A Cicero man was arrested March 26 in Riverside after a Brookfield police officer observed him driving 20 mph over the speed limit.
According to police, around 5:40 p.m. that evening, the officer was on patrol when the man was driving east on 31st Street. Radar confirmed the man’s car was moving at 57 mph in a 35-mph-zone. The officer switched on the lights and pulled the car over east of South First Avenue.
When the officer told the man why he had been pulled over, the man admitted he had been speeding and said he was distracted by his GPS. When the officer asked for the man’s driver’s license and proof of insurance, the man said he had neither, police said. The man said he had never had an Illinois driver’s license and that he did not have insurance because he had bought the car recently. When the man provided the officer with a copy of the car’s title, the officer saw it was dated May 2023.
After the man provided an Illinois ID, the officer ran his information and found his license had been suspended in 2020, police said. The officer issued three citations to the man for speeding, driving on a suspended license and operating an uninsured car. A court date of May 14 was set and the man was sent on his way so police could have his car towed.
Hospitalized after attempted retail theft
A man was taken to the hospital March 24 after an attempted retail theft in Riverside.
Around 11 p.m. that night, Riverside officers responded to the ARCO gas station on South Harlem Avenue after the store clerk called to report that a man dressed in black with a white bag had tried to steal some vodka from the convenience store at the gas station.
According to police, when the officers arrived, a man told them the alleged thief had gone south on South Harlem Avenue. One officer saw a man matching the clerk’s description near the intersection of South Harlem Avenue and Robinson Court. The officer stopped the man to talk and explained they were investigating the attempted retail theft. The man said he did not take anything and that he had been trying to buy the alcohol using Apple Pay.
During the conversation, the officer noticed the man was slurring his speech and staggering as he walked, police said. When the officer asked the man if he had been drinking, he said he had and that it was not illegal to drink alcohol and walk down the street. The man said he was trying to meet up with friends in Lyons who did not have a car.
According to police, another officer spoke with the store clerk, who said the man came in and tried to leave with the alcohol. When the man tried to leave, the clerk said he snatched the alcohol back. The clerk said he only wanted the man banned from the store.
The first officer told the man he was banned and should not return to the store. The officer called paramedics to check on the man because of his level of intoxication, who then took him to MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn. The man was not arrested or charged.
Felony charges for driving drunk with no license
A man was arrested March 23 for driving drunk after a Riverside police officer saw him drive recklessly.
According to police, the officer was on patrol around 2 a.m. that morning when they saw the man’s car heading west in the inside lane on Ogden Avenue without operating headlights or taillights. The officer saw the man’s car “straddle the dotted white lines” marking the outside lane without a turn signal before it returned to the inside lane. The officer pulled the man over near the intersection with Miller Road.
After the officer approached the man in his car, the officer noticed his eyes were bloodshot. When asked for a driver’s license and proof of insurance, the man provided a Mexican ID, police said; when asked if he had drunk alcohol, the man said he had had three or four drinks, so the officer had him perform field sobriety tests. During the tests, the man struggled with his balance and was unable to count correctly. After the tests, the officer had the man take a preliminary breath test, which showed .203 blood alcohol content.
According to police, the officer then placed the man under arrest and brought him back to the station for booking, during which time police learned the man did not possess a driver’s license. The man received both misdemeanor and felony charges due to him not having a license. He was later sent home in a taxi after being released on pre-trial conditions.
These items were obtained from the Riverside Police Department reports dated March 22-25 and the Brookfield Police Department reports dated March 25 to April 1; they represent a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Anyone named in these reports has only been charged with a crime and cases have not yet been adjudicated. We report the race of a suspect only when a serious crime has been committed, the suspect is still at large and police have provided us with a detailed physical description of the suspect as they seek the public’s help in making an arrest.
