, 7820 W. 26th St. at 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 20.
McKenna woke up only after the officer yelled to him several times. Several $20 bills were in McKenna’s hand and his wallet was in his lap, according to the report. Due to his state, McKenna was taken to MacNeal Hospital for observation. Two hours later at the police station, McKenna reportedly failed field sobriety tests. A blood draw to determine McKenna’s blood-alcohol level was taken at the hospital. The results of that test were not immediately available.
Drawing attention to himself
Plainfield resident Tarek A. Gabr, 31, faces felony drug and other charges after Riverside police reported finding crack cocaine inside his vehicle during a traffic stop on Aug. 15 at 8:50 p.m.
Police reported seeing a blue minivan tailgating another car while heading southbound on Harlem Avenue at Blackhawk Road. The driver of the other vehicle waved to the officer, who pulled up next to him, and said the driver of the van was driving recklessly.
While the officer was speaking with the witness, the driver of the van, later identified as Gabr, began laying on the horn, then swerved into the left lane to pass, without signaling, cutting off another vehicle in the process.
Police stopped Gabr in the 3800 block of Harlem Avenue. When the officer asked Gabr to step out of his car, he allegedly grabbed plastic baggies containing a white, chunk substance and tried to throw them out the passenger window, but the baggies hit the door and fell back inside.
As the officer tried to arrest Gabr, he reportedly resisted and was subdued by the officer and two other motorists who stopped to help. Inside the car, police reported finding three baggies containing crack cocaine. Gabr was also wanted on a warrant out of DuPage County for failure to appear in court on unrelated traffic charges.
In addition to felony possession of a controlled substance, Gabr was charged with resisting arrest, obstruction and driving on a revoked license.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, Aug. 15-21, 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