Police nab armed robbery suspect
Oak Park police arrested Maywood resident Coris Ashford, 21, Dec. 17 for an armed robbery that took place Dec. 8 in the 700 block of South Taylor Avenue. Ashford was being held by Berwyn police in connection with another armed robbery. He was positively identified by the Oak Park victim in a lineup at the Berwyn police station. In the Oak Park robbery, Ashford allegedly struck the male 20-year-old victim with a hard object above his right eye and displayed a small black handgun.
More than 3 times the legal limit
After stopping a suspected drunk driver at 4 a.m., Dec. 10, in the 1100 block of Harlem Avenue, police arrested a 24-year-old Geneva man whose Breathalyzer test showed his blood alcohol level was .266; the legal standard is .08.
Aggravated DUI
At 6 a.m., Dec. 7, police stopped a vehicle for reckless driving in the 7800 block of Madison Street. Driver Andres Morelos, 49, of Chicago, had no driver’s license and refused sobriety tests. After felony review conducted by the state’s attorney, Morelos was charged with felony DUI, reckless driving and several other violations.
Armed robbery
Two men got away with $300 cash, a laptop and an iPhone in a daytime robbery in the 200 block of Forest Avenue, Dec. 16. Police said two men approached a pedestrian on the sidewalk from behind and beat the victim with a hard object. The offenders ransacked the victim’s pockets and backpack, police said, and removed a silver MacBook Pro, a black and white Apple iPhone 4, and cash. They then fled west on Ontario Street in an unknown vehicle. Loss was estimated at $3,200.
Aggravated robbery
In the 600 block of Madison Street, the evening of Dec. 15, a thin young man with a slight goatee and a black hoodie entered a business and ordered the clerk to open the register and lie on the floor. The robber took all the paper money from the drawer, then fled westbound through the parking lot.
Burglary
The evening of Dec. 8, River Forest police investigated a burglary in the 200 block of Gale Avenue. Someone forced open a basement door and made off with $75,000 worth of jewelry.
A handicap-parking placard was stolen from inside a car parked in the 200 block of Madison Street on the afternoon of Dec. 16.
Someone, using a metal fire hydrant cap, smashed the window of a Ford parked in the 200 block of Humphrey, the night of Dec. 14-15; nothing was removed from the car.
An unlocked garage service door in the 800 block of South Humphrey allowed a burglar to remove a $200 bicycle during the day, Dec. 19.
Someone broke into a residence in the 400 block of North Humphrey via a basement window. The intruder poured orange juice over the television and coffee table. It happened during the day, Dec. 19.
Late in the evening, Dec. 20, someone smashed a window to enter a Honda Civic, parked in the 700 block of North Harlem Avenue, then stole a gym bag containing a pair of Nike shoes, a stethoscope and papers.
In the 200 block of South Marion Street around 11 p.m., Dec. 20, a man forced open the locked door to a suite. When the offender, a middle-aged man in a black cap, purple coat and white pants, was confronted by an employee, he fled.
Between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., Dec. 20, someone unzipped the soft-top window of a Jeep Wrangler parked in the 1100 block of Ontario. The offender stole a black 5.11 duty bag containing law and criminal code books, a book of traffic tickets, a police hat shield, and a shoe cleaning kit. The missing items were later found nearby.
Theft
The evening of Dec. 15, an unlocked bike was stolen from the common area of a condominium basement in the 7200 block of Oak Street.
The valves to the fire hydrants in the 100 and 200 blocks of Humphrey were reported stolen, the morning of Dec. 16.
During the day, Dec. 12 in the 900 block of Ontario Street, someone stole a UPS package containing two pairs of high-heeled shoes from the lobby of an apartment building.
A witness, Dec. 18, saw two men steal a package containing a digital camera from the front porch of a residence in the 100 block of South Euclid Avenue.
A package of clothing from Talbot’s was stolen from a front porch in the 600 block of Fair Oaks, Dec. 13.
On Dec. 16, a worker at Jewel in the 400 block of Madison Street discovered someone had stolen her Coach wallet out of her jacket pocket while the jacket was unattended.
Women’s Rogaine and vitamins, valued at $102.98, were stolen from CVS in the 300 block of Madison Street, the morning of Dec. 19, by a man with a mustache in a leather jacket; he left the scene in a burgundy vehicle driven by a man wearing glasses.
Two young men entered Dream Town, in the 100 block of Madison Street, the afternoon of Dec. 5, and stole a single men’s Timberland boot — right foot, size 8 — for an estimated loss of $380.
A stranger snatched the Apple MacBook Pro laptop right off a woman’s lap as she rode the Green Line, Dec. 19 around 7:40 p.m. The $500 laptop was stolen near the 300 block of South Boulevard.
Stalking violation
A 53-year-old Chicago woman turned herself over to Oak Park police, Dec. 12, because she had reportedly violated a no-contact order for stalking
Vandalism
An 18-year-old Chicago man was arrest midday Dec. 19 for trespassing on and vandalizing government property in the 800 block of South Oak Park Avenue.
These items, obtained from the Oak Park and River Forest police departments, came from reports filed Dec. 15-21 and represent a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Anyone named in these reports has only been charged with a crime and cases have not yet been adjudicated. We report the race of a suspect only when a serious crime has been committed, the suspect is still at large, and police have provided us with a detailed physical description of the suspect as they seek the public’s help in making an arrest.
— Compiled by Amy Malina
