Brookfield police charged a 43-year-old Riverside man with battery and criminal damage to property after he allegedly attacked an Uber driver, kicked the side of his vehicle and shattered the car’s rear windshield after the Uber driver told him repeatedly to stop passionately making out with a 37-year-old Riverside woman during the seven minutes it took for the car to drive from Riverside to its destination in Brookfield.

The Uber driver, a 26-year-old Elmhurst man, told police he picked up the couple in Riverside at about 11:25 p.m. on July 7. The couple sat in the backseat of the driver’s black Nissan and “became intimate” during the ride, with the man reportedly kissing the woman’s neck and breasts.

When the driver requested the two knock it off because it was making him uncomfortable, the man reportedly told him, “I should beat your ass for talking to me like that.”

The driver continued to plead with the couple to stop, but they reportedly “did not stop moaning and being intimate” throughout the ride. After the two exited the vehicle, the man reportedly began kicking the rear driver’s side door and then walked around to the rear passenger side door and did the same.

When the Uber driver got out of the vehicle, the man reportedly approached in an aggressive manner and threw a punch, which the driver ducked. The driver then grabbed the man’s hands and yanked him to the pavement facedown before reentering his car and pulling away.

At that time, the driver reported seeing the man sprinting toward his car and then hearing the loud bang of his rear windshield breaking. The man then ran into a nearby house as the driver called 911.

Police went to the residence and interviewed the alleged offender, who was bleeding from his right hand. Paramedics were called to bandage him up, but he refused transport to the hospital. He reportedly refused to answer police questions before being charged with the two misdemeanors.

He has a hearing at the Maybrook courthouse on Aug. 10.

Burglary to vehicle

A North Riverside officer on patrol on July 9 at about 4:10 p.m. at Veterans Park, 7600 26th St., reported observing glass fragments next to a Jeep Compass parked in the lot there. The officer noted that the driver’s side window was shattered and the door frame damaged.

The officer located the vehicle’s owner, who was at the park. She said she had arrived between 11:30 a.m. and noon and went to the north field to play softball. Missing from the vehicle was a backpack with clothing, her wallet and a digital camera.

Road rage

An unidentified motorist called Riverside police at about 6:05 a.m. on July 6 to report that a man in another vehicle had pulled out a knife and made a slashing motion across his throat after the two vehicles had repeatedly cut each other off in traffic while southbound on First Avenue from 31st Street.

The victim told police he did not want to file a complaint against the other man, but was frightened so he called police.

Catalytic converter thefts continue

After police in North Riverside and Brookfield reported the theft of catalytic converters from vehicles in June, those thefts continued last week.

North Riverside police responded to the 8500 block of Cermak Road on the morning of July 7 after a resident called to report that sometime during the overnight hours, someone had cut the catalytic converter from his Honda CR-V, which was parked in the rear lot of his apartment building. 

Earlier that morning, at about 2:55 a.m., an officer on patrol noticed a dark gray Infiniti parked in the middle of the street of the 2200 block of 13th Avenue. The three people who were outside of the vehicle appeared to be attempting to remove a catalytic converter from a vehicle.

When the officer put on his vehicle’s emergency lights, the three people quickly entered their vehicle and sped away. The officer gave chase but eventually terminated the pursuit.

The following morning, on July 8, a resident of the 3200 block of Sunnyside Avenue, Brookfield, went to police to report that during the overnight hours someone had removed the catalytic converter from his 2007 Toyota Prius.

A cheesy mystery

Brookfield police responded to the 3100 block of Madison Avenue on July 9 after a resident called to report that sometime during the overnight hours someone put slices of what appeared to be American cheese on the windshields of two vehicles that belonged to him.

A similar complaint was called in on July 8 on the same block, according to police.

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