Brookfield police on Feb. 26 issued five citations to a 52-year-old Brookfield man after he, on two occasions, allegedly cut locks that had been attached to the tennis court gates at Ehlert Park to prevent people from bringing dogs inside that area.
According to police, the village’s public works department installed the locks on Feb. 21 as well as a “no dogs allowed” sign. On Feb. 24, someone called police to report that the locks had been cut and left on the ground on top of a note saying if the locks reappeared, they’d be cut off “over + over over again.”
Public works installed new locks on Feb. 25, but the next morning the lock and chain securing the east gate to the tennis courts were missing. Police inspected video from surveillance cameras located in Ehlert Park and identified a suspect, who was seen in the video walking a dog near the tennis courts at about 5:40 a.m. on Feb. 25. After standing at the east gate to the tennis courts with his dog for a moment, the man is seen leaving the area and then returning a few minutes later with a pair of bolt cutters.
The same man was seen on surveillance video from Feb. 22 playing basketball outside the tennis courts before his ball bounces into the locked tennis court area. He later is seen walking back into the park, holding the hand-written note.
Police arrested the offender at his home near the park and later issued him four citations for damage to village property and one for taking the lock and chain from the east gate on Feb. 25.
Go the speed limit? That’s a punching
A 23-year-old Brookfield man went to police on Feb. 24 at about 8:50 p.m. after being punched in the face during an apparent road rage incident at the intersection of First Avenue and Cermak Road in North Riverside.
The victim told police he was northbound on First Avenue traveling at the posted speed limit when a vehicle came up behind tailgating him and flashing its lights. The victim said as he stopped for a red light at Cermak Road, the other vehicle went around him and stopped suddenly in front of him.
A woman exited the car and started yelling at the victim, who lowered the driver’s side window. At that time an unknown man came up to the victim and punched him in the face, causing his glasses to break. The couple then got back into their vehicle and continued northbound on First Avenue.
Smoking shirt
A Brookfield police officer on patrol on Ogden Avenue near Madison Avenue on March 1 at about 2 a.m. reported seeing what appeared to be a black T-shirt smoldering in the middle of the roadway.
Upon further examination, the shirt was smoking as if it had been lit on fire, although there were no signs of an accelerant. The officer disposed of the T-shirt.
Late night visitor
Brookfield paramedics transported a 19-year-old North Riverside man to the hospital after he reportedly refused to leave a Brookfield home where the homeowner, mistakenly believing the man was a friend of his son’s, let him in on March 3 at around 12:20 a.m.
Police reported the man appeared to be under influence of hallucinogens and had an abrasion under one eye and scrapes on his knuckles as if he’d fallen down. The man told police he’d been drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis earlier that night and that he believed he was in North Riverside.
The man had knocked on the door of a home in the 3400 block of Prairie Avenue. After being let inside, he reportedly refused to leave until someone called him a ride home.
Package theft
Brookfield police responded to a home in the 4400 block of Madison Avenue last week after a resident called to report that he never received a dashboard camera he’d purchased online and which was delivered by Amazon on Feb. 19.
The camera cost about $120, according to the police report. The victim reported the incident to police on Feb. 27 in order to receive a replacement.
Turning off the gas
A general contractor for a property under construction in the 3400 block of Maple Avenue, Brookfield, contacted police on Feb. 28 to report that over the past couple of months someone has been turning off the gas to the building.
In addition, the gas had been shut off several times at a separate nearby property owned by the same person.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, Feb. 24-March 3, 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
