Gas station clerk allegedly grabbed by man

A Riverside gas station clerk called police on Jan. 9 about 1:50 a.m. after a man reportedly grabbed her as she was straightening up the store.

The clerk, a 56-year-old woman, said the man had been inside the minimart about a half hour before the incident, when he attempted to buy bottles of pop and two bags of chips. When told the minimart didn’t accept Link cards for payment, the man, described as a black male in his early 20s, about 5-foot-4, with a thin build and wearing a green hooded sweat shirt, exited the store, leaving the items on the counter.

A half-hour later, the clerk was outside the protective enclosure where the cash register is located. She was mopping the floor when the man came back inside, with his green sweatshirt hood over his head.

Sensing something wasn’t right, the clerk headed toward the enclosure and had her key in the door when the man reportedly grabbed her shirt from behind and said, “Get over here.”

The clerk pulled away from the man and entered the enclosure, locking the door behind her. The man ran out of the store, and the clerk called police, who searched for a suspect unsuccessfully.

The woman was not injured and nothing was taken from the store.

Flash your lights, will you?

Riverside police charged a 48-year-old Riverside man with criminal damage to property after he reportedly broke the window of a car belonging to a 41-year-old LaGrange man in the parking lot of White Fence Farm, 3704 Harlem Ave., on Jan. 9 at 8:40 a.m.

The victim stated he was sitting in his car in the lot when a man came up to the window, yelling at him. The victim said he started to roll up the window, when the man allegedly grabbed it and pulled on it, causing it to break. The man then returned to his residence across the street.

The alleged offender reportedly told police that the victim always flashes his car lights at him and his family and that the victim appeared to be watching him. The victim claimed he never saw the other man before.

White Fence Farm, a carry-out chicken business, is closed for the season, and it is unclear why the victim was parked in the lot at that time. 

Catalytic converters stolen

Three people notified North Riverside police that on Jan. 15 the catalytic converters were stolen from their vehicles, which were parked in the east lot of the North Riverside Park Mall, 7501 Cermak Road.

A 67-year-old Riverside man told police he had parked his 1998 Oldsmobile Cutlass in the J.C. Penney lot at 12:50 p.m. When he returned at 1:50 p.m., he learned his catalytic converter had been stolen.

A 37-year-old Chicago woman said he had parked her 2002 Chevy Cavalier in the J.C. Penney lot between 10 and 11 a.m. When she returned to her vehicle at 1:30 p.m., the catalytic converter was missing.

Finally, a 25-year-old Chicago woman said she had parked her 2002 Chevy Venture in the east lot at the mall about 1 p.m. When she returned at 3:30 p.m., she discovered the catalytic converter missing.

Brookfield vehicle break-ins

A resident of the 4600 block of Maple Avenue, Brookfield, reported that between 4 p.m. on Jan. 11 and 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 13, someone had entered his apparently unlocked 1998 Toyota Corolla, which was parked in a rear lot, and ransacked the interior of the vehicle. Nothing appeared to be missing, but the interior front driver’s side door handle was broken off.

On Jan. 16, a 16-year-old Riverside-Brookfield High School student reported that someone stole several items from her unlocked 1998 Volkswagen Jetta, which was parked in the student parking lot in the 8400 block of Rockefeller Avenue, Brookfield, sometime between 8:20 a.m. and 12:20 p.m.

Taken from the vehicle was $40 in cash, two Starbucks gift cards, a Panera Bread gift card and a Bluetooth microphone for a Pioneer stereo system. 

Vehicle stolen

A resident of the 2400 block of 2nd Avenue, North Riverside, reported to police on Jan. 15 at 8:18 a.m. that sometime between the evening of Jan. 13 and the morning of Jan. 15 someone had stolen his black 1994 Lexus SC300, which had been parked in front of the house.

A computer search indicated that the vehicle had been recovered by Chicago police in the 2400 block of South Kedzie Avenue. 

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, Jan. 9-19, 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