Berwyn Police Blotter
Fight/brawl/riot
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Thin-skinned gangbangers, or an elaboration on reality?
October 20, 2007, 2:57 PM
Police arrived in the 1200 block of Highland after a call about a fight in the street. In the backyard of a house on the block, they found a 21-year-old man and a woman . The man had injuries to his face, head and neck. The man said he had been in the front of the house when he saw five male Hispanics standing in the street, talking about “a car that rammed them in the city.” The victim said he laughed at them and they attacked him until they fled in a red and gray conversion van at the sound of sirens approaching. From previous experiences with the men, the victim believed they were members of a certain street gang. The woman witness said she saw three additional male Hispanics sitting in a red Dodge Intrepid; they fled also. A neighbor woman told police the fight awakened her so she went out to break it up. But in her version, the victim fought only with her son, age 19. Police naturally wished to speak with the son, but the woman said he was not at home.
Fight/brawl/riot • Gang activity • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Glass didn’t break itself
October 18, 2007, 1:04 AM
Responding to a call of glass breaking in the 2700 block of Ridgeland, police spoke with witnesses who said it happened at Bootlegs bar, 2717 Ridgeland. They said a man walking past the bar punched a window with his hand, then fled on foot. Later, officers learned that two bar patrons had a dispute which spilled out front. The owner/manager of the bar was ticketed for failing to notify police of a disturbance on the premises.
Fight/brawl/riot • Miscellaneous • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Bloody, shirtless dude victim in “who you represent?” altercation
October 13, 2007, 2:40 AM
A fight in progress was reportedly going down in the 2500 block of Cuyler, where responding officers found three men in the street, one with a bloody face and no shirt. The bloody man, a Cicero resident, first said he got that way by “falling down”. But when pressed, he stated he was walking north on Cuyler and a black Pontiac Grand Am pulled up alongside him. The men inside the Pontiac asked him whether he belonged to a gang. History does not record his reply, but it appears to have been unsatisfactory; all four occupants got out of the car and punched him in the head and face. The attackers fled northbound. Two witnesses confirmed the victim’s story. Police noted that both victim and the witnesses seemed highly intoxicated.
Drugs, alcohol, DUI • Fight/brawl/riot • Suspicious people, objects or events • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
From fight to felony
October 10, 11:51 PM
Police dispatched after calls of a fight on the corner of 16th and Euclid found a Chicago man holding a second man on the ground. The Chicago man said he emerged from Striker Lane’s bowling alley, approached his parked Ford Explorer, and found the second man inside the car, getting into the glove compartment and removing a CD. When the victim tried to detain the offender, a fight ensued. The second man—21-year-old Richard Dunlop of the 1500 block of Oak Park Avenue—told police he did nothing wrong and did not know why he was being arrested. The assistant state’s attorney approved a felony burglary charge for Dunlop.
Burglary • Fight/brawl/riot • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Bouncer battered
October 7, 2007, 11:12 PM
A bouncer at La Aduana bar, 6736 Cermak, attempted to avert trouble brewing near a pool table by advising a LaGrange man to leave. In response, 38-year-old Armando Ramirez reportedly struck the bouncer in the head and chest. Ramirez was charged with one count of battery.
Assault, battery • Drugs, alcohol, DUI • Fight/brawl/riot • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Monday, October 08, 2007
Belt-swinging, bike-throwing fight
October 3, 2007, 6:30 PM
Police dispatched to a fight on the sidewalk by McDonald’s in the 6400 block of Ridgeland found that two Cook County probation officers had already separated the three combatants. A 62-year-old Cicero woman, who uses a walker, told police she was struck in the head with a beer can tossed during the fight. Witnesses reported a “big guy” walked up to a Berwyn man, yelled in his face and headbutted him. The Berwyn man then pulled off his belt and began to swing it. When a second Berwyn man emerged from McDonald’s, the “big guy” started up with him, too. The second Berwyn man threw a child’s silver bicycle at the big guy. A name check of Donald R. Conoboy, 42, of Oak Park, revealed a pending arrest warrant. He and the two Berwyn men were all arrested and charged with reckless conduct.
Disorderly conduct • Fight/brawl/riot • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Friday, October 05, 2007
Alacran
October 1, 2007, 12:03 AM
A security guard at a bar in the 6500 block of 16th called police after finding a gun during a search of a would-be customer. The guard told officers three men came to the front door of the tavern, where he told them they had to be frisked to get inside. As he was searching the first man, the guard felt a large pistol in the man’s waistband. The guard tugged on the waistband, causing the pistol to fall through the pants leg to the ground. The man kicked at the fallen gun and struggled with the guard. The guard punched the man during the struggle, then stepped back when his two companions joined in. All three men fled on foot east on 16th, then south on Gunderson. Police recovered the gun, which was empty of ammunition. It was a Colt “.38 Special” 6-shot revolver with a four-inch barrel and a wooden handle. The security guard described the offender for police: a male Hispanic, about 5’10” and 170 lbs, who wore a white long-sleeved button shirt, tan pants, tan cowboy boots, a tan belt with a buckle, and a tan cowboy hat. The offender’s left hand has a scorpion tattoo in the webbing between thumb and index finger.
