North Riverside police continue to investigate an armed robbery on the night of Jan. 15 on 7th Avenue where two gunmen held up a man inside his garage, making off with his wallet, house and car keys and cellphone.

No one was hurt in the incident, which happened at about 7:25 p.m. According to the victim and his wife, who watched the robbery unfold from a window, the couple had just pulled into their attached garage after picking up food from a restaurant on Roosevelt Road in Berwyn.

While the man was still inside the car, a white SUV, possibly a Buick, pulled up to the end of the driveway and two masked men wearing all black got out and walked up the driveway.

One of the men carried a handgun while the other carried a silver firearm that appeared to be a rifle. The victim threw his wallet, keys and phone on the ground and told the men to take the items and leave. 

The two offenders returned to the SUV, which was driven by a third person, and left the area westbound on 23rd Street to 8th Avenue and then north toward Cermak Road. Police at about 8:05 p.m. located the victim’s cellphone in the 2200 block of 8th Avenue.

Vandal punctures Riverside ice rink liner

After a cold December paved the way for Riverside to open its ice rink in Big Ball Park early this winter, it looked like a nice long skating season loomed in early 2023. More recently, however, that’s an open question.

January has not only brought above-freezing temperatures, making the rink an iffy proposition, last week someone vandalized the rink’s inflatable plastic liner, causing water to drain from it. 

Police and recreation department officials responded to Big Ball Park, at Longcommon and Delaplaine roads, on the morning of Jan. 12 to inspect the damage.

According to the police report, someone apparently used the broken handle of a shovel that had been kept at the rink for maintenance purposes to puncture the plastic liner in  multiple locations.

Village staff made repairs to the liner and added more water, and as of Jan. 16, Recreation Director Ron Malchiodi said, “So far, it appears like it’s holding. We assess it every day.

“We’re hoping we can save it, but the next challenge is freezing temperatures.”

On Jan. 16, temperatures reached into the mid-40s and for at least the next week daytime temps are forecast to be in the 40s or mid-30s.

Anyone with information or video about the vandalism is asked to call Riverside police at 708-447-9191.

Brookfield seeks hit-and run driver

A 54-year-old Berwyn man sustained multiple injuries after being struck by a car that reportedly had been speeding and weaving in and out of traffic while westbound on 31st Street in Brookfield on Jan. 10 at about 5:45 p.m.

The offending vehicle, described only as a black Acura, did not stop and police were unable to locate it immediately. Village surveillance cameras at 31st Street and Maple Avenue did capture video of the vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed westbound at 5:46 p.m., but the image was blurry due to the speed at which the car was traveling, according to police.

LaGrange Park police said their camera at Kemman Avenue did not capture video of the car, leading police to believe it turned onto a side street after it passed Maple Avenue.

Another motorist told police that he was traveling westbound on 31st Street when he observed the offending vehicle behind him, weaving in and out of lanes at a high rate of speed.

As soon as the Acura passed him, it reportedly struck the victim near Elm Avenue, throwing him several feet from the point of impact. The victim was lying in the middle of the street when police arrived surrounded by a group of bystanders.

One of those bystanders told police she heard the impact and ran outside to find her boyfriend in the street. He was on his way to pick up his nephew and had to cross the street, she reportedly told police.

Paramedics transported the victim to Loyola University Medical Center for further treatment.

Police continue to investigate the incident.

DUI

Brookfield charged a 25-year-old Chicago woman with driving under the influence of alcohol after she allegedly passed out behind the wheel of her white Mazda SUV in the southbound lane of traffic on Maple Avenue at the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railroad grade crossing on Jan. 10 at about 3:15 a.m.

A passerby called police who arrived to find the driver behind the wheel with her foot on the brake, the car in drive and a cellphone in her hand. Both passenger side tires were flat, police reported.

After repeated attempts by police, the woman woke up, appeared “dazed and confused” and had trouble putting her vehicle into park. Once in park, the woman reportedly stepped on the gas pedal as if to accelerate.

The driver told police she was going home after getting off work at 10 p.m. from an establishment in Schiller Park. She was not able to explain where she had been for the past five hours, police said. 

A breath test reportedly revealed the driver’s blood-alcohol content to be .129, which is more than the legal limit of .08. She was charged with DUI and cited for improper parking on a roadway.

Crash stops train traffic

BNSF train traffic was stopped in both directions for about an hour on the morning of Jan. 9 after a 2013 Lincoln MKS ended up coming to rest on the railroad tracks after a crash in the Maple Avenue/Burlington Avenue intersection.

One driver, a 58-year-old Lyons man, was taken to the hospital with unspecified injuries. He reportedly was behind the wheel of a 2008 Chevy Impala when it allegedly failed to stop at a stop sign while westbound on Burlington Avenue and crashed into the Lincoln, which was northbound on Maple Avenue, at about 11:40 a.m.

The impact of the crash sent the Lincoln across the southbound lanes of traffic and onto the southernmost set of railroad tracks. Train traffic resumed around 12:45 p.m. after the Lincoln was towed from the scene. 

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, Jan. 9-15, 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