Cash taken in Riverside home burglary

Residents of a home in the 300 block of Gage Road, Riverside, called police on Feb. 5 to report that someone had broken into their house and stole about $20,000 in cash from the master bedroom.

According to the police report, the homeowners stated they were gone from the home for about an hour that evening. When they returned home, they noticed the back door appeared to have been pried open, prompting them to call police.

Officers found several items strewn about in the master bedroom. Missing from the bedroom, according to police, was an envelope containing $6,000 in cash. Someone had also taken another $20,000 from a closet, but about $5,000 of that money was recovered inside the house, apparently left behind after it was dropped.

Small fire at White Fence Farm

Emergency personnel responded to White Fence Farm, 3704 Harlem Ave. in Riverside on Feb. 4, around midnight after the fire alarm activated at the business. A police officer responding to the scene reported seeing smoke coming from the building and that a fryer was on fire inside.

Firefighters used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire. Smoke was vented from the building, which was cleaned up and opened on schedule that day for dinner.

The snow’s getting to people

A 65-year-old Brookfield resident called police on Feb. 7 about 8:15 a.m. to report that someone had written on the window of his 2006 Honda van during the overnight hours.

On the driver’s side window in white ink, someone scrawled, “You park like a dick.” The vehicle was otherwise undamaged and the complainant was able to wash the writing off the window.

A 55-year-old Brookfield resident called police on Feb. 5 around 6:15 p.m., complaining that a neighbor began yelling obscenities at him because of a parking ticket the neighbor had received. The neighbor accused the man of calling police to notify them of his illegally parked car.

The neighbor admitted that his conduct was poor but told the responding officer the man who called in the complaint goes out of his way to make people’s lives miserable. No one was cited for any wrongdoing and police told the two men to avoid contact with one another.

Bar drama

A 22-year-old Westmont man was charged with aggravated battery to a police officer after he allegedly shoved a Brookfield officer as police attempted to eject the man’s friend from the Cordial Inn, 9207 31st St., around 3:55 a.m., Feb. 9.

A patron inside the bar called police on a payphone, stating, “There’s a lot of drama going on right now.” According to the police report, the Westmont man was at the bar with a 23-year-old LaGrange woman when the couple was confronted by the Westmont man’s wife and the LaGrange woman’s boyfriend.

Sensing an altercation, a bar patron called police who defused the situation and directed everybody to leave. One of the Westmont man’s friends, a 22-year-old North Riverside man, reportedly became unruly and refused to leave, prompting police to escort him from the bar. That’s when the Westmont man intervened and allegedly pushed the officer, who ended up wrestling the man to the ground and arresting him.

About two hours earlier, the North Riverside man reportedly claimed he was slapped by his girlfriend during an altercation inside Phil’s Sports Bar and Grill, 8901 Burlington Ave. The argument started, according to the report, when the man told his girlfriend he didn’t want her to drive home because she was intoxicated.

No one was charged and police told the two not to have contact with each other for the rest of the night.

Van stolen from restaurant lot

A 32-year-old Cicero man reported on Feb. 9 that while he was eating at Olive Garden, 7513 Cermak Road, someone stole his 2000 Ford Econoline van, which was parked behind the restaurant.

The man told police he parked the van there about 3:10 p.m. When he returned at 5:10 p.m., the van was gone. Police surveillance video showed that a black sedan pulled up behind the van around 3:23 p.m. Three minutes later the van was gone.

Inside the van were various power tools, including impact drills and reciprocating saws valued at about $1,500 and four garage door openers valued at $1,000.

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, Feb. 3-9, 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