Oak Park Crime Briefs: Armed Robbery, Suspicious Door-to-Door Salesman and a BB Gun Arrest

ARMED ROBBERY
A man sustained minor injuries May 20 after he was pistol-whipped during an armed robbery.

Police said two men approached the victim while walking in the 1500 block of North Austin Boulevard around 12:30 a.m. when one of the men asked him for change.

When the victim kept walking, police said, one offender struck him in the back of the head with a hard object believed to be a handgun, causing the victim to drop the cell phone.

The victim told police one of the offenders displayed the handle of a revolver in the pocket of his hoodie; the other announced it was a robbery. The loss was estimated at $500.

THEFT
Suspicions about the intentions of a young man selling books door to door were confirmed when he was arrested and charged May 12 with theft by deception, police said.

Dylan Smith, 19, of Chattanooga, Tenn., had stopped at a home in the 1200 block of Forest Avenue and told the resident he was a student selling books to fund an overseas school-related trip, police said.

The resident was skeptical about the young man, called police and gave officers his description. Officers checked out the situation and found him walking about a ½ block away in the 1200 block of Belleforte Avenue, where he was arrested.

DISORDERLY CONDUCT
A male juvenile from Oak Park was charged with disorderly conduct May 16 when the teen, part of a large group, displayed and waved a BB gun in the 100 block of West Madison Street, police said.

Police would not say if the gun was directed at specific person. Another juvenile, apparently disturbed by the incident, called police.