The nearly year-long saga of a self-styled minister from Riverside who was charged with harboring a juvenile runaway from Cleveland in January and charged again in August after allegedly being found in the company of the same girl in a suburban Cleveland hotel room has taken yet another turn.
Juan Ocampo, 40, was arrested by Chicago police on Dec. 27 during a traffic stop in the 4000 block of West Madison Street and appears to be in custody awaiting action on active warrants out of both Riverside and Des Plaines.
Riverside Police Chief Thomas Weitzel said the Cook County State’s Attorney prosecutor supervising the Riverside case has agreed to ask for an increase in Ocampo’s bond from $5,000 to $25,000 due to his repeated run-ins with the law since January and his failure to appear at court dates.
Des Plaines police took Ocampo into custody at his East Burlington Street apartment in Riverside on a harassment charge on Nov. 13. At the time, he was also awaiting trial on the Riverside case and the case involving the minor at the hotel outside of Cleveland.
On Dec. 7, Ocampo was arrested again in the Cleveland area and on Dec. 24 was indicted for felony intimidation and menacing by stalking. He had since been in custody at Cuyahoga County Jail under medical isolation of COVID-19, according to court records, until Dec. 24, when he was freed on bond after pleading not guilty to the felony charges.
He was due back in front of a Cuyahoga County judge on Dec. 29.
Unlawful use of a weapon
North Riverside police charged a 25-year-old Chicago woman with misdemeanor unlawful use of a weapon after finding a brass knuckles/folding knife combo and two knives that were within her reach during a traffic stop on Dec. 21 at about 4:30 p.m. at Cermak Road and Desplaines Avenue.
Police initially received a call of a reckless driver piloting a red minivan without license plates and blowing through red lights and weaving in and out of traffic. During the traffic stop, the driver reportedly was uncooperative, irate and refused to exit the vehicle.
After a second officer pointed out a knife lying on the front passenger seat, the driver reportedly grabbed it and threw it up onto the dashboard and then placed her hand in her coat pocket. Officers removed the woman from the vehicle at that time. A search of the vehicle reportedly turned up a larger kitchen-type knife between the driver’s seat and the center console and brass knuckles inside the driver’s side door panel.
In addition to the weapon charge, the driver was charged with obstruction and cited for the vehicle having no registration.
Packages stolen in Riverside
A resident of the 100 block of East Quincy Street, Riverside, called police on Dec. 21 at about 10:05 a.m. to report that earlier in the month someone had stolen a package from her porch.
The package, which contained a leather purse valued at $264, reportedly was taken around 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 4, according to police, during a 10-minute period the victim was away from home.
It was the second such incident at the home, the victim said. Two packages were stolen from the porch in March, but the victim did not report that incident.
Riverside police responded to a home in the 300 block of Blackhawk Road on Dec. 22 after a resident called to report two packages being stolen from the front porch. Video from the doorbell camera reportedly showed someone wearing a mask take the two packages and flee east in a vehicle about 20 minutes before the victim called police.
SUV takes out light pole
Riverside police cited a 30-year-old Maywood woman for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and damage to village property after the woman drove her 2011 Chevy SUV into a light pole on the median at 26th Street and Desplaines Avenue on Dec. 23 at about 7 p.m.
The SUV sustained heavy front end damage in the crash, but the driver and her 5-year-old daughter, who was a passenger, were uninjured. The woman told police she was westbound on 26th Street and turned left too sharply towards Desplaines Avenue, hitting the pole in the process.
Neither drugs nor alcohol played a role in the crash, according to police.
Good Samaritan turns in wallet
A 41-year-old Maywood man has been reunited with his wallet and the $925 in cash inside of it after a Good Samaritan turned the wallet in to police on the afternoon of Dec. 22.
According to police a man found the wallet lying in the alley behind his home in the 4000 block of Park Avenue, and inside was a driver’s license belonging to its owner and the cash. The Brookfield man delivered the wallet to police, who counted out the cash, sealed the wallet in an envelope and contacted Maywood police to inform the wallet’s owner it could be picked up in Brookfield.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, Dec. 20-27, 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
