Riverside police charged a 28-year-old Riverside man with reckless conduct, a misdemeanor, after he allegedly fired a handgun inside a home in the 300 block of Shenstone Road early on March 25.
No one was hurt, but Public Safety Director Matthew Buckley said police observed a bullet hole in a wall in the first-floor living room. The round was fired from a handgun, he said.
Police from Riverside, Brookfield, North Riverside and McCook responded to the residence at about 12:10 a.m. after someone called 911 to report hearing a shot fired inside the home following what was described by that person as a verbal altercation between a man and a woman.
Using a bullhorn, police ordered the alleged offender to walk outside with nothing in his hands. He exited the home and walked down backward with his hands raised down the driveway toward police, who arrested him.
Police confirmed only one other person was inside the house, however they were unable to determine how the gun came to be discharged. The other person inside the home did not want to pursue charges, claiming the discharge was accidental.
Riverside police did refer the matter to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office for possible felony charges, but the state’s attorney declined, said Buckley, because there was no complaining witness inside the house.
Armed robbery
Three men, one of them armed with a semiautomatic pistol with an extended magazine, robbed a North Riverside convenience store clerk during the early morning hours of March 26, making off with cigarettes, cash and the victim’s wallet.
According to the police report, the three men all wearing hooded sweatshirts, masks and gloves, entered 7-Eleven, 9205 Cermak Road at about 3:30 a.m. One of the offenders pulled out a pistol and along with another offender went behind the counter, grabbing cigarettes from the display and cash from the register.
The offenders smashed the clerk’s laptop computer and threw his cellphone to the ground before taking his backpack, which contained a wallet with cash, credit cards and a driver’s license.
All three then left the store and were last seen running eastbound around the corner.
Man with gun arrested at mall
A 20-year-old Maywood man is being held at Cook County Jail without bond after he was arrested for possessing a loaded gun inside North Riverside Park Mall, 7501 Cermak Road on the evening of March 25.
Cameron J. Johnson was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of resisting arrest after he and another man were detained by police and mall security after a shopper reported seeing two men retrieve what looked to be a handgun from a vehicle parked in the west lot.
The other person was released without being charged. Police cut the gun from Johnson’s pants leg. It was loaded with 20 rounds, including one in the chamber, according to police.
After police retrieved the gun, Johnson reportedly ran from police, while still handcuffed, but was apprehended again a short distance away.
License plate stolen
A shopper at the North Riverside Park Mall, 7501 Cermak Rd., went to police on March 25 to report that between 3:30 and 5 p.m. someone removed the rear license plate from her vehicle, which was parked in the lot while she was shopping.
Phone scam averted
An alert North Riverside resident recognized someone was trying to scam her out of thousands of dollars and called police to report the incident.
The resident said she received a call on March 23 at about 3 p.m. from someone claiming to be a lawyer for her son-in-law . The “lawyer” said the son-in-law had been involved in a crash that had injured a pregnant woman and that he needed $25,700 in order to make bail.
The “lawyer” told the woman to put the money in an envelope, which would be picked up by someone else. The woman went to police, who responded to her home. While police were there, the “courier” called saying he would be collecting the money. The woman handed the phone to the police officer, who advised him a police report was being filed. The caller then responded with an expletive and hung up.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, March 20-26, 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
