Someone associated with Holy Covenant Metropolitan Community Church, 9145 Grant Ave., went to police on June 5 to report what she interpreted as a threat in the wake of volunteers repainting the LGBTQ+ welcoming church’s front steps in rainbow colors after someone had defaced a similar paint job in March.

According to the police report, after the church posted an update with photos that the stairs had been repainted, someone reportedly commented, “will be painted over again soon, some people dislike satan in a place of worship. Wake up.”

The original rainbow paint job was covered over in blue spray paint overnight on March 30-31, but that wasn’t the first time the church had been a target. Last October someone left a flyer on the church’s doors calling Holy Covenant “an ABOMINATION to God” and stating, “homosexuality is a SIN and has no place in the body of Christ!”

Third car theft from golf club

For the third time since mid-May a vehicle has been reported stolen from the parking lot of the Riverside Golf Club, 2520 Desplaines Ave. in North Riverside.

In the latest incident, a club member went to police after his black BMW XM convertible was stolen from the lot on the night of June 7.

According to the police report, the victim said he had returned to his car, which was parked in the lot outside the clubhouse, at about 7 p.m. on June 7 and found that the key fob was missing. The victim told police he had left the key fob inside the unlocked car.

Without a fob to start the car, the victim left the club without the vehicle. When he returned to retrieve the car on June 8, it was gone from the lot. Also inside the vehicle were a set of golf clubs valued at $3,500.

A license plater reader camera at the intersection of Mannheim Road and Jackson Street in Bellwood recorded the car heading northbound at that location at about 8:30 p.m. on June 7.

North Riverside police responded to the golf club for auto theft reports on May 18 and May 29.

Vehicle break-in

Brookfield police responded to the 4500 block of Prairie Avenue on June 8 at about 3 p.m. after a Brookfield woman called to report that someone had entered her rented vehicle, which she had parked on the street around 12:30 p.m., and stole her purse.

According to the police report, the victim said the windows of the vehicle had been left open. The purse, which was wedged between the center console and the driver’s seat, contained ID, credit cards and about $80 in cash.

Trying to beat traffic

Riverside police cited a woman for failure to reduce speed to avoid a crash after she allegedly tried to cross Ogden Avenue northbound from Powell Avenue to Lionel Road in front of another vehicle, which could not stop and struck her blue Chrysler, sending it off the roadway and onto the parkway at the corner of Ogden and Lionel on June 3 at about 5:40 p.m.

The other driver, who was cited for driving a car with no valid registration, said he was westbound on Ogden Avenue when the Chrysler tried to cross. He said he attempted to brake, but the car struck the Chrysler’s passenger side door.

Paramedics evaluated both drivers at the scene, but both refused further treatment. Both cars had to be towed from the scene due to the damage they had sustained in the crash.

Cease and desist

Brookfield police, fresh on the heels of issuing a pair of local ordinance citations on June 6 to a 47-year-old man who allegedly fired arrows from his property into a house, a car and a nearby backyard, were back at the man’s house on the south end of Brookfield on June 7.

Someone called police at about 7:30 p.m. on June 7 to report the man was shooting arrows in his backyard. While none of the arrows had escaped the man’s property, police went there to ask him to stop firing the arrows on his property until his local adjudication hearing, where any misunderstanding about the language of the ordinance could be cleared up.

Online extortion attempt

A 24-year-old Brookfield man went to police on June 6 to report that someone was attempting to extort money from him.

The victim told police that on June 5 he had exchanged explicit images with a person he believed to be a woman on Instagram and Snapchat. That person then immediately messaged him back, demanding $1,500. If he didn’t pay up, that person threatened to send the explicit photos to family and friends of the man.

According to the police report, the victim attempted to send the person the money via a Venmo app, but his bank denied the cash transfer. Police advised him to report the social media accounts that had contacted him, to block contact with those pages and not to send them any money.

These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, June 3-11, 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