Berwyn Police Blotter
Memorable incidents
Friday, December 12, 2008
Basement-dwelling son abandons elderly mom in all-night drugstore
December 5, 2008, 1:22 AM
Dispatchers sent police to Walgreen’s in Cermak Plaza to assist a citizen. An 84-year-old woman had been abandoned at the pharmacy. The victim said her son, who is 59 years old and lives in her basement, dropped her off at Walgreen’s around 11 PM, then left. Police found the elderly woman was very weak, had trouble standing and needed help to walk. They drove her home to the 1800 block of Clarence. While officers helped the woman inside the house, her son approached but said nothing*.
When police asked the man for ID, he said he did not have any. When asked what happened, the son, stated he got tired of waiting for his mother and decided to go home. Asked why he did not walk inside Walgreen’s to look for her instead of just taking off, the son reportedly said she could find her own way home. Police asked how the elderly woman could be expected to do that at 1:30 in the morning, in 10 degree weather. The son reportedly stated his mother could have called her daughter or a taxicab.
*[One suggestion: “I’m sorry, Mom"]
Main Street • Memorable incidents • Miscellaneous • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Cat who walks by himself gets owner cited
November 25, 2008, 7:