North Riverside police charged a 21-year-old Warrenville man with battery after he allegedly stabbed a 38-year-old LaGrange Park man in the chest during a road rage altercation in the intersection of First Avenue and Cermak Road at about 1:20 a.m. on Sept. 10.
The incident was sparked when the alleged offender drove his silver 2003 Mercedes-Benz into the intersection, reportedly against a red light, blocking a westbound Chevy van driven by the victim.
The victim reportedly told police he tried to drive around the Mercedes, but the offender turned toward the victim’s vehicle. The victim got out of his vehicle to confront the driver of the Mercedes and, as he approached, he reportedly saw the offender opening up a folding knife.
While speaking with the victim, the offender allegedly swiped at him with the knife. The victim responded by punching the offender in the face three times. During the altercation, the offender scratched the victim’s chest with the knife and then penetrated his victim’s chest with the knife before driving westbound on Cermak Road with the victim in pursuit.
The victim lost sight of the Mercedes. The victim’s wife, who was a passenger in the van, called 911 and Brookfield police and paramedics responded to assist him at the intersection of Maple Avenue and 31st Street. He was taken to Loyola University Medical Center for treatment.
Brookfield police contacted North Riverside, whose officers were able to locate the driver of the Mercedes at about 2:40 a.m. in Bellwood, where he reportedly was found slumped over inside the vehicle. An open knife was found beside him on the passenger seat.
According to the police report, the offender had been driving home from a friend’s house in North Riverside when the altercation took place. The driver of the Mercedes told police he couldn’t remember what had happened, and admitted to drinking beer and smoking cannabis earlier that night.
The Cook County State’s Attorney declined to file felony charges against the man, who was charged with battery and aggravated assault.
Heroin antidote revives man after overdose
Riverside police officers and firefighters were able to revive a 27-year-old man who had suffered a heroin overdose by administering multiple doses of Narcan, an antidote that reverses the effects of opioids.
Police arrived on the scene less than two minutes after receiving a call of an overdose on Sept. 10 at 3:40 p.m. They learned that the victim had used heroin and administered Narcan. Paramedics arrived at the scene and administered additional doses of the antidote before transporting the man to MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn for further treatment.
Each Riverside police squad car is equipped with cases containing Narcan and devices to inject the antidote nasally. The Riverside Junior Woman’s Charity in 2015 partnered with police to fund the program.
Vehicle break-ins
North Riverside police responded to the 9100 block of Cermak Road on Sept. 4 after a resident called to report that someone had broken into a vehicle, which was parked in the rear of the property, overnight.
According to the report, the offender removed Xanax and Adderall pills, which were left in plain view on the passenger seat.
North Riverside police continue to try to locate the driver and passenger of a gold pickup truck who fled from a police officer from the parking lot of the North Riverside Park Mall, 7501 Cermak Road, after a suspected burglary to a Ford van parked there on Sept. 4 at about 1:05 p.m.
A police officer a saw man hurriedly get into the passenger seat of the pickup truck, which fled the parking lot at a high rate of speed, weaving around pedestrians and disobeying signs as it made its way to eastbound Cermak Road.
Police pursued the truck north on Harlem Avenue, where it drove into oncoming traffic and then made a U-turn in front of a bus on the I-290 overpass, before heading back south and losing police.
Further investigation revealed that someone had emptied a bank deposit bag found next to the Ford van. The lock to the van’s door had been forced open. A number of power tools were missing from the van.
Package stolen
A resident of the 9400 block of Congress Park Avenue, Brookfield, contacted police to report that a package delivered by the U.S. Postal Service on Sept. 5 was taken from his mailbox. The package contained “Zebra” pens worth about $80, according to the police report.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield police departments, Sept. 4-10, 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