Fight/brawl/riot • Weapons-related • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
My big fat secret-taping dispute
September 23, 2007, 1:40 AM
Police responded to a disturbance in a three-flat in the 1600 block of Ridgeland. There, a woman told police she slugged her 25-year-old sister-in-law after the younger woman shoved her mom (the 25-year-old’s mom-in-law).
Police spoke with the younger woman, who said she was yelling at her mother-in-law because she uncovered evidence her husband had secretly recorded her phone conversations. When she complained to the man’s mother, Mom responded, “It’s his house, he can do what he wants.” The younger woman then yelled, “it’s not OK!”, prompting the sister-in-law to throw a dog dish at her head.
The younger woman told officers she had found a hidden camera, wiring, 12-13 cassettes and 6 or 7 VHS tapes of her conversations. She said she put them all in a red backpack and took them to show the mom-in-law. When she called police, she said, either mother- or sis-in-law must have hidden the backpack. Both women denied knowledge of any backpack. However, during the dog-bowl-tosser’s subsequent arrest for domestic battery, the 73-year-old paterfamilias spoke in Greek to his daughter, telling her to come up with the backpack. His instruction was heard by a Greek-speaking police officer.
Assault, battery • Disorderly conduct • Domestic • Fight/brawl/riot • Memorable incidents • Miscellaneous • Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (0) Comments • (1) Trackbacks • Permalink
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Fight injures man, car, but nobody will sign complaint
September 16, 2007, 3:16 AM
Answering a “fight in progress” call, police came to the 2100 block of Cuyler and found several people in the street. In the middle of the street was a red Volkswagen Jetta, with its rear windshield shattered and its side mirror broken off. An officer spoke with a 24-year-old man from the 3600 block of Scoville. The Berwyn man said he was in an argument with the Jetta’s owner, a 23-year-old Cicero resident, that evolved into a fight. Several other men tried to break up the fight, he said; then he fell to the ground. He told police when he fell, the Cicero man kicked him in the face, then tried to flee. The Berwyn man stated he grabbed a tall lamp out of a nearby trash can and threw it through his adversary’s rear window, but denied knowledge of the damage to the side mirror. There were visible injuries to the Berwyn man’s face, but he refused treatment.
The Jetta owner’s account was the same except he a)denied kicking the man’s face and b)asserted the Berwynite damaged the mirror as well as the windshield. Nobody was willing to sign a complaint in the matter.
Fight/brawl/riot • Graffiti / vandalism / criminal damage • (2) Comments • (1) Trackbacks • Permalink
Sports bar guard reports fight, detains man accused of instigating it
September 16, 2007, 2:22 AM
Police came to the 6800 block of Windsor after a security guard at Windsor sports bar reported a fight. It was broken up before police arrived, but the guard detained the man he said started the fight. The guard said 24-year-old Jessie Cordero, of the 3200 block of east 64th, Chicago, seemed to him to have been looking for trouble throughout the evening. Cordero was charged with disorderly conduct.
Disorderly conduct • Drugs, alcohol, DUI • Fight/brawl/riot • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Berwyn block sick of Stickney, Cicero men’s fighting
September 5, 10:03 PM
Three officers responded to a disturbance at 23rd and Cuyler and found four men, one of whom was bleeding profusely from the head. The 18-year-old Stickney man had blood coming from a large bruise on his face. He told police an 18-year-old Cicero man had broken a window on the victim’s black Chevy HHR, then punched him in the face. Police spoke with the Cicero man, who agreed with the account and said the fight was over a girl; also, two of his friends --both 18 and also of Cicero—jumped into the fray when the punching began. Many citizens approached police and told them the four men had disrupted the neighborhood for the past two hours, driving erratically around the block, then fighting in the street. One citizen agreed to sign a complaint of disorderly conduct against the offenders. The bleeding man refused to sign complaints of criminal damage or battery. All four men were cited for disorderly conduct, and have a Berwyn court date of September 20th at 3 PM at the police station.
Disorderly conduct • Fight/brawl/riot • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Inclusive bar cleared by cops after brawl
September 1, 2007, 1:46 AM
Police answering a “fight in progress” call at Inclusive nightclub, 6319 Roosevelt, found a 34-year-old Chicago man outside, bleeding from the head. The man said he was talking to a woman inside the bar when a fight broke out next to him, causing him to be hit with a champagne bottle on the left side of his face. Next, he found he was being pushed out the front door by security personnel.
Police spoke with a security guard—a 28-year-old woman from the 1200 block of Highland—who told them she was standing outside in front of the bar when someone inside started pounding on the front window to get her attention. As she entered the bar, she saw chairs flying through the air and several men fighting. The guard said she got between them and started pushing them out the door. As she did so, the back of her shirt got covered with the fighters’ blood.
