Cops: Man threatened, bumped officer

The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office approved felony aggravated battery charges against a 22-year-old North Riverside man who reportedly pointed his hand like a gun at a police officer, threatened to kill him and then bumped chests with the officer outside a North Riverside restaurant on Feb. 13 at 9:35 p.m.

According to the police report, Jamal Issa had been tossed out of Chef Shangri-La, 7930 26th St., along with two others, for allegedly being highly intoxicated and causing a scene inside the restaurant.

Issa and a 41-year-old Lyons woman who accompanied him reportedly continued to shout profanities, while the woman reportedly shoved a 21-year-old Lyons man to the ground, prompting an employee to call police.

When police arrived, Issa and woman reportedly continued to scream profanities, and Issa allegedly challenged a police officer to fight before making his hand into the shape of a gun and threatening to shoot the officer.

“Wait till I see you on the street. I’ll kill you n—-,” Issa reportedly said.

Issa then reportedly shoved the officer and bumped him with his chest, prompting the officer to use his Taser twice to stun Issa and handcuff him.

The woman was charged with a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct. Issa was charged with felony battery along with three misdemeanors for resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and aggravated assault.

As of Monday afternoon, Issa was being held without bond in Cook County Jail awaiting a Feb. 19 court date at the Bridgeview courthouse.

Cabbie says man didn’t pay

Brookfield police charged a 46-year-old Brookfield man with theft of services after he reportedly refused to pay an $80 fare to a cab driver who had driven him home from Chicago on Feb. 13 at about 2:25 a.m.

According to police, the man told the cabbie he would pay the fare and went inside his house, but never returned. The cab driver called police, who went to the man’s home and found him inside sleeping in the living room.

Upon waking up, the man reportedly told police he already paid the fare. But the cab driver insisted he hadn’t paid and signed a theft complaint against the man, who now faces a March 25 court date.

Nabbed with the goods

A 17-year-old Chicago girl faces a felony retail theft charge after she allegedly stuffed almost $1,600 worth of merchandise into shopping bags at J.C. Penney, 7507 Cermak Road, and left the store without paying.

According to police, the girl had five previous retail theft arrests. She reportedly worked in concert with two others, who brought the clothing to the fitting room as if to try on the items. 

The suspect then later entered the fitting room, stuffed the items into Penny’s shopping bags and left the store, according to police. The case was referred to Cook County juvenile authorities by North Riverside police.

DUI

A 29-year-old LaGrange man was charged with driving under the influence on Feb. 16 just before 2 a.m. after his 2000 Lexus left the roadway and struck a fire hydrant in the 3800 block of Grove Avenue, Brookfield.

According to police, the man’s blood-alcohol level was .178, which is more than twice the legal limit of .08. He was also cited for damage to village property. The Brookfield Department of Public Works was notified of the crash in order to inspect the hydrant and make sure it was in working order.

DPW truck tampered with

On Feb. 11 at about 11:10 a.m. police were summoned to the Brookfield Public Works complex at 4545 Eberly Ave. to investigate what appeared to be an attempt to break into a tool box.

The tool box was located in a common area of the public works facility, according to the report and had not been used in more than a week. Police stated that someone had apparently tried to pry open the lock using a screwdriver, but failed to gain entry.

Theft from vehicle

An employee at the Sears Auto Center, 7503 Cermak Road, in North Riverside called police on Feb. 13 at about 3:25 p.m. to report that the catalytic converter had been removed from his vehicle, which had been parked in the lot since 11 a.m.

A resident of the 2900 block of Lincoln Avenue, North Riverside, reported to police on Feb. 11 that during the overnight hours, someone shattered the driver’s side window of his 1998 Toyota and removed the Garmin GPS unit locate inside the car. 

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, Feb. 10-16, 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