A 30-year-old Justice man faces drugged driving charges after he reportedly was under the influence of heroin when he drove his car into another vehicle with its hazard lights flashing that had pulled to the curb in the 2900 block of Harlem Avenue at about 5:05 p.m. on April 6.
Both vehicles sustained heavy damage and a 23-year-old Mount Prospect woman who was a passenger in the offending vehicle suffered a head injury. She was bleeding profusely at the scene, police said, and paramedics transported her to Loyola University Medical Center for treatment.
According to police a 39-year-old Chicago man had pulled to the curb and engaged his vehicle’s flasher in order to write down the phone number on a sign advertising an apartment for rent on the block. Almost immediately after pulling over, another vehicle plowed into the rear of his. Neither driver was seriously injured.
Police said the offending driver appeared confused, had pinpoint pupils and displayed signs of drug use. They also reported finding numerous hypodermic needles and syringes inside the vehicle.
The man reportedly told police he had pulled in to the North Riverside Plaza parking lot at Harlem and Cermak to shoot up at about 2:30 p.m. and then fell asleep before waking up and driving away along Harlem Avenue. That was all he could remember about the crash, police said.
In addition to DUI, police cited the man with several traffic citations.
Man allegedly threatened to burn down building
A 32-year-old Brookfield man who allegedly threatened to burn down the apartment building where he lived and intentionally flooded his unit, dousing units below his, surrendered himself without further incident about an hour and a half after a resident of the building called police around 4:30 p.m. on April 6.
It was the second time police had been called to the building in the 4500 block of Grove Avenue. Police initially responded at about 2:35 p.m. for a landlord-tenant dispute and had cited the tenant, who refused to leave his apartment and would not let police inside, for disorderly conduct and assault for reportedly threatening to burn down the building.
Two hours later another tenant called to report water pouring into his apartment from an upstairs unit. The building owner told police the man from the prior incident was once again threatening to burn down the building, was breaking windows and throwing items out of them.
Police evacuated the building and shut off the gas when the man allegedly began to light a magazine on fire, though there was never any sign of an active fire in the unit. At about 6 p.m. the man walked out of the building where police restrained him and placed him in an ambulance to be taken to a hospital for treatment.
Business burglary
Riverside police responded to Mollie’s Public House, 31 Forest Ave., on the morning of April 10 after a passerby called to report seeing one of the front windows broken out.
Police contacted the business owner who reportedly told them except for the furniture, the inventory had been removed from the bar because it was no longer in operation.
A security camera, however, captured video of the incident. According to the police report, at about 12:19 a.m. two people were seen walking around the building and up to the front door, as if casing it. At 12:42 a.m. one person is seen throwing a cinder block through the window and then crawling inside before crawling out, empty handed, three minutes later.
DUI crash in North Riverside
North Riverside police charged a 41-year-old Berwyn man with drunken driving and other offenses after he allegedly drove off the roadway and struck some landscaping rocks in front of the residence in the 8100 block of 27th Street just before 3 a.m. on April 4.
An officer reported that the vehicle had sustained heavy damage to the passenger side front tire and damage to the front end. The driver failed field sobriety tests, while a breath test revealed the man’s blood-alcohol content to be .174, which is more than twice the legal limit of .08, police said.
Bicyclist struck by car was reportedly drunk
Riverside police continue to look for the driver of a Chevy Malibu that struck an apparently intoxicated bicyclist who was riding southbound in the 3000 block of Harlem Avenue on April 5 at about 5:30 p.m.
The car took off, and the police located the bicyclist, uninjured, standing on the parkway with his damaged bicycle. Paramedics took the 41-year-old Berwyn man to MacNeal Hospital for evaluation due to his intoxication, police said.
A witness told police a gray Chevy Malibu struck the bicycle, which was traveling in the curb lane, but that he didn’t get a license plate number and couldn’t see the driver due to the Chevy’s tinted windows.
Village video cameras farther south on Harlem Avenue caught the gray Chevy’s license plate number, which registered to a Joliet resident.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, April 4-11 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
