A 32-year-old man from South Bend, Indiana, has been arrested for recklessly discharging a firearm and endangering the life of a child this past weekend. No one was injured.
Oak Park police responded to shots fired in the 200 block of Chicago Avenue shortly before 5 p.m., Saturday. A home surveillance camera captured someone firing a single shot into the air. This person was later identified as the man from Indiana, who was reportedly teaching a juvenile how to shoot a gun, according to Oak Park spokesperson Dan Yopchick.
The man was stopped by police later that evening at 7:02 p.m. and was found to have a firearm in his waistband. He was transported to the police station, where he was processed, charged and held for bond hearings.
Aggravated unlawful use of weapon arrest
A 23-year-old man from Chicago was arrested for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and possession of a stolen vehicle at 8:33 p.m., March 8, in the 400 block of South Elmwood Avenue. Police found the weapon in the vehicle, which had been taken in an aggravated carjacking earlier that evening at 6:53 p.m. in the 400 block of South Scoville Avenue when two offenders approached the owner of the vehicle while brandishing a handgun and demanded the car.
Aggravated robbery
Two men threatened to shoot an Oak Park resident while robbing him of his cellphone and wallet at 12 p.m., March 7, in the 100 block of South Wesley Avenue. The two offenders then fled in a dark blue sedan. The estimated loss is unknown.
Carjacking
An Oak Park woman was carjacked while sitting in her 2021 Subaru Forrester outside The School of Rock, 219 Lake St., at 8:43 p.m., March 6, when a man approached her passenger’s side window and asked to use her cellphone. When she complied, the man reached inside the vehicle, unlocked the passenger’s side door and got inside. He then pushed her out of the car and drove off. The vehicle was later located in the 5500 block of West Cortez Avenue in Chicago.
Burglary
A man took an Apple MacBook laptop, $400 in cash, a wallet and miscellaneous bottles of alcohol from a residence in the 300 block of North Maple Avenue at 1:34 a.m., March 10, and fled when the victim saw him. The estimated loss is $2,870.
Motor vehicle theft
- A 2019 Hyundai Elantra, parked in the 400 block of North Lombard Avenue, was taken between 5:30 and 10:23 p.m., March 12.
- A 2017 Hyundai Tucson, parked in the 600 block of Ontario Street, was taken between 6:30 p.m., March 10, and 8:19 a.m., March 11. Chicago police recovered the vehicle with damage to its front and rear bumper at 12:27 p.m., March 11, in the 100 block of North La Crosse Avenue.
- A 2011 Volkswagen Jetta was removed from the 100 block of South Kenilworth Avenue between 9:30 p.m., March 9, and 8 a.m., March 10.
- Someone took a 2016 Hyundai Tucson parked on the street in the 700 block of North Humphrey Avenue between 2 and 6:10 p.m., March 8.
- A 2017 Hyundai Elantra was taken from the 500 block of North Lombard Avenue between 6 a.m., March 5, and 10 a.m., March 7. Illinois State Police recovered the vehicle with a broken passenger’s side window and damaged steering column in the 5200 block of West Parker Street, Chicago, at 8:33 p.m., March 7.
- A 2016 Hyundai Tucson, parked in the 300 block of South Home Avenue, was taken between 3:04 and 4:04 p.m., March 6. Chicago police recovered the vehicle, which had a shattered rear window and a damaged steering column and ignition, at 7:20 p.m., March 7, in the 4800 block of West Adams Street, Chicago.
- Someone stole a 2018 Kia Optima about 3:37 p.m., March 6, in the 1100 block of North Euclid Avenue.
Attempted motor vehicle theft
Someone broke the rear passenger’s side window of a 2022 Kia Forte, then damaged the vehicle’s steering column between noon, March 8, and 3:57 p.m., March 10, in the 1100 block of North Humphrey Avenue.
Theft
- The catalytic converter was cut from a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee between noon, March 9, and 7:07 p.m., March 10, in the first block of Chicago Avenue.
- A package containing an Apple iPhone 14 was taken from the foyer of a building in the 300 block of South East Avenue around 10:45 a.m., March 6.
These items were obtained from Oak Park Police Department reports, dated March 7-13, 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 Stacey Sheridan
