Saturday, January 5, 2013
Oak Park police charged a group of Chicago teens with robbery and mob action following an attempt to steal another teen's shoes with a BB gun.
Oak Park police arrested and later charged five teens from Chicago with aggravated robbery and mob action on Jan. 3 following an incident after they allegedly attempted to rob a 13-year-old Chicago resident of his shoes. Police made the arrest on the platform of the Green Line station on Oak Park Avenue around 8:53 p.m. Police said the group of teens—all juveniles between the ages of 12-13—were walking down Lake Street when they approached another teen from Chicago who was waiting in front of the Oak Park Public Library for a ride. The group began harassing the boy, asking him what he was doing there and what he had in his pockets. Eventually, one of the teenagers in the group showed the victim a handgun and told him to take off his shoes…
Monday, October 22, 2012
Good police work, quality of CTA surveillance video helped link the crimes to the suspects, police said.
One man from Chicago and another from Bellwood will appear for a preliminary hearing in Maybrook Court Thursday on charges that they hijacked a car and robbed a medical student in separate incidents in Forest Park over two weeks, police said. Joshua R. Brooks, 22, and Michael J. James, 21, are accused of one count each of vehicular hijacking after an incident that took place Oct. 19 in the 400 block of Beloit Avenue. Both also stand accused of one count of robbery for an incident Oct. 9 near the CTA Blue Line train in the 600 block of Circle Avenue. Both were arrested on Oct. 19 in Chicago. Bail for Brooks was set at $250,000; bail for James was set at $100,000. Both are in Cook County Jail, according to Cook County Sheriff's Police. Get …
41.87927
-87.74277
4700 W Monroe St, Chicago, IL
Where the pair was apprehended.
/articles/two-chicago-men-charged-with-carjacking-robbery-in-separate-incidents
/locations/8049556
41.87577
-87.80823
600 Circle Ave, Forest Park, IL
Where the robbery took place on Oct. 9.
/articles/two-chicago-men-charged-with-carjacking-robbery-in-separate-incidents
/locations/8049557
41.87949
-87.811999
400 Beloit Ave, Forest Park, IL
The carjacking took place Oct. 19 in the Beloit/Hannah alleyway.
/articles/two-chicago-men-charged-with-carjacking-robbery-in-separate-incidents
/locations/8049558
Monday, December 12, 2011
All five incidents took place on Nov. 27 in the 1000 block of South Humphrey.
A 16-year-old from Cicero was charged with five counts of burglary Dec. 2 after a string of car break-ins in the 1000 block of South Humphrey Boulevard late last month, Oak Park Police said. After piecing together evidence and witness statements, officers took the teenager into custody in Cicero, police said. He was positively identified by two witnesses as one of two teens caught tampering with garages and trying to open car doors on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, police said. The teen was successful in only in one incident when he took CDs, cigarettes and gum from a 2007 Mazda3 parked in the garage of one home. The teen gained access by breaking into a 2009 Chevy Aveo parked in the carport and removing the garage door opener. He also …
41.87047
-87.775499
1000 S Humphrey Ave, Oak Park, IL
/articles/charges-lodged-against-cicero-teen-for-string-of-car-break-ins
/locations/5980729
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
LPs returned after May 6 theft from Oak Park Records.
The owner of an Oak Park record store didn't panic when he noticed a stack of LPs has just been stolen from the racks on May 6. Instead, he gave chase and confronted the thief in an alley about a block from his store, Oak Park Records, 179 S. Oak Park Ave. "It was almost like a kid with his hand caught in a cookie jar," said Alan Heffelfinger. "He just kind of shrugged his shoulders, like 'Whatever you say.'" Heffelfinger said he simply demanded the man turn over the records, which he did before walking away. But the store owner wasn't satisfied just yet. "I said, 'What, you just give me records back and everything's cool? I'm just going to follow you and call the police.'" That's when the man, standing about 15 to 20 feet away from …
41.885522
-87.794417
Oak Park Records
179 S Oak Park Ave, Oak Park, IL
/articles/record-theft-scratched-after-owner-confronts-thief
244927
/locations/4350950
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Victim kicks back, home ransacked and a motorist drives off after hitting a child, authorities say.
Hit-and-Run Arrest A 29-year-old Oak Park man was charged in connection with a hit-and-run crash that sent a young boy to the hospital, police said. Marcus Backstrom was behind the wheel of a 2001 Buick LeSabre around 4:30 p.m. Saturday in the 1000 block of South Taylor Avenue when he struck an 8-year-old boy crossing the street, authorities said. Witnesses told police the impact sent the boy into the air, then back onto the pavement. He was taken to Loyola Medical Center with cuts and bruises, police said. Backstrom told police he didn't feel any impact and kept driving, eventually reaching his home in the 1100 block of South Austin Boulevard, where he was arrested. He was charged with felony hit and run, leaving the scene of an accident…
41.87065
-87.777949
1000 S Taylor Ave, Oak Park, IL
Site of hit-and-run accident
/articles/oak-park-crime-briefs-woman-robbed-on-blue-line-house-burglarized-hit-and-run-driver-charged
/locations/4237887
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Attack takes place in backyard of South Harvey Avenue home.
