A 2019 Volvo XC90 that had been taken – apparently without anyone noticing – from the lot at Zeigler Ford, 2100 Harlem Ave. was recovered by police in Okmulgee, Oklahoma on Jan. 23 at around 5 a.m. after an officer there pulled the driver over because the Volvo had no license plates.

Oklahoma police believed the vehicle had been stolen from Zeigler Ford in North Riverside, but they called to confirm because a computer check did not return any information.

North Riverside police contacted the manager of Zeigler Ford, who confirmed the vehicle had not been sold to anyone and should still be on their lot. Okmulgee police charged the driver, 27-year-old Jahmar Hampton, with felony possession of a stolen motor vehicle and arranged to have the Volvo returned to Zeigler Ford.

Battery

A 52-year-old Brookfield man was charged with misdemeanor battery on Jan. 22 after he allegedly shoved a 69-year-old woman through the back door of a business in the 9200 block of Broadway Avenue, causing a fall that knocked out one of her teeth, chipped another and bruised her face.

According to the police report, the woman entered the business at about 5:30 p.m. through the rear door, which was unlocked, to complain about trash from the business being stacked in her parking space.

The alleged offender told police that the woman, who was unknown to him, was yelling about parking spots in the back. He reportedly told police that he told woman she had to leave the business and closed the door hard behind her. 

The victim claimed the alleged offender grabbed her jacket and forcefully pushed her forward through the back door, causing her to fall face first on the pavement.

North Riverside police charged two Cicero women with battery, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest and charged another Cicero woman with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and obstructing police after they reportedly caused an altercation at Big Corner Tavern, 8405 Cermak Road, on Jan. 23 at about 10:15 p.m.

According to the police report, the three women were at the bar drinking when the bartender announced first call. At that time, a 27-year-old woman went to bar and asked for her debit card back. When the bartender told the woman they didn’t take her debit card because they only took cash, the woman allegedly became angry and continued to demand the card.

All three women, ages 24, 27 and 43, approached the bar and became argumentative, with the 43 year old reportedly punching the bartender in the face. After being ordered out of the bar, the three women allegedly attacked a female employee, punching and biting her hand and setting off a melee that continued until police arrived.

The women reportedly also fought with police, who used a Taser to subdue the 27-year-old woman, who allegedly kicked a police officer attempting to take her into custody.

The 27 year old was charged with two counts of battery, while the 43 year old was charged with one count of battery.

DUI

Riverside charged a 32-year-old Chicago woman with drunken driving after finding her asleep behind the wheel of a gray Toyota on the shoulder of Harlem Avenue near the train tracks south of East Burlington Street on Jan. 20 just before midnight.

Police notified the BNSF Railroad to stop train movement near Harlem Avenue and observed the driver to be asleep at the wheel, with her foot on the brake and the car still in gear.

Officers at the scene were able to get the driver to open a window so they could turn off the ignition and place the vehicle into park. The driver appeared to be intoxicated and failed sobriety tests at the scene, police said. Police reported recovering an open and half-empty bottle of wine from the center console.

Later at the police station, a breath test reportedly revealed the driver’s blood-alcohol content to be .300, which is nearly four times the legal limit of .08.

North Riverside police charged a 28-year-old Chicago woman with drunken driving after she reportedly crashed her Buick into an embankment at Cermak Road and 13th Avenue on Jan. 24 at about 12:40 a.m.

The driver reportedly told police she had been drinking at a bar before getting behind the wheel of her car, which spun out of control into the embankment.

Police also learned there was a warrant for the driver’s arrest out of Lake County, Indiana, related to a theft offense.

Vehicle break-ins

North Riverside police responded to the parking lot outside Urban Air, 7401 25th St., on the night of Jan. 20 after someone called to report a man emptying everything out of a Ford Explorer parked there.

When they arrived at about 7:40 p.m., officers found the Explorer’s driver’s side door open and propane tanks, boxes of tortillas and limes, tools and various papers in the parking lot.

Police located the vehicle’s owner, who told them he parked there at about 5:30 p.m. and locked the vehicle, which was loaded with supplies for his food truck. The only thing missing, he said, was a plastic bin containing power and hand tools valued at $500.

A witness told police he saw a man wearing a baby blue North Carolina Tarheels shirt and a Chicago Bears skull cap leaving the area eastbound with a black box of tools.

North Riverside police believe the offender may be the same person suspected of breaking into and stealing a laptop computer from a vehicle in the parking lot outside Betty’s Bistro, 7369 25th St. that same evening.

A man called police about 9:45 p.m. on Jan. 20 to report that when he returned to his car outside the gambling parlor, he observed his laptop computer and prescription medications missing.

The victim went looking for the offender and reportedly located a man with his laptop not far away at the bus stop outside of Longhorn Steakhouse on Cermak Road in Berwyn. The victim reportedly confronted the alleged offender, threatening to strike him with a tire iron unless he turned over the computer.

The man turned over the computer and fled the area before North Riverside police arrived.

Mall grand opening draws a crowd

North Riverside police needed the assistance of officers from a dozen other agencies after a large crowd gathered outside North Riverside Park Mall, 7501 Cermak Road, and then forced their way inside in anticipation of the opening of a new sports apparel store that morning.

Police commanders learned from officers on the midnight shift that people had entered the mall while it was closed early on Jan 22, anticipating the grand opening of JD Sports. The midnight shift was able to clear the mall, but from 7 a.m. on crowds of people began to line up outside two different entrances on the east side of the shopping center.

Just before 9 a.m. two large groups of people breached the food court entrance and another entrance and began running toward JD Sports. North Riverside police radioed for assistance in maintaining order.

Others standing outside saw people streaming inside the mall from other doors and began to get unruly, according to police, who began letting that group – which numbered in excess of 100 – inside the mall in small groups.

Police were able to control numbers inside the mall after that and maintained order until crowds died down around 12:30 p.m.

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, Jan. 17-23, 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