Two gunmen entered Ino’s Tacos in the 7100 block of Roosevelt Road just before closing time at 2 a.m. Feb. 24. After herding the employees into a back room and ordering them to sit down, one of the gunmen pointed his weapon at a woman’s stomach and ordered her to open the cash register. They then took $1,007.89 and fled to a waiting car.
Just before noon Feb. 22 a man and a woman in an older Lincoln Town Car pulled up to a man who had just gotten out of his car to enter a home in the 100 block of Lathrop Avenue in River Forest. The woman pointed a handgun at the man and demanded his wallet. After he gave her the wallet, which contained $300, the pair fled south on Lathrop.
And a woman walking in the 1150 block of South Humphrey Avenue the evening of Feb. 19 was pushed from behind by a man. When she fell to the sidewalk, striking her head, the man picked up her designer purse, which contained $150, and fled.
DUI
Amanda B. Able, 28, of Berwyn, reportedly was the driver of a car that struck another vehicle then went up on the sidewalk and crashed into a building at Roosevelt Road and Grove Avenue the afternoon of Feb. 25. Able, who reportedly was unconscious with her sleeve rolled up, was allegedly in possession of a foil packet containing a residue that tested positive for heroin, as well as a hypodermic syringe.
Jeff Sneath, 25, of Kangley (some 90 miles southwest of Oak Park), reportedly ran away from officers investigating suspicious activity in a car in the parking lot of the Shell gas station at 1 Harrison St. the afternoon of Feb. 22. Sneath, who was allegedly determined to have ingested heroin just prior to the police arriving, was caught several blocks away in the 500 block of Central Avenue. A passenger in Sneath’s car, Tara Morgan, 18, of Oglesby, was reportedly found in possession of a number of hypodermic syringes, and allegedly admitted having injected the drug.
L. Stansbury, 63, of the 5500 block of Washington Boulevard was allegedly observed stopped in the 600 block of Garfield Street the afternoon of Feb. 19 blocking oncoming traffic by police who were responding to a call of reckless driving. Police then reportedly smelled a strong odor of alcohol on Stansbury. He was charged with having no valid insurance.
Tanitha D. Owens, 27, of Hillside, was stopped for an alleged traffic violation in the 600 block of South Oak Park Avenue just before noon Feb. 21 when the officer reportedly smelled a strong odor of marijuana. Owens allegedly admitted to have just smoked pot and to being in possession of a quantity of marijuana.
Drugs
Michael T. Casserly, 25, of Northbrook, was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance after police allegedly observed him throw a foil packet from his car in the first block of Randolph Street the afternoon of Feb. 24. After he consented to a vehicle search, police allegedly found a hypodermic syringe, a large spoon, and seven foil packets containing a white powder that tested positive for heroin. He was also charged with littering.
Burglary
Someone entered the mailbox area of the UPS Store, 7115 W. North Ave., overnight Feb. 17, possibly with a key. They removed a photocopier valued at $10,000.
Someone removed the hinges on a door of a construction site in the 900 block of South Boulevard overnight Feb. 22 and stole three 90-pound air hammers valued at $6,000.
Sometime during the day Feb. 20 someone removed four 4-by-12-inch window panes from a “Jalousie” style window on a house in the 900 block of South Lombard Avenue. A digital camera, laptop computer, miscellaneous jewelry and a passport were stolen. Total loss was $2,200.
A laptop computer valued at $2,500 was stolen from an unlocked 2004 Buick LeSabre parked in the West Suburban Hospital parking lot early on the morning of Feb. 20.
Daniel B. Stallings, a student at Concordia University, was arrested the afternoon of Feb. 23 after a consensual search of his dormitory room allegedly turned up a laptop computer and other items stolen in a Feb. 16 burglary of the school’s library.
Someone attempted to pry open the door of an alternative healthcare center in the 6500 block of North Avenue the evening of Feb. 21. When an employee heard the noise and investigated, he saw a thin man with a brown backpack walk out of the office complex and run westbound on North Avenue.
Someone pried the entry door of a suite of offices in the 1500 block of Harlem Avenue between Feb. 19 and Feb. 25. Four laptop computers and two hard drives, valued in total at $2,199, were stolen.
Someone pried office suite doors in five doctors’ offices in the Resurrection Health Care Medical Center, at Lake Street and William Avenue, the evening of Feb. 24. One office reported $130 stolen from a cash box.
Auto theft
A 1999 Honda Accord, valued at $10,000, was stolen from a parking space in the rear of the 1100 block of South Oak Park Avenue overnight on Feb. 22.
A 2002 Pontiac Grand Prix, valued at $9,000, was stolen from an unlocked garage in the 900 block of North Harvey Avenue overnight on Feb. 18.
Two men in a Ford Econoline van were observed pulling into the Jewel parking lot on Roosevelt Road the afternoon of Feb. 23. One of the men then entered a 1986 GMC Jimmy valued at $3,000 by unknown means and drove off in it.
Battery
Police are looking for an 18-year-old man after he talked an Oak Park girl into his car then grabbed her and attempted to kiss her despite her protestations and demands to be let go. After a struggle, the girl was released.
Forgery
Johnathon S. Martin, 25, of Bellwood, was arrested the afternoon of Feb. 21 after he allegedly attempted to pass a forged payroll check at the Fifth Third Bank, 840 S. Oak Park Ave.
Vandalism
An Oak Park juvenile was arrested the afternoon of Feb. 21 and charged in relation to 10 instances of criminal defacement at Oak Park and River Forest High School.
These items were obtained from police reports filed by the Oak Park and River Forest police departments from Feb. 19 to Feb. 26. Not all incidents that occurred are listed. Anyone named in reports has only been charged with a crime and cases have not yet been adjudicated.
-Compiled by Bill Dwyer
At least it wasn’t a robbery
River Forest police are investigating after one of two men used vulgar, offensive language to a cashier, then pulled back his jacket to reveal a hand gun in his waist band at Whole Foods Market, 7245 Lake St., the morning of Feb. 24.
