Riverside police and paramedics responded to the third suspected alcohol- or drug-related crash in three weeks at the intersection of First Avenue and Ridgewood Road/Forest Avenue on April 15 at about 10:35 p.m.

In the latest incident, both drivers suffered what were termed “minor” injuries and did not require hospitalization. According to police, who were able to obtain video of the crash from a village surveillance camera at the intersection, a 61-year-old LaGrange Park man driving a 2016 Ford F-150 pickup truck turned left in front of a Dodge R-15 pickup truck driven by a 35-year-old Maywood man that was southbound on First Avenue and had the right of way.

Police said the offending driver was so intoxicated “he could barely stand” and that he admitted drinking vodka prior to driving. Police also reported recovering a fully loaded .38-caliber handgun from an area adjacent to the driver’s seat. While the man had a concealed carry permit, it is against the law to carry a concealed weapon while intoxicated.

In addition to driving under the influence of alcohol, the LaGrange Park man was criminally charged with a concealed carry violation.

Much earlier that same day, at 1:17 a.m., Riverside police charged a 32-year-old Chicago resident Charles O. Fenner with felony drunken driving, aggravated speeding and other offenses after an officer on patrol clocked his 2017 Nissan traveling at 66 mph while southbound in a 35 mph zone of First Avenue near Ridgewood Road.

When police attempted to curb the vehicle, Fenner reportedly turned onto Ridgewood Road and drove over the curb and the sidewalk onto private property. When asked for his driver’s license, Fenner reportedly said he didn’t have one. 

Police later learned his license had been revoked for prior DUI convictions. He had been arrested for felony DUI in 2012, 2013 and 2015, according to police. 

On April 12 at 1:30 p.m., Riverside police conducting radar surveillance on First Avenue near Forest Avenue reported clocking a gray BMW going southbound at 80 mph in the 35 mph zone.

An officer pulled over the vehicle, driven by a 21-year-old Berwyn man, near Riverside-Brookfield High School, and charged him with aggravated speeding.

Aggravated assault

Brookfield police charged a 21-year-old man with aggravated assault after he allegedly pointed a BB gun that was a replica firearm at a 57-year-old man after the older man honked his car horn at the former for driving slowly while southbound on Maple Avenue approaching Ogden Avenue at about 2:20 p.m. on April 15.

Both drivers called police claiming the other had pointed a weapon at them, but police later learned the victim did not possess a firearm. The victim told police the offender also was holding the gun by his side as the two exchanged words in the parking lot of CVS on Ogden Avenue.

Argument leads to rollover

Brookfield cited a 31-year-old woman for failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash and other offenses after she reportedly lost control of her 2016 GMC Terrain, which struck a tree and rolled over onto its side in the 4000 block of Maple Avenue while turning right from westbound Ogden Avenue on April 13 at about 4:05 a.m.

Shortly before the crash the driver reportedly got into a verbal altercation with a 30-year-old man who was a passenger, according to the police report. The altercation was never more than verbal, according to police, and neither alcohol nor drugs played a role in the crash.

Paramedics took both the driver and passenger to the hospital for treatment of unspecified injuries.

Vehicle break-ins

A 78-year-old Oak Park man called police on the morning of April 14 to report that someone had broken into his 2013 Jeep, which was parked in the south lot at Costco, 2500 Harlem Ave., North Riverside.

According to police the victim was inside the store for about 20 minutes when he returned to his vehicle at about 11:10 a.m. and observed that a small driver’s side window had been broken out.

The vehicle appeared to have been ransacked, police reported, but nothing appeared to be missing, according to the victim.

North Riverside police responded to the east parking lot of North Riverside Park Mall, 7501 Cermak Road, on the afternoon of April 17 after a 55-year-old Bolingbrook woman called to report her vehicle had been burglarized.

 The victim told police she parked her vehicle in the lot at about 2 p.m. and then locked the vehicle upon exiting to go shopping. At about 3 p.m. she returned to find that someone had used a tool to punch out the driver’s side door lock to gain entry.

Missing from the vehicle was a Louis Vuitton wallet containing her driver’s license, three credit cards and $1,200 in cash. The victim valued the wallet at $900.

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, April 12-18 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