The River Forest Police Department has arrested three people — a Chicago man and two teenage boys — in connection with an alleged vehicular hijacking that took place in a bank parking lot on the afternoon of Nov. 15.
Shannon D. Mitchell, 20, was charged with vehicular hijacking and possession of a stolen motor vehicle. The two juveniles were petitioned to Cook County juvenile authorities. The charges against the two juveniles were not specified.
The victim was at TCF Bank, 800 N. Harlem Ave., at 4:12 p.m. on Nov. 15, when Mitchell, accompanied by the two juveniles, allegedly pulled up in a stolen 2013 Kia Soul.
The victim had exited his running car in the parking lot of the bank and was wiping dirt from his vehicle when Mitchell entered from the passenger’s side front door, according to police.
Mitchell then allegedly crawled over to the driver’s seat and began driving off with the car. The victim attempted to re-enter the car and was briefly dragged as the car began to drive away. The victim fell to the ground in the parking lot, and Mitchell fled south on Harlem Avenue, police said.
The victim contacted police and the stolen vehicle was spotted by a Forest Park police officer near the intersection of Harlem Avenue and Jackson Boulevard.
Mitchell attempted to flee the officer, but got caught in rush-hour traffic. He then allegedly rear-ended a car on Harlem near Jackson, exited the vehicle and fled on foot.
Police took Mitchell into custody following the foot chase and transported him to a nearby hospital for treatment of what were described by police as non-life threatening injuries.
At the time of the incident, Mitchell was on parole for a narcotics-related conviction. He had been sentenced to 18 months in state prison, was convicted in February and paroled in July. He was held for bond hearing, with a preliminary court date set for late November.
The two juveniles were spotted by Oak Park police in Chicago after abandoning the Kia Soul, which was recovered in the 900 block of South Menard in Chicago.
Armed robbery
A LaGrange man was robbed at gunpoint by three men in the 1000 block of Erie Street at 4:32 a.m. on Nov. 14.
The Oak Park Police Department reports that the victim was in his vehicle, when three men pulled up in a White Dodge Charger. One man wearing a surgical mask and armed with a dark revolver exited the Charger, pointed the revolver at the victim’s vehicle and ordered him to exit the vehicle.
The robber then said, “Where’s the money?”
The LaGrange man handed over cash and his cellphone. The gun-wielding robber ransacked the interior of the victim’s vehicle, while a second man, also armed with a dark revolver, ordered the victim to get on the ground. A third man from the Charger stood by and watched.
The three robbers then returned to their vehicle and fled westbound on Erie Street. The estimated loss is $200. The police report gave little description of the three. Their heights ranged from 5-foot-7 to 6-foot-1.
Theft
Cory C. Foio, 22, of the 1200 block of South Elmwood, was arrested for theft in the 200 block of Lake Street at 3:09 p.m. on Nov. 15, after he was positively identified by store security as having placed bottles of liquor in his pants and left without paying.
Burglary
A burglary occurred in the 700 block of Lake Street sometime between 10 p.m. on Nov. 16 and 3 p.m. on Nov. 17. The burglar stole two RCA computer tablets, an iPhone, a Dell laptop and a MacBook. The estimated loss is $1,610.
A business in the 6000 block of West North Avenue was the target of an attempted burglary sometime between 7 p.m. on Nov. 17 and 9:25 a.m. the next day. The burglar defeated a lock on the outer rear doorway security gate and then damaged the main steel doorframe. The victim does not believe the burglar successfully entered the building. The estimated loss due to damage is $1,000.
Motor vehicle theft
A vehicle with keys left in the ignition was stolen from a gas station in the 7100 block of Roosevelt Road at 2:45 a.m. on Nov. 18. The theft occurred while the victim was inside the gas station. The vehicle, which was valued at $1,500, was last seen headed eastbound on Roosevelt. It was recovered later that day in the 700 block of North Central Park by Chicago police.
These items, obtained from the Oak Park and River Forest police departments, came from reports, Nov. 14-21, 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 Timothy Inklebarger
