A 29-year-old Palos Hills woman charged with driving under the influence of alcohol reportedly smashed her 2019 Ford Fusion into a trash can before crashing into the Veterans Memorial Circle at Eight Corners and making it almost all the way through to the other side on March 30 at about 10:30 p.m.
Police said surveillance video showed the vehicle traveling northeast in the 9200 block of Broadway Avenue through the diagonal parking lane and then jumped the curb, hitting a trash can and sending it flying before running through a landscaped area, over the roadway and into the circle. The car continued on over the grass, glanced off the fountain and ran over an electrical box before coming to rest against the Korean War memorial marker.
The driver was not seriously injured but was taken to the hospital by paramedics, where she reportedly refused to submit to a blood draw to reveal her blood-alcohol content.
Police reported locating one open and two empty 50 ml containers of cinnamon whiskey in the car’s center console. In addition to DUI, she was cited for illegal transportation of open alcohol, damage to village property, operating an uninsured vehicle and other traffic offenses.
Attempted robbery
North Riverside police responded to Classy Nails at North Riverside Park Mall, 7501 Cermak Road, on March 28 at about 5:50 p.m. after a 35-year-old woman reported someone had tried to rob her.
The victim told police she was getting her nails done when she observed two other woman, who were wearing full winter ski masks, getting pedicures across from her. The two made the victim uneasy, she said, because they were staring at her and then whispering to each other.
As the women in masks walked out of the room, one of them reportedly grabbed a wallet from the victim’s purse. The victim punched the offender and got the wallet back, but the offender then reportedly shoved the victim hard enough that it knocked her to the ground. The two masked women, who had paid for their pedicures in cash, then fled the store.
Car allegedly stolen by carjacking suspect
Brookfield police say that a person suspected of stealing a car from an Ogden Avenue gas station on March 30 is believed to be involved in about 15 carjacking incidents in the Chicago area.
Security camera video from the BP gas station at 8856 Ogden Ave. captured the theft on video, said police, and the suspected thief was spotted driving the car around 24th Street and Washtenaw Avenue in Chicago on March 31 at about 1:15 p.m. but eluded police by speeding away.
The victim, a 43-year-old Brookfield man, told police he left his car unlocked and running in front of the BP gas station minimart on March 30 at about 3:35 p.m. When he exited the minimart, he found the vehicle had been stolen.
Security video showed a silver sedan pull into the gas station lot at 3:33 p.m. One person wearing a black facemask is seen getting out of the silver car and entering the victim’s black Kia Optima, driving off eastbound at 3:34 p.m. with the silver vehicle following.
Police used GPS to track the Kia to several locations in Chicago before police were able to locate it in the Marshall Square area of the city’s Southwest Side. The investigation continues.
Gun displayed during road rage incident
North Riverside police reported a road rage incident last week where one motorist allegedly displayed a gun and threatened to shoot another driver on April 1 at about 2:50 p.m. on Harlem Avenue just south of 16th Street.
The 25-year-old victim said that after a white Jeep cut off her vehicle while southbound on Harlem Avenue, the victim positioned her car in front of the Jeep and applied the brakes. The Jeep then pulled alongside, according to the victim, and the driver pointed a handgun in her direction saying “Bitch, I’ll shoot you!” before driving off.
Apartments, vehicles burglarized
Brookfield police are investigating a pair of residential burglaries at apartment buildings on March 31 on the south end of the village.
Police responded to a building in the 4400 block of Eberly Avenue on March 31 at about 11:05 p.m. after a tenant called to report numerous items missing from his apartment.
There were no signs of forced entry, but a PlayStation 5 game system was missing, along with two videogame controllers, three games and a pair of Nike Air Force One shoes.
Police also responded to a building in the 4500 block of Elm Avenue after a tenant called to report four watches and a digital camera had been taken from the residence. Police did not report seeing any signs of forced entry.
Brookfield police are also reporting that two vehicles on the south end were burglarized, one during the overnight hours of April 1-2 and another sometime between evening on April 1 and the morning of April 3.
The incidents occurred in the 4000 and 4100 blocks of Grove Avenue and both vehicles were unlocked. Taken from the vehicles were cash and loose change, an old radar detector, Bose headphones and a COVID-19 vaccination card.
Catalytic converter thieves chased away
Two men in the midst of sawing off a catalytic converter from a Toyota Prius parked in the 4000 block of Sunnyside Avenue early on April 1 fled after being confronted by the car’s owner, leaving behind the jack and Sawzall they were using.
The victim told police he was awakened by the sound of the saw at about 3:45 a.m. and went outside to learn it was coming from his driveway where two men with a flashlight were under his vehicle.
He yelled at the two men who ran to their vehicle, which was parked out front and drove away westbound on Windemere Avenue. Police said the Sawzall the offenders were using was left dangling from the exhaust system.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, March 28-April 3, 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
