A North Riverside man was one of 10 people charged last week in connection with a federal drug and gun investigation centered on Chicago’s West Side.
Dionete Dotson, 28, of North Riverside, was charged with possessing, with intent to deliver, at least 28 grams of a mixture containing cocaine. He and his nine co-defendants were arrested on March 21 and appeared in U.S. District Court in Chicago on March 25.
Judge Jeffrey Cole set Dotson’s bond at $25,000 and ordered him held on home confinement while awaiting trial, allowing Dotson a two-hour visit each week to his grandmother.
Federal prosecutors said the multi-year investigation resulted in authorities seizing about 13 pounds of suspected methamphetamines, a half-kilogram of heroin, about 13,000 pills of ecstasy and 18 firearms.
Much of the drug trafficking occurred, prosecutors said, in the East Garfield Park neighborhood of Chicago.
Felony drunken driving
Julian Kapone Carrasco, 20, of Chicago faces felony drunken driving charges after a Riverside police officer stopped his vehicle, which he allegedly was driving recklessly while northbound on First Avenue from Forest Avenue at about 8:30 p.m. on March 27.
While a police officer followed, he reported that Carrasco’s vehicle crossed the double yellow center lines into southbound traffic, nearly striking a southbound vehicle. After stopping Carrasco at 31st Street, police learned that Carrasco did not possess a driver’s license and that he appeared to be intoxicated. Police reported recovering an open bottle of cognac under the driver’s seat.
Cook County Sheriff’s Police also advised that one of their officers observed the same vehicle driving recklessly prior to entering Riverside, but were unable to stop Carrasco because he was traveling at an “excessive speed.”
In addition to aggravated driving under the influence, Carrasco was cited for several traffic offenses, including reckless driving and speeding.
Pepper sprayed
North Riverside police responded to an apartment building in the 2400 block of Desplaines Avenue on March 23 at about 2:45 p.m. after a female tenant reportedly pepper-sprayed an employee of the property management company who’d come to show the apartment to a prospective renter.
The alleged offender told police she was wearing headphones, listening to music when she saw someone trying to open the door to her apartment. The door was chained, so it could only open a few inches, and fearing for her safety she sprayed through the small opening and called police.
A woman who was the prospective renter told police she went to look at the apartment, which was to become available at the end of April, and was accompanied by a woman from the building’s management company. The employee reportedly knocked on the apartment door, quietly, before opening it.
The renter said she’s never been told about the viewing but the employee told police she’s made several calls attempting to inform her, though she hadn’t actually spoken to her.
No one was arrested. Police informed the employee to call police before showing the apartment in the future.
Hit and run
Brookfield police cited a 21-year-old LaGrange Highlands woman for leaving the scene of an accident, improper lane usage and having no insurance after she allegedly sideswiped a tan 2003 Chevy parked in the 8900 block of Southview Avenue at about 12:45 a.m. on March 30 and fled the scene.
Several car parts, including a partial headlight and quarter panel from a blue vehicle, were found at the scene. At about 2:20 a.m., Lyons police contacted Brookfield, saying they’d located a blue Dodge with front-end damage consistent with the hit-and-run crash.
The vehicle had gotten stuck on a median at Family Dollar, 4165 First Ave., and the driver had passed out behind the wheel. Lyons police had to use a lockout kit to open the door and take the driver to MacNeal Hospital for treatment.
Brookfield police went to the hospital to make contact with the driver and tell her to come to the Brookfield Police Department upon her release to talk about the Brookfield crash. She reportedly denied being behind the wheel of the car at the time of the Brookfield crash, but would not say who was, according to police.
Pry marks on door
A resident of the 9000 block of 27th Street, Brookfield, called police on March 26 at about 1:30 p.m. to report damage to the front screen door of his house. The homeowner showed police two pry marks that appeared to bend the frame of the door, which had been locked during the night.
No damage was found on any of the home’s other exterior doors, according to police.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, March 23-31, 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
