The Oak Park Police Department is investigating two instances of gunfire that occurred just over four hours apart in the 1100 block of South Taylor Avenue. Police would not share if the incidents are believed to be coincidental or targeted.
Officers recovered shell casings in front of a residence on South Taylor Avenue after an unknown offender discharged a firearm at 3:46 a.m., Nov. 27. After firing, the offender fled the scene traveling northbound on Taylor Avenue possibly in an Infiniti sedan.
Police were informed that a resident of the block was shot earlier that evening at about 11:20, Nov. 26, while trying to enter the residence but did not report the incident.
Aggravated discharge of a firearm
- Someone discharged a firearm at 1:10 p.m., Nov. 26 from a black Jeep traveling southbound on Austin Boulevard from Harvard Street then eastbound on Fillmore Street. A single shell casing was recovered in the southbound lane of Austin Boulevard in the 900 block. Based on accounts from witnesses, Oak Park detectives determined that the incident took place in Chicago.
Aggravated vehicular hijacking
- After dropping off a passenger, a Lyft driver was stopped at a stop sign when a man in dark clothing tapped on the driver’s window with a black handgun and demanded the victim exit the silver 2017 Ford Fusion vehicle at 1:30 a.m., Nov. 28 in the 400 block of North Humphrey Avenue. The victim complied, and the man drove off in the victim’s vehicle with an unknown accomplice in the passenger seat.
The victim tracked the vehicle remotely and Chicago police were able to recover it in the 9300 block of Bishop Street in Chicago at 10 a.m. that same day.
- A Naperville man was seated inside his 2015 Hyundai Sonata when he was forced out of the vehicle and onto the ground at gunpoint by a man carrying a black handgun at 1:05 p.m., Nov. 23 in the 1100 block of North Kenilworth Avenue. The offender, along with two other men, got into the victim’s vehicle and fled southbound on Kenilworth Avenue. The estimated loss is $13,800.
Police reports describe the offender as being a Black male, about 20 years old and 5-feet-10-inches tall with a thin build and possibly bearded. He was last seen wearing a dark green hoodie, coat and blue jeans. His two associates were also described as approximately 20 years old and Black.
Aggravated robbery
- A man pepper sprayed an employee of City Home Vacuum, 148 N. Oak Park Ave., in the face and stole a boxed vacuum cleaner at 2:18 p.m., Nov. 27. The victim saw the man put the vacuum into the trunk of a black Mercedes sedan. The estimated loss is $1,200.
Burglary
- Someone broke into a vacant home for sale by shattering a basement window in the 900 block of South Humphrey Avenue around 7:11 a.m., Nov. 24. No loss was reported, but the estimated damage to the window is $500.
- Someone broke the driver’s side window of a black 2008 Mazda, taking cash and the garage door opener from inside the vehicle. The offender then used the garage door opener to open the overhead door to a residential garage and took more cash from the unlocked 2021 Kia Telluride parked inside the garage between 11:30 p.m., Nov. 24 and 11:30 a.m., Nov. 25 in the 600 block of South Euclid Avenue. The estimated loss is $630.
- A man was captured on video surveillance breaking into the BP gas station, 6119 W. North Ave., at midnight, Nov. 24 by shattering the glass front door with a pry bar and hammer. Once inside building, the man damaged the ATM in an unsuccessful attempt to remove cash. The man fled southbound on foot carrying two bottles of stolen antifreeze. A total estimated loss and damage was $2,027.
- Someone was captured via a Ring Doorbell camera removing a Dell Chromebook laptop, a backpack, a credit card, two textbooks and a flashlight from an unlocked Toyota Highlander between 6:02 p.m. and 6:32 p.m., Nov. 22 in the 1000 block of Wisconsin Avenue. The total loss is estimated at $380.
Motor vehicle theft
- Someone removed an unattended and running Jeep Compass, inside of which was a purse and iPhone 12 Pro Max, at 9:15 p.m., Nov. 26 in the first block of Garfield Street. The combined total of the loss is estimated at $39,100.
The vehicle was recovered parked and running in the 1200 block of Ridgeland Avenue in Berwyn at 2:37 a.m., Nov. 27.
These items, obtained from the Oak Park Police Department, came from reports Nov. 23 through Nov. 29 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.
