A resident of the 100 block of Parkview Road, Riverside, called police on Sept. 24 about 6:55 p.m. to report that his residence had been burglarized.

The man told police he had left for work around 8:30 a.m. and was just returning home when he noticed that the back door looked like it had been kicked in. Police reported observing pry marks on the door and the door frame.

The only room ransacked was the upstairs master bedroom. An undetermined amount of jewelry was taken from miscellaneous jewelry boxes in the room.

 

Fight over drugs

Brookfield police charged a 25-year-old Brookfield man with battery after he reportedly punched a 20-year-old friend in the face, because he believed his friend stole his girlfriend’s prescription medicine from the living room of their resident in the 9400 block of Congress Park Avenue.

The friend told police he didn’t take the drugs and police confirmed that he didn’t have the drugs in his possession at the time of the incident.

 

Busy night at the bars

The Brookfield Police Department was busy with bar-related calls, late night Sept. 27 and early Sept. 28, following the Brookfield Bar Owners Association’s annual Bartoberfest pub crawl event.

  • Officers responded twice to Slager’s, 9308 47th St. The first incident occurred at 9:13 p.m., when a police officer on patrol observed two men, who turned out to be brothers, shoving each other in the rear parking lot of the bar.

Both men, ages 24 and 32, who appeared to be intoxicated, according to police, said the officer was blowing the incident out of proportion. Neither wished to cooperate or sign complaints, according to the police report and the two were sent on their way.

At 12:29 a.m., police received a call about a fight involving bottles at Slager’s. As the bar owner was escorting an unruly subject out of the bar, the offender reportedly swung a beer bottle at the owner, clipping him in the nose. The subject then fled the area on foot.

  • At 1:45 a.m., officers were called to Irish Times, 8869 Burlington Ave., to handle a fight involving several females inside the bar. Due to the number of “unruly” people inside, Brookfield police requested assistance from other agencies.

Police issued disorderly conduct citations to a 23-year-old Brookfield woman, a 23-year-old North Riverside woman, and a 31-year-old North Riverside woman. The North Riverside woman was also cited for battery after allegedly slapping the Brookfield woman as they left the police station.

  • At 3:58 a.m., police responded to the Cordial Inn, 9207 31st St., after a 22-year-old LaGrange Park man and a 21-year-old Chicago man reportedly refused to leave the area after being told they had to exit the bar because they were highly intoxicated.

The two reportedly left the area after being ordered to do so by police.

 

DUI

  • A 40-year-old Lyons man faces felony drunken driving charges after being pulled over by Brookfield police on Sept. 22 at about 1:25 a.m. for driving erratically while eastbound in the 9500 block of Ogden Avenue.

Police reported finding numerous open beer bottles and cans inside Trinidad Estrada’s 1996 Dodge pickup truck. Estrada reportedly failed field sobriety tests, but refused a breath test.

The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office approved one felony count of “aggravated DUI while license revoked, fourth offense,” and one felony count of driving while revoked, according to the police report.

  • Brookfield resident Denise L. Gartin, 53, faces felony DUI charges after she was stopped by Brookfield police on Sept. 24 at about 2:10 p.m. for driving erratically while westbound in the 8600 block of Brookfield Avenue and southbound on Prairie Avenue.

Because she was driving on a suspended license and operating an uninsured vehicle, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office approved felony charges for DUI. She was also cited for several traffic offenses.

  • Brookfield police charged a 23-year-old Riverside woman with driving under the influence after someone called to report a green Oldsmobile Aurora stopped in the middle of the 4000 block of Blanchan Avenue at a dead end on Sept. 27 at 3:44 a.m.

Police reported that the vehicle had both driver and passenger side damage, as if it had sideswiped another vehicle. The passenger side front quarter panel had significant damage and the passenger side wheel was hanging off the vehicle due to a broken tie rod.

Officers couldn’t locate any nearby vehicles the driver might have hit. They did report that the woman’s blood-alcohol level was .179, which is more than twice the legal limit of .08.

 

Not too sharp

  • North Riverside police charged a 44-year-old North Riverside man with misdemeanor aggravated assault and criminal damage to property after he allegedly used a small pocket knife to scratch the entire driver’s side of a 2007 Ford Explorer parked in the driveway of a home in the 2200 block of 19th Avenue on Sept. 24 about 2:55 p.m.

When confronted by someone who witnessed the act, the man reportedly began waving the knife in the witness’ direction before throwing it into some bushes, where it was discovered by a public safety officer who was parked nearby in a squad car and observed the disturbance.

  • A 33-year-old Chicago man contacted North Riverside police on Sept. 26 after finding out that a 2000 Jaguar S-Type he had recently purchased was actually a vehicle that had been stolen out of Summit and subsequently towed away by police.

According to the police report, the victim bought the car for $590 from an unknown man driving a “Cash for Junk Cars” van sometime in May. The transaction took place in the lot of the BP gas station at the corner of 26th Street and Desplaines Avenue in North Riverside.

At the time of the “sale” the victim was handed a title, purportedly signed by the previous owner. Summit police towed the vehicle on Sept. 23 because it had been reported stolen. They told the victim he had been given a fake title.

  • A 19-year-old Chicago woman told North Riverside police on Sept. 26 that $236 was stolen from her by an unknown elderly woman who allegedly told the victim she could purchase items at a store in the North Riverside Park Mall at a discounted price.

Both women entered Bath and Body Works, but the elderly woman exited the store a short time later — with the victim’s cash — in the company of an unknown man.

 

BB shatters bus window

The driver of a CTA bus called North Riverside police on Sept. 27 about 8:05 p.m. to report that, while he was driving eastbound in the 7500 block of Cermak Road, he heard two “impacts” on the rear window of the vehicle.

At first passengers believed someone had thrown a rock at the window. Police later discovered a small BB hole in the glass, which caused it to crack though it remained intact. The BB reportedly did not pass through to the interior of the bus.

 

Theft

  • A 10-year-old Riverside boy told police on Sept. 22 that while he was inside the Riverside Public Library from 2:20 to 3:55 p.m., someone stole his black GT BMX-style bike from the rack in front of the library. The bike reportedly was not locked.
  • A 54-year-old Forest Park woman contacted North Riverside police on Sept. 22 to report that earlier in the day her wallet was taken from her purse as she shopped at Jewel-Osco, 7201 24th St.

The woman stated she placed her purse in the top compartment of the shopping cart. She turned away from the cart briefly and, when she returned, she noticed her wallet, which contained a small amount of cash and several credit cards, missing.

Shortly after the theft, the woman received a call from her bank stating that $800 in purchases had just been declined at the Target store in Broadview

  • Someone stole a 1980s Schwinn 10-speed from the front lawn of a home on West Avenue between 2 and 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 23. A 70-year-old Riverside man told police he was visiting a friend and left the bike on the grass. When he came back out of the house, the bike was gone.
  • A Lyons woman contacted Riverside police on Sept. 22 around 5 p.m. after discovering that the catalytic converter had been removed from her 2004 Chevy Venture, which was parked in a space at the main commuter lot outside the downtown train station, 94 Bloomingbank Road.
  • A resident of the 3800 block of Raymond Avenue, Brookfield, reported that between 8 p.m. on Sept. 21 and 2 p.m. on Sept. 22 someone stole an iron bench that was in her backyard. The bench was worth about $100, according to the police report.

 

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, Sept. 22-28, 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