Berwyn Police Blotter
Fight/brawl/riot
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Cops called to knife fight; bleeding man says he “fell on a bottle”
August 9th, 2008, 1:42 AM
Dispatchers sent police to the area of Cermak and East on reports of a street disturbance involving four men—one with a knife. Officers at East and Vacin saw three men yelling. One—a 22-year-old resident of the 3600 block of Scoville—was bleeding from his right arm, so an ambulance was summoned. When asked about the injury, the man stated he was not in a fight, he just tripped and “fell on a bottle”. Police asked him where the alleged tripping/falling occurred. The man said he was hurt outside Berwyn while drinking. He was treated and released; also released was a 22-year-old man from the 3500 block of Ridgeland. The third man, Carlos Arce, was taken into custody because he had an active Berwyn arrest warrant for driving on a suspended license.
Fight/brawl/riot • Gang activity • Suspicious people, objects or events • Weapons-related • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Huge alley fight involved bat-swinger, Taser
July 27, 2008, 2:54 AM
Multiple police units were dispatched on reports of 15-20 people fighting in the 6800 block of Vacin Fairway. A man at the scene pointed out, “That guy has a bat!”, indicating a man in a grey T-shirt standing near a couple dressed in Cubs T-shirts. The man turned out to be 25-year-old Carlos Camacho of the 4400 block of Vernon, Brookfield; he was seen swinging a blue aluminum baseball bat. An officer yelled, “POLICE! DROP THE BAT!” Camacho dropped the bat and fled on foot northward through the 2100 block of Oak Park/Grove alley. Police caught up to Camacho and ordered him several times to stop. He was ordered to the ground, but failed to comply until an officer used a Taser on him. He was charged with obstructing a peace officer and disorderly conduct. So many people were involved, police had difficulty determining how many—if any—people were battered.
Disorderly conduct • Fight/brawl/riot • Suspicious people, objects or events • Weapons-related • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Berwynite shot; came to gunfight armed with bat
From the Wednesday Journal of Oak Park:
7/29/2008 5:07:00 PM
Bat-wielding assailant shot on Austin Blvd.
Attacker hospitalized; OP police seeking gunman
By BILL DWYER
Staff Reporter
A highly intoxicated man who jumped out of a car on Austin Boulevard late Sunday night hurling racial slurs and swinging a bat was shot by one of his would-be victims.
The shooting victim, described only as an Hispanic male and a Berwyn resident, had reportedly been partying and got into an argument with his girlfriend. He then went for a ride with a friend to cool off. Right about midnight, the pair spotted several black individuals coming off the Austin Boulevard Blue Line el stop and the drunken man told his friend to pull over so he could “mess” with them.
The man exited the black Chevy Envoy with a baseball bat and confronted one of the men, spewing racial slurs. After the drunken man took two or three swings at the pedestrian, the man drew a pistol from his waistband and shot his attacker in the leg and hip.
Oak Park police were called to MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn where they interviewed the man who had been shot. At first he told police he was accosted while walking on Austin. However, the SUV’s driver told police the victim had in fact attacked the group of men because they were black.
“He’s got a long (criminal) history,” Commander Clemet Harbour said this afternoon. As for the man with the gun, Harbour said, “We’re still trying to find him.”
Assault, battery • Fight/brawl/riot • Suspicious people, objects or events • Weapons-related • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Bar fondling angers victim
July 18, 2008, 5:35 PM
A 62-year-old Lyons man and a 54-year-old Lemont man were kicked out of a bar at Ridgeland and 26th after the younger man was accused of fondling the buttocks of a 39-year-old woman. The victim then followed the banished men outside, demanding an apology, and an altercation ensued. Nobody wanted to sign a complaint.
Assault, battery • Disorderly conduct • Fight/brawl/riot • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Panicked driver flees after squad-car collision
July 18, 2008, 1:41 AM
A Berwyn officer saw a Stickney police car had been involved in an accident at Wenonah and Pershing. The Stickney officer reported his car was struck by a vehicle last seen headed north on Home from the scene of the crash. The Stickney officer had been on his way to check on a reported fight at Las Fuentes restaurant on Harlem, and had his emergency lights activated as he headed west, when an eastbound car struck his, causing him to lose control and strike a parked GMC Jimmy. Another Berwyn officer spotted a Toyota Camry with front-end damage parked at 38th and Home with the driver still inside. Driver Jacqueline Elizarraraz, 19, of Plainfield, reportedly admitted striking the police car, explaining she “panicked”. Elizarraraz was cited for failure to yield to am emergency vehicle, leaving the scene of an accident, and not having her driver’s license on her person.