An Oak Park woman reported to police she was choked and robbed, the latest in a series of similar, troubling attacks. The incident took place around 11:50 p.m. Tuesday in the back yard of a home in the 200 block of South Harvey Avenue, police said. According to a police report, the man entered the home's back yard, approached the woman from behind and "grabbed her around the neck." After a struggle, the man made off with the victim's toiletry bag. The loss is estimated at $40. Police were hesitant to say whether or not Tuesday's attack is related to a trio of similar, recent incidents in Oak Park, but they did say in a news release issued Wednesday morning "the similarities suggest" the same man could be responsible for all four. In each …
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Similar incidents prompt response from police and village officials.
Police in Oak Park are beefing up patrols and asking for public help in the hunt for an attacker who's choking his female victims before robbing them. All of the incidents have taken place recently between Austin Boulevard and Oak Park Avenue, roughly along the Lake Street corridor. This first took place around 11:30 p.m. March 30 in the 200 block of Lake Street, when a 21-year-old woman was attacked from behind and robbed of some cash and a cell phone. The second took place April 2 in the 400 block of North Austin Boulevard, police said. The victim in that incident was 33 years old. On Monday, a 54-year-old woman was victimized while walking near hear home in the 200 block of North Oak Park Avenue, police said. According to TribLocal: …
41.88818
-87.78018
200 Lake St, Oak Park, IL
Site of March 30 attack
/articles/police-be-alert-for-oak-park-choker
/locations/3925923
41.887581
-87.774869
400 N Austin Blvd, Oak Park, IL
Site of April 2 attack
/articles/police-be-alert-for-oak-park-choker
/locations/3925924
41.890192
-87.79455
200 N Oak Park Ave, Oak Park, IL
Site of April 4 attack
/articles/police-be-alert-for-oak-park-choker
/locations/3925925
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Cash, credit cards, cell phone stolen from woman; $12 taken from boy, police said.
Police in Oak Park are investigating a street robbery in which a female victim was approached from behind and choked. According to police reports, the attack took place around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday in the 200 block of Lake Street when an unidentified man approached the woman from behind, placed her in a choke hold then demanded her money. The victim turned over cash, credit and debit cards and a cell phone. The estimated loss was $550. Police officials said the incident appears isolated. "We haven't had any other incidents with a guy with this description," said Oak Park Police Cmdr. LaDon Reynolds. Despite the physical nature of the robbery, Reynolds said the victim did not require medical attention. Three Chicago juveniles were …
41.88818
-87.78018
200 Lake St, Oak Park, IL
Location of March 30 robbery
/articles/police-robbery-victim-choked-boy-jumped-in-separate-attacks
/locations/3899896
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Police say 'good investigative work' leads to arrests.
Four people have been charged in connection with a violent street robbery that took place in December, police said. The attack took place Dec. 15 when an 18-year-old man standing at the corner of Washington Boulevard and Cuyler Avenue was approached by a group of people "who began striking him about the face with closed fists,” then sped away in a gold van, according to police reports. Turns out, police believe the whole thing was a drug deal gone bad. Cmdr. LaDon Reynolds said the victim, now 19, was standing at the intersection and waiting to secure a marijuana deal when was approached by someone who exited the van. But when the victim handed over some cash to the drug dealer, he was repeatedly punched in the face. And instead of …
41.88175
-87.78286
Washington Blvd & S Cuyler Ave, Oak Park, IL
Site of Dec. 15 attack
/articles/oprf-pair-among-four-charged-in-street-robbery
/locations/3753859
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Trio comes away emptyhanded after clerk, ATM serviceman refuse demands.
Police in Oak Park are on the lookout for a trio who attempted a pair of armed robberies that left one man hospitalized. The attack took place Thursday around 6:30 p.m., when three men entered 7-Eleven, 661 South Blvd. and demanded a store clerk open the register, according to a police report. The threat turned serious when one man pulled out a black semi-automatic gun and pointed it at the clerk while another said, “Give him the money or he will shoot you.” The clerk refused and triggered the store's silent alarm before retreating to the back of the store unharmed, police said. Instead of leaving the store, the trio then targeted an ATM serviceman working in the store. When the 50-year-old man said he couldn't open the store's cash …
Lisa Johnson
9:47 am on Monday, May 13, 2013
Oak Park charges enough priperty tax, maybe the need to cut some of the plays in the park all summer in favor of a bit more security. more ›