Police talked to manager Vernon D. Weaver, 36, of Calumet Park. Weaver said he did not see the fight, but did try to keep uninvolved patrons inside, in order to avoid more fights outside.
Berwyn police cleared the bar and ordered it closed. Weaver received a ticket for violating the terms of Inclusive’s business license by not calling police when the fight began. Court date for the offense is Thursday, Sept. 20 at 3 PM in the Community Room of the Berwyn police station.
Disorderly conduct • Drugs, alcohol, DUI • Fight/brawl/riot • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Another wooden stick used as weapon in fight outside bar
September 1, 2007, 1 AM
Officers responding to a street fight at 16th and Ridgeland; two men were being held when backup squads arrived. The victim, a 35-year-old man from the 5000 block of west Cornelia, Chicago, said he was beaten after he intervened in a fender-bender outside JJ’s Take Five bar, 6330 16th.
The man said his 33-year-old brother, a resident of the 1500 block of East, accidentally backed into a gold Cadillac parked on that block. When the victim saw his brother talking with five unknown men, he asked what the problem was. The older brother then told the five strangers that there was no damage to either car, and furthermore, the Caddy wasn’t worth anything, but was a piece of junk. This was when Robert Bembenek, 37, of Westmont, reportedly emerged from the bar carrying a pool cue. The victim said Bembenek began to strike him repeatedly in the face with the stick, and the five strange men attacked him too. When the combatants heard police sirens, the five men fled in the Cadillac; witnesses said Bembenek went back into the bar. Police found him there and arrested him for battery. The bar was not issued a ticket, because employees had no knowledge of the mêlée taking place outside.
Disorderly conduct • Drugs, alcohol, DUI • Fight/brawl/riot • Weapons-related • (0) Comments • (1) Trackbacks • Permalink
Friday, August 31, 2007
Taser tames two-brother beatdown
August 28, 2007, 8:52 PM
A detective and a sergeant, while in their car in the 2500 block of Ridgeland, saw three men in the parking lot of Marathon Gas, 6343 26th. Two of them were punching a man in a red shirt, who had been knocked to the ground. The officers got out of the car, identified themselves as police and ordered the men to stop it. This was not effective. Next, they tried to pull the men off the victim without success. Finally a Taser jolt to one of the aggressors got the men to cease pounding the guy on the ground. Witnesses stated Erick Herrera, 27, and his brother Carlos Herrera, 29, of the 2700 block of Clarence, attacked 24-year-old Vito Davi of Cicero. According to the witnesses, both Herreras appeared intoxicated. They said Erick, clad in a sleeveless T-shirt, approached Davi , asked him if he had a problem, and asked why he was in this neighborhood, as well as “what you be about?” Davi reportedly said he was only there to purchase cigarettes, and was not “about” anything. Witnesses stated Erick then motioned for his brother to come out of the store, upon which Carlos allegedly asked similar questions just before the two began to punch Davi. Bystanders reported Davi was only defending himself from attack. The victim’s injuries were photographed and both brothers Herrera were handcuffed and taken to the police station. Erick Herrera and Carlos Herrera were both cited for disorderly conduct after the victim refused to sign a battery complaint. The investigation into the police-witnessed battery will continue.
Earlier Herrera activity can be found here:
http://www.berwynpoliceblotter.com/index.php/P120/
Assault, battery • Disorderly conduct • Fight/brawl/riot • (1) Comments • (33631) Trackbacks • Permalink
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Street mob, gun threat, stick attack—party!
August 25, 2007, 9:27 PM
Police were dispatched to the 1300 block of East, where they found 25 to 30 people in the street. Parties were being held at addresses on opposite sides of East. The hosts of one party told police two men from the rival shindig yelled profanities at their guests from across the street. This escalated into beer-can throwing, then the flinging of broken bottles. Witnesses stated that a 21-year-old resident of the house hosting the east-side party confronted a man(one of the witnesses) in the street, displayed what looked like a handgun, waved the weapon and fired it, upon which everyone present scattered or hit the dirt. The man reentered the house. A second man then confronted the witness while holding a large wooden stick, which he used to strike the man’s arms and wrists. Both the gun- and stick-wielding men were arrested. The mom of the gun-waver screamed and swore at police. The 47-year-old mom, very drunk, refused to stand clear during the arrest. She became violent and was arrested. Even after she was handcuffed, the mom pulled away from officers, kicked, spit, and tried to kick out a squad car window.
At the police station, the man with the angry mom said the gun was really a plastic fake, but admitted he implied to the crowd that it was real. He was cited for disorderly conduct and breaching the peace. The second man—an 18-year-old from the 1600 block of Ridgeland—was charged with battery. The mom was charged with obstruction and resisting arrest.
Assault, battery • Disorderly conduct • Fight/brawl/riot • Robbery • Weapons-related • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink