Brookfield police charged a 41-year-old Brookfield man with driving under the influence of alcohol and cited him for multiple traffic offenses after he allegedly plowed his silver 2016 Kia sedan head-on into an unoccupied Ford SUV parked near the intersection of Fairview and Morton avenues on Aug. 10 at about 10:25 p.m.

Paramedics transported the alleged offender to Loyola University Medical Center for treatment of unknown injuries and for observation. While the driver’s blood-alcohol content was reported to be .28, which is more than three times the legal limit of .08, police also reported recovering a zip-top bag containing four blue and white pills, which were sent to the Illinois State Police Crime Lab for testing.

When police arrived, they reported seeing two vehicles in the intersection of Morton and Fairview, with a man, who had a cut on his face, unconscious in the driver’s seat of the Kia.

Both vehicles had sustained heavy front-end damage. The owner of the other vehicle involved in the crash told police that his SUV had been parked on the souths side of Fairview Avenue, facing east, about 50 to 75 feet east of the intersection.

According to the police crash report, the Kia was westbound on Fairview Avenue when it struck the SUV. The impact pushed the SUV up onto the south parkway and over a sign pole, which was left was bent over. A speed limit sign that had been affixed to the pole was lying in the parkway. Both vehicles ended up coming to a rest in the street at the southwest corner of the Fairview/Morton intersection.

In addition to DUI, police cited the alleged offender for failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash, improper lane usage, operating an uninsured vehicle and damage to village property.

Bicyclists hurt in crashes

Riverside police cited a 75-year-old Justice woman for leaving the scene of a crash after she allegedly drove her blue Lexus into a 14-year-old bicyclist who was crossing First Avenue westbound on the south side of 31st Street on Aug. 8 at about 11:30 a.m.

The woman initially braked after hitting the boy, according to the police report, but then continued southbound on First Avenue, followed by a witness who kept police informed on the offending car’s whereabouts.

Police located the car as it headed southwest on Plainfield Road from First Avenue. The driver reportedly told police her car did not strike anyone, but the vehicle had damage to the front bumper and grill, police said. Witnesses said the car was turning right onto First Avenue from eastbound 31st Street when it struck the bicyclist.

The victim, whose injuries were not described in the police report, was taken by paramedics to Loyola University Medical Center for treatment.

Police cited the woman for disobeying a traffic signal, failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash and failure to report a crash to police.

Vehicle break-in

North Riverside police responded to the 2400 block of 7th Avenue on Aug. 8 after a resident called to report that someone had entered his unlocked vehicle, which was parked in the driveway, over the weekend.

The offender removed loose change and two keys from the vehicle. One of the keys was for the vehicle that was burglarized; the other was for another vehicle belonging to the victim. 

DUI

Riverside police charged a 53-year-old Chicago man with driving under the influence of alcohol and aggravated speeding after an officer reported the man driving at 62 mph in a 30 mph zone while southbound on Harlem Avenue from 26th Street on Aug. 10 at 1 a.m.

The officer pulled the car over at Blackhawk Road and reported that the driver’s breath smelled of alcohol, though the driver denied drinking before getting behind the wheel. According to police, the driver failed field sobriety tests and refused to submit to a breath test. 

Burglary

A resident of the 2200 block of Burr Oak Avenue, North Riverside, called police on the afternoon of Aug. 13 to report that his home had been burglarized by a man posing as village water department employee.

The victim told police an unknown man carrying a clipboard rang his front doorbell at about 4:10 p.m. The man said he was from the water department and needed to check the water inside the house.

The man pushed past the victim into the residence and told him to go down into the basement and turn on the water. The victim did as instructed, but he became suspicious and went back upstairs, at which time the unknown man fled from the residence.

The victim said he then noticed that the main floor of the home had been rummaged through, although he did not notice any items of value missing.

The offender was described as a heavyset Hispanic man in his mid-40s and wearing a white T-shirt. A Hispanic man described as in his 60s also was involved, the victim said, as the driver of a white pickup truck with a white bed cover.

Riverside police responded to the 3400 block of Harlem Avenue on Aug. 8 after a resident of an apartment building called to report that someone had moved items around inside her bedroom.

The break-in occurred between 6 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., the victim told police. She stated that the doors were locked when she entered her apartment, but she noticed in her bedroom that a dresser drawer had been opened, items on top of the dresser had been moved, a laundry rack had been moved and a light in the closet had been turned on.

Police did not observe any signs of forced entry.

Theft

A resident of the 2600 block of Harlem Avenue, Riverside, called police on Aug. 12 to report that someone had stolen a package from the front porch of her building. The theft was caught on a doorbell camera.

The victim said she received notice from Amazon that the package containing $25 in merchandise was delivered at 5:30 p.m. About 15 minutes later, the doorbell camera recorded a woman wearing a white shirt and carrying a Big Gulp drink pick up the package and place it into a black plastic grocery-type bag before walking away.

A resident of the 4200 block of Maple Avenue, Brookfield, called police on Aug. 13 to report that a scavenger had just taken her lawnmower, which she’d left briefly outside her garage in the alley at about 11:20 a.m.

The victim told police she had gone into her backyard and heard a noise coming from the alley. When she went to check, she noticed the lawnmower missing and saw a red pickup truck heading northbound in the alley.

Police could not locate a truck matching that description.

Catalytic converters stolen

North Riverside police reported two instances of catalytic converter theft in the previous week. The first was reported on Aug. 9 in the 9000 block of Cermak Road. The device had been stolen from a 2003 Honda Pilot overnight on Aug. 5-6, according to the victim.

On Aug. 12, a resident of the 2300 block of 5th Avenue called to report that someone stole the catalytic converter from his vehicle sometime after Aug. 10. 

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, Aug. 8-14, 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