Fight/brawl/riot • Traffic stops / accidents • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
“Jumping” forgiven, but assault earns court date
July 16, 2008, 4:37 AM
Police were alerted to a large fight in the lobby of the Berwyn Hotel, 3137 Oak Park Ave, where they found several men yelling and screaming. One man—a 26-year-old Lyons resident—was bleeding from the face. He said he had dropped in on a man who lives on the third floor because the fellow had invited him to stop up for a beer. But when he knocked at the door, another man opened it, grabbed and choked the victim, and yelled a gang slogan. The man released the victim and an argument ensued, during which the victim was pushed down a flight of stairs. He was reportedly followed by his erstwhile host, the grabby guy and a third unknown man, and the fight started.
Numerous witnesses told police they saw three men and two women attacking the victim. A witness identified a man walking southbound outside as involved in the fight; the man was unable to explain to police why there was blood on his T-shirt, and he was taken into custody, as was the man from the third floor. Police took into custody 39-year-old Jesse V. Chagoya—aka “Chino”—of 3137 Oak Park. As the officer approached cell #2, however, Chagoya threw his right elbow at the officer in an aggressive and threatening manner, stating “I’ll kick your a$$, you f^@&ing p^$$&!” He was unable to carry out the threat, but was successfully placed in the cell and charged with aggravated assault. Police contacted the Illinois Dept. of Corrections and learned Chagoya’s parole came to an end last month.
The next day, police informed the victim that two of his accused attackers were in custody. The victim refused to sign a complaint, stating he thought they just jumped him because they were drinking and doing cocaine.
Assault, battery • Disorderly conduct • Drugs, alcohol, DUI • Fight/brawl/riot • Suspicious people, objects or events • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Friday, July 11, 2008
Text-message invites one woman to brawl with another
July 6, 2008, 11:16 PM
Police dispatched to a fight in the 6500 block of Cermak found two women duking it out on the northwest corner of the street. A Pingree Grove woman was apparently winning, since she was on top of a 22-year-old woman from the 2100 block of Gunderson. The women told police they are friends, but got into a fight over something the Pingree Grove woman’s husband said to the Berwyn woman. One woman text-messaged the other one from a nearby bar, instigating the fight. Neither would sign a complaint.
Disorderly conduct • Fight/brawl/riot • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Housecall tattooing, fighting, help heavily-occupied residence cope in slow market
July 6, 2008, 5:29 PM
Dispatchers sent police to a reported fight in progress in the 2600 block of East. Responding officers did not see a fight, but spoke to a 29-year-old Chicago man, who said he had been hired by some guy to come to the address to do tattoo work. As he was tattooing someone, the man said, a fight broke out. A group of men fled on foot—including the guy getting the tattoo. Police, checking the building, located six men, all of whom denied involvement. Because of the large number of people stating they lived there, and because of the arrangement of the bedrooms, police told the building department it would need to check on the occupancy of 2616 East.
Burger King lot scene of gang-related fight
July 6, 2008, 2:12 AM
A call about men fighting in the parking lot at Burger King, 2147 Oak Park Ave., brought police, who saw two men start to walk away from the group as the squad car pulled up. Other units were summoned to stop the two from straying. A witness told police the two men trying to leave the scene had picked a fight with the victim, a 30-year-old Joliet man.
The victim told police the two asked him for a cigarette. When he refused, one man, dressed in a Sox cap, began “talking gang stuff” and made threats. The offender then grabbed the victim and hit him in the chest. The victim’s shirt was ripped, and he had cuts to his arm and chest. Police charged George Nunez, 19, of the 2200 block of East, with battery. The second man, a 25-year-old from Cicero, was not charged.
Assault, battery • Disorderly conduct • Fight/brawl/riot • Gang activity • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Already overserved
July 5, 2008, 2:19 AM
When a 37-year-old North Riverside man showed up already drunk at a tavern in the 6800 block of 16th, he was asked to leave, but refused. A male patron tried to assist the woman bartender in ejecting the man, but the offender got mad and struck a patron in the head. Responding officers persuaded the man to leave.
Drugs, alcohol, DUI • Fight/brawl/riot • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Gang attack continues in full view of police
July 5, 2008, 1:25 AM
Police came to the 1400 block of Elmwood, west side, on reports of a fight in progress. An officer saw 10-12 people fighting, as one man lay on the ground. The others were kicking the victim in the face, head and chest. To approach the group, the officer had to drive through another group of men fighting in the alley. Despite the lights and sirens of the squad car, the attackers continued to kick and strike the prone victim, but some finally fled eastbound on foot through residents’ yards.
The victim, a 21-year-old block resident, said friends dropped him off on 14th. He said he entered the alley on his way home when he was confronted by several men who identified themselves as members of a street gang. They attacked him and were still doing so when the officer appeared. The victim positively identified four men as his attackers. Charged with mob action were Marcos Zacarias, 18, of Darien; Rogelio Gonzalez, 21, of the 2400 block of East; Miguel Guzman, 21, of the 1400 block of Gunderson; and Javier E. De los Santos, 19, of the 1600 block of Cuyler.
Fight/brawl/riot • Gang activity • Suspicious people, objects or events • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Man charged with knife threat
July 4, 2008, 11:35 PM
Police in the 7100 block of Windsor were flagged down by a group yelling about a man with a knife. Police located the man, identified by the five victims as the offender. Michael R. Sanders, 22, of the 6500 block of 28th, was reportedly drinking with the group when he threw his beer bottle in the air, but refused to pick it up when asked. Sanders allegedly asked how they intended to make him pick it up, then pounded on his chest, taunted the victims and displayed a pocket knife. Sanders reportedly asked the entire group, “who wants to fight? ‘Cause I’ll kick your ass!” One man was able to persuade Sanders to leave the scene, after which police picked him up. Sanders was charged with five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Assault, battery • Drugs, alcohol, DUI • Fight/brawl/riot • Weapons-related • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Bar battery injures patron, proprietor
July 3, 2008, 12:08 AM
Police responded to a disturbance at Sevilla’s Tapas, 6543 Cermak, where a group of people stood outside the bar pointing west and saying “the guy in the black shirt started it all, he’s getting away.” Police stopped an intoxicated-looking man staggering westward on Cermak; he was positively identified by a bar patron as the one who punched him. Ramses Cordova, 23, of Cicero, was detained and brought back to Sevilla’s. The bar’s owner told police he asked Cordova to leave because he was loud and drunk, and many patrons had complained about him. But as he was leaving, the owner said, Cordova hit a man in the face, then tripped the owner and punched him in the abdomen. Cordova was charged with two counts of battery.
Assault, battery • Disorderly conduct • Drugs, alcohol, DUI • Fight/brawl/riot • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Pot, gang stuff, dominate cellphone picture gallery
July 2, 2008, 8:49 PM
Callers reported a group from an orange vehicle chasing another group and yelling “gang slurs”. Police located the orange vehicle—a 2004 Pontiac Aztek SUV—which was stopped in the 2800 block of Ridgeland. A woman sat alone in the vehicle. Cecelia Rios, 18, had no license, just a learner’s permit. She told police she had been with her brother, who exited the SUV for unknown reasons, and she was driving in circles looking for him. Rios was charged with prohibited alley traffic, no seat belt, and driving without a valid license.
The Aztek was towed. During an inventory of its contents, police saw three cell phones. Rios reportedly said the owners of the phones jumped out of the Aztec to chase some other people. As they checked the phone contact lists for some clue as to the identity of the owners, police noticed pot plants and signs of gang affiliation in the phone pictures.
Three male juveniles—apparently the objects of the foot chase—were found and returned to their guardian.
Disorderly conduct • Fight/brawl/riot • Gang activity • Suspicious people, objects or events • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Bar altercation crosses street
June 29, 2008, 11:59 PM
Police saw several men yelling at each other inside the Mobil Gas station store, 6701 Cermak. One man—a 38-year-old resident of the 1400 block of Clinton—told police he had gone to a bar across the street to collect his 23-year-old girlfriend. The woman, however, did not wish to leave, so the bar owner asked the man to leave. The man admitted he called the bar-owner an insulting name and told him not to get involved; he also insulted several other people in the process. When the offender left, the insulted persons followed him across the street. The offender was sent on his way after it was made clear to him that he was no longer welcome in the bar.
Disorderly conduct • Fight/brawl/riot • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink