Brookfield police continue to investigate an armed vehicular hijacking that took place in the 4600 block of Elm Avenue on Nov. 20 at about 9:15 p.m.

No one was injured during the incident, according to police. The victim, a 63-year-old Brookfield man, reportedly told police that he might have been followed as he drove home from the Bensenville area that night, making stops at the Jewel in Stickney and Walgreens in Lyons along the way.

As he was unloading groceries from his Ford Fusion, four men approached him. At least one of the men was armed, the victim told police. One of the men announced the hijacking and demanded the car keys from the victim, who complied.

Offenders entered the Ford and the vehicle was last seen heading east, followed by a black SUV.

As part of their investigation, police were seeking surveillance camera video from near the man’s residence and along his route of travel from Bensenville. As of the morning of Nov. 21, the stolen vehicle had not been recovered.

Aggravated battery to a police officer

  • Marcus A. Arzola, 30, of New Century, Kansas, has been charged with felony aggravated battery to a police officer and felony possession of false ID after he fled from police in an allegedly stolen vehicle, which struck a North Riverside police officer, injuring him, when the impact threw him into the side of a nearby squad car.

Police responded to the parking lot at CVS, 7200 Cermak Road, on Nov. 16 at 8:55 a.m. to investigate a man slumped over inside a back Acura. After waking up the driver police tried to confirm his identity. 

However, he reportedly attempted to shut the driver’s side door and quickly reversed the car, throwing a police officer into the squad car. The Acura then sped off northbound on Harlem Avenue. Paramedics transported the injured police officer to the hospital for treatment of unspecified injuries.

A computer check of the Acura’s Kansas license plate number showed that the car had been stolen out of Kansas City. Police recovered the driver’s cellphone, which had fallen out of the car, and other items, allowing them to confirm Arzola as their suspect.

At about 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 18, police located the Acura, unoccupied, at the intersection of Home Avenue and 14th Street in Berwyn. The vehicle now displayed a Missouri license plate, which police learned had been stolen in September.

Police staked out the vehicle and just before noon took Arzola into custody as he approached the vehicle.

  • North Riverside police arrested a 34-year-old Chicago man, charging him with aggravated battery to a police officer after he allegedly choked an officer in the midst of a reportedly alcohol-fueled scuffle inside and outside of an apartment building in the 8500 block of Cermak Road on Nov. 19 at about 10:45 p.m.

Police responded to the apartment building for a reported disturbance and found numerous people yelling and acting aggressively toward one another inside the building. People eventually exited, but the situation escalated when a 28-year-old Chicago man allegedly punched the 34-year-old, knocking him out. A police officer reportedly went to aid the injured man, who regained consciousness and allegedly lunged at the police officer, grabbing him by the throat and squeezing his airway.

The 34-year-old man reportedly did not stop fighting with the officer until another officer used a Taser to subdue him.

Burglary to vehicle

  • North Riverside police responded to the east parking lot of the North Riverside Park Mall, 7501 Cermak Road, on the afternoon of Nov. 14 after a 73-year-old Chicago woman called to report that someone had burglarized her vehicle.

The victim told police she arrived at the mall at about 10:45 a.m., parked her car and returned to it around noon. Police did not report signs of forced entry to the car. Missing from the vehicle was the victim’s purse, which contained multiple credit cards, a driver’s license and a Social Security card.

While the victim was speaking to police, she received a text message reporting someone had unsuccessfully tried to purchase $562 in clothes from a store called Fame.

Security video from the mall’s parking lot cameras reportedly showed a man entering the victim’s vehicle at 11:35 a.m. and exiting about a minute later with the purse. He then gets into a red SUV driven by a woman. The vehicle was last seen heading eastbound on Cermak Road.

  • A man doing construction work at a home in the 200 block of Michaux Road, Riverside, went to police on Nov. 19, a day after someone entered his unlocked work van while he was at lunch and removed four credit cards and two circular saws.

According to police, fraudulent credit card purchases were subsequently made at Best Buy, GameStop and Foot Locker in North Riverside.

Package theft

A resident of the 4400 block of Vernon Avenue, Brookfield, called police last week to report that a package delivered to her home by Amazon between 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Nov. 16 had been stolen.

The victim told police she had received photo confirmation of the delivery. The package reportedly contained $20 worth of merchandise.

Unlawful use of a weapon

North Riverside police charged a 22-year-old Chicago man with unlawful use of a weapon after observing a loaded 9 mm handgun resting in plain view between the two front seats of a vehicle driven by a man who was pulled over for turning without signaling at Harlem Avenue and Cermak Road on Nov. 18 at about 6:55 p.m.

The man reportedly had a Firearm Owner’s ID card but did not possess a concealed-carry license. The Glock 19 handgun was loaded with 15 rounds, police said.

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, Nov. 14-20, 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