A 16-year-old Chicago boy faces felony weapons charges and charges are pending against a 22-year-old Villa Park woman after she allegedly attempted to speed away from police while southbound on First Avenue on April 24 at about 5:45 p.m. before crashing into and demolishing the pole sign outside Lucky Day Gaming Café, 8400 26th St.
As of the afternoon of April 25, the driver remained hospitalized with head and neck injuries suffered in the crash, which shut down First Avenue in both directions between Cermak Road and 31st Street during the Monday evening rush hour.
A North Riverside police officer on patrol reported the woman driving the Honda Pilot erratically and in excess of the speed limit and attempted to make a traffic stop. The Honda sped away south, switching lanes and veering into northbound traffic before apparently attempting to cut through the parking lot of the gaming café before striking the pole sign.
The vehicle ended up off the roadway on the southwest corner of the intersection. Two people exited the rear compartment, one running westbound on 26th Street and the Chicago juvenile running into the forest allegedly carrying what appeared to be a silver firearm.
Police attended to two women, including the driver, still inside the vehicle. The driver was taken to hospital for treatment. The two male passengers surrendered to police, who located a loaded silver .45-caliber handgun on the ground about 150 feet inside the forested area near where the vehicle came to rest.
The juvenile was charged with two counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.
This item has been changed to reflect that charges against the driver are pending her release from the hospital.
Restaurant burglarized
Brookfield police are following up on a number of leads in their investigation of a burglary carried out during the early morning hours of April 17 at Tony’s Family Restaurant, 8900 Ogden Ave.
The restaurant’s owner called police at about 4:15 a.m. to report the break-in, in which a large amount of cash was taken from an employee area at the rear of the building.
According to police, security cameras captured video of the offenders arriving at the restaurant in a silver Dodge Caravan around 3 a.m. One passenger wearing a facemask, a red sweater, dark pants, white Jordan sneakers and gloves gets out near the northwest side of the building and throws a brick through the window.
A second passenger wearing all black then gets out and smashes out the rest of the window with a baseball bat before both get back into the van, which then drives away.
The van is seen returning at about 3:50 a.m. The passenger in red enters the business through the broken window and goes directly to the employee office where he forces open the door with a pry bar and leaves a short time later carrying something.
The offender then exits the restaurant through the broken window and gets back into the van, which is seen leaving westbound on Ogden Avenue. According to police, the rear license plate on the van was reported stolen out of Lyons later that same morning.
Road rage
North Riverside police cited a 23-year-old Chicago woman for disorderly conduct-offensive act, after she allegedly threw quarters at another vehicle during a road rage incident on April 21 at about 10:35 a.m.
Police responded to the North Riverside Park Mall, 7501 Cermak Road, after the victim called to report the incident, which began as both cars were in the right turn lane of south Harlem Avenue at Cermak Road.
According to the offender, she did not want to turn right on red due to getting red-light camera tickets in the past. When she failed to turn, the driver behind her reportedly began honking his horn continuously.
When both cars finally turned onto Cermak Road, the victim reportedly drove alongside and the offender allegedly flung some quarters out the window at his vehicle. The vehicle was not damaged.
The victim alleged the offender then positioned her car in front of his and began brake-checking him before turning into the mall parking lot. Police located the offender’s vehicle in the lot at Miller’s Ale House, interviewed both parties and reviewed security video prior to issuing the citation.
Burglary to vehicle
Brookfield police responded to Sokol Spirit, 3909 Prairie Ave. on April 23 at about 8:30 p.m. after a 33-year-old Chicago woman called to report that someone had stolen her bag from a friend’s vehicle that had been parked at that location.
The victim told police that the break-in took place sometime after 6:30 p.m. and that she believed the vehicle had been locked, but the report indicated no signs of forced entry.
Nothing else was reported missing from the vehicle. The bag reportedly was sitting in plain view on the front passenger seat on top of a sweatshirt. Inside the bag was a Surface Pro laptop computer, a Nintendo Switch and eyeglasses. The total loss was estimated at about $1,800.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, April 17-24, 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
