A man suspected of burglarizing a Brookfield liquor store led police on a high-speed chase to the Southwest Side of Chicago, where the offender and two others reportedly bailed out of his vehicle after crashing it into a carnival ride and managed to elude police on foot.

Police responded to Phoenix Liquors, 8814 Ogden Ave., on June 21 at about 3 a.m. after an anonymous caller reported a burglary in progress. Police arrived on the scene to see a dark-colored vehicle, without license plates or headlights on, pulling away from the store and heading westbound on Ogden Avenue at a high rate of speed.

The vehicle, which lost a tire and was riding on one rim, sped south on Maple Avenue and then east on 47th Street at speeds of up to 85 mph, driving in the opposite lanes of traffic several times to elude police. The vehicle then continued south on First Avenue to Archer Avenue, going around a roadblock set up by Summit police.

A Brookfield police officer was able to get in front of the vehicle on Archer Avenue, but it turned south on Natoma Avenue, which was blocked by a carnival ride. The driver bailed out of the moving vehicle, which ended up striking the carnival ride, and ran east on 54th Street. Two other people then ran from the vehicle as well.

Police formed a perimeter, but were unable to locate the suspects, despite the help of a K-9 unit and officers from several agencies. According to police, the offenders dropped a safe they were attempting to carry out of the business as police arrived. The offenders had gained entry to the business by smashing the glass front door with a tire iron, according to police.

Officers recovered the vehicle and were able to recover some evidence from it, according to Police Chief James Episcopo. Police continue to search for the driver and two other suspects. 

Episcopo said police believe the same crew was responsible for the burglary of a liquor store on 31st Street in LaGrange Park that same night.

DUI, weapons charges

A 26-year-old Chicago man faces DUI and weapons-related charges after allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs and not having a permit for a fully loaded handgun found in his vehicle on July 2.

After allegedly passing out and slumping over behind the wheel of his car on Harlem Avenue near 26th Street at about 4 a.m., the man, who was identified as Christian Perez, woke up and reportedly began driving at a high rate of speed, and all over the road, southbound on Harlem Avenue. The vehicle reportedly was involved in a hit-and-run at Ogden Avenue and was finally stopped at the I-55 ramp by Forest View police.

Police are still investigating the source of the handgun, and additional charges could be forthcoming. In addition to DUI, Perez was charged with unlawful use of a weapon, leaving the scene of an accident and several traffic offenses. 

Mad about drugs

Riverside police charged a 52-year-old Riverside woman with battery to a police officer and resisting arrest after she allegedly became irate and started punching and kicking an officer, because he had informed her that police would not be helping her get drugs back from her boyfriend.

According to the police report, the woman walked into the police station at 1 p.m. on June 29 and asked to speak to an officer about an ongoing property dispute between her and her boyfriend.

Police learned the woman had posted bond two days earlier in connection with a domestic battery arrest two days prior in North Riverside. The woman reportedly told police that her boyfriend would not return to her prescription drugs, which were not prescribed to her and illegal for her to possess.

At that point, police said, the woman became violent, yelling at the officer and striking him. After police subdued the woman, paramedics transported her to MacNeal Hospital for treatment. 

Identity theft

A 43-year-old Chicago woman contacted North Riverside on June 28 to report that someone had opened up lines of credit in her name at two stores in the North Riverside Park Mall and charged hundreds of dollars in merchandise to them.

The victim said a credit monitoring agency contacted her on June 26 to check on recent inquiries into her credit report. It was found that someone had been issued lines of credit in the victim’s name at Carson Pirie Scott and Victoria’s Secret at the mall and that both accounts had been charged to their limits – more than $2,000 in all.

Similar accounts had been opened in the victim’s name and used in Chicago as well, police reported.

Burglary

Riverside police responded to the first block of Northgate Road on June 30 after a homeowner called to report that someone had broken into the unlocked garage and stolen several items.

Missing from the garage were a Craftsman blower, Craftsman hedge clippers, a Reed weed whacker and an extension cord.

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, June 21-July 2, 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