Brian G. Meza, 21, of Brookfield, is in Cook County Jail, held in lieu of $100,000 bond after reportedly charging a Brookfield police officer and putting him in a choke hold before other officers could restrain him just after 11:15 p.m. on Nov. 1.
According to the police report, Meza had been acting erratically, walking westbound on Shields Avenue from Prairie Avenue, screaming vulgarities and yelling out, “I’m going to kill you.”
When a police officer pulled up in a squad car to find out what was going on, Meza reportedly threatened the officer and moved toward him with his fists up. Meza then allegedly charged the officer, knocking him to the ground. The two wrestled until two other police officers and three witnesses ran to help the officer.
Meza had reportedly smoked some marijuana that made him “act and feel funny” about 9 p.m. that evening. Police reported that Meza called out several times for his deceased dog while in police custody.
He was charged with a felony count of aggravated battery to a police officer and resisting arrest.
Backhoe stolen from business
In the past month, there have been multiple reports of batteries being stolen from semi-tractor trucks parked in commercial lots along 47th Street in Brookfield. Last week, however, thieves turned up the dial, making off with an 8-ton Caterpillar 430E backhoe/loader.
An employee of Unique Plumbing, 9230 W. 47th St., called police at about 6:20 a.m. on Nov. 3 after arriving at the storage yard and discovering the backhoe missing.
The lock on the storage yard gate had been cut and was founding lying on the ground. A pair of yellow and black bolt cutters that did not belong to Unique Plumbing was also found in the southeast corner of the storage yard.
The last time anyone saw the backhoe in the yard was the previous evening at 8 p.m. The value of the backhoe was estimated at almost $93,000.
Harassing a witness
A 19-year-old North Riverside man suspected of attempting to burglarize a Brookfield home in June is in Cook County Jail after being charged with harassing, via Facebook, a witness in his upcoming trial.
An assistant Cook County state’s attorney contacted Brookfield police on Oct. 3, the same day Kevin Sedlak had appeared at the Maybrook courthouse for a pretrial hearing in his attempted burglary case.
At the end of the hearing, the judge warned Sedlak not to have any contact with any witness. However, following the hearing, Sedlak reportedly posted a message on his Facebook page, stating that a witness “better hide.”
Brookfield police went to Sedlak’s North Riverside home at 4 p.m. on Oct. 31 and detained him. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office charged him with one felony count of harassing a witness.
At a court hearing on Nov. 1, a judge set Sedlak’s bond at $30,000. He awaits a Nov. 21 court date.
Sedlak was charged with attempted residential burglary on June 1 after he reportedly tried to break into a home in the 3100 block of Raymond Avenue in Brookfield. A resident of that home told police he heard breaking glass and went to investigate. Pulling back the blinds of a window that had been broken, the resident reported seeing Sedlak, whom he knew from school.
Forgery
Riverside police charged Lyons resident Amanda L. Cantrell, 26, with felony forgery on Nov. 1 after a Riverside businessman complained that she had altered a payroll check and cashed it.
On Oct. 14, Cantrell received a check for $52.38 and allegedly cashed it at a Countryside bank the next day for $152.38. She told police she used the extra money to pay the rent on a storage unit.
Nasty doggy treats
For the second time in the past month, a Brookfield resident has reported to police that someone threw nails embedded in cubes of cheese into her backyard, apparently in the hopes that the homeowner’s dogs will eat them.
Police responded to a home in the 2900 block of Prairie Avenue about 10 a.m. on Nov. 2 to investigate the most recent incident. The homeowner stated that at 7:30 a.m. she noticed multiple pieces of cheese with nails stuck in them scattered in her backyard. The cheese appeared to have been tossed in the backyard between midnight and 7:30 a.m.
The Nov. 2 incident comes just a few weeks after a similar incident at the same address. On the morning of Oct. 12, the homeowner called police to report about 20 cubes of cheese containing nails scattered in the backyard. The family has two dogs that play in the yard.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, Oct. 31-Nov. 6, 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
