Brookfield issued local ordinance violations to a 16-year-old boy from LaGrange and a 14-year-old boy from Brookfield for criminal damage to property after they allegedly vandalized several vehicles and street signs on the south end of the village with spray paint on the night of Nov. 11.
Police responded to the area of Shields and Prairie avenues at about 7:30 p.m. in regard to a report of three people who allegedly spray painted a 911 caller’s vehicle. Police detained the suspects, a girl and two boys, and interviewed them.
After interviewing all three, police released the girl without charges. However, police cited the LaGrange boy for spray painting “I just f—” across the entire driver’s side of a Chevy Trailblazer parked in the 4200 block of Prairie Avenue.
Meanwhile, police issued the Brookfield boy four citations for spray painting a vehicle and a speed limit sign in the 4100 block of Prairie Avenue, spray painting letters and circles on the driver’s side and windshield of a vehicle parked in the 4200 block of Prairie Avenue and spray painting the image of a penis on the rear passenger door and window of a vehicle parked in the 4100 block of Prairie Avenue.
Investigators looking at microwave in Riverside kitchen fire
Riverside Fire Chief Matthew Buckley said that the origin of a fire inside a home in the first block of Lawton Road, Riverside, on the evening of Nov. 11 has been traced to an area behind a microwave oven, although the exact cause of the fire hasn’t been determined yet.
Emergency personnel responded to the residence at about 4:25 p.m. and reported seeing smoke coming from the windows of the house. The homeowner and two daughters exited the house safely, while Fire Chief Matthew Buckley used a fire extinguisher to try to put out the fire. The flames were extinguished completely after more fire personnel arrived on the scene.
The homeowner reportedly told police he had turned on the oven to pre-heat and then left the house with his children to go to the store. When they arrived home about 30 minutes later, they encountered smoke when they entered the house and called 911.
But, Buckley said the oven proper had nothing to do with the fire and that fire damage was limited to the microwave and the cabinets surrounding it. The kitchen and a front room sustained heat and smoke damage, and there was smoke damage throughout the house, Buckley said.
Suspected drunken driver also hit with weapons charge
A 30-year-old Berwyn woman stopped for speeding by North Riverside police late on Nov. 8 wound up in more hot water after she was also charged with drunken driving and a felony count of unlawful use of a weapon.
An officer on patrol reported a gray Hyundai heading east on Cermak Road at 59 mph in a 35 mph zone at about 11:40 p.m. The officer pulled the vehicle over in the 7500 block of Cermak Road and during the traffic stop reportedly observed an odor of alcohol emitting from the inside of the vehicle and a container of open alcohol in a center cup holder.
In addition, according to police, the driver’s license was suspended and, during a search of the vehicle after arresting the driver for the license infraction, an officer found a loaded .38-caliber Smith and Wesson revolver wrapped in a hat on the driver’s side floorboard.
The driver reportedly failed field sobriety tests.
Vehicle break-in
North Riverside police responded to the 2200 block of 14th Avenue on the morning of Nov. 10 after a resident called to report that someone had entered an apparently unlocked vehicle and ransacked it, leaving some of the contents on the ground outside the car.
Police reported observing a blue bag, a road atlas, a blanket and a lug nut box on the ground. The only thing that appeared to be missing, according to the car’s owner, was an empty black backpack.
Calm down, everyone
A 57-year-old LaGrange Park woman went to Brookfield police on the evening of Nov. 10 after experiencing an alleged “road rage” incident that afternoon.
The woman told police that while attempting to turn west onto Ogden Avenue from First Avenue, she beeped her horn at the vehicle in front of her. After both cars made the turn, the woman said the driver of the other vehicle would not let her pass.
When both vehicles were stopped at a red light at Ogden and Prairie, the driver of the other vehicle reported got out of his car and took a photo of the woman’s vehicle.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, Nov. 8-15, 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
This story has been changed to correct the origin of the Lawtin Road house fire, based on information obtained from Riverside Fire Chief Matthew Buckley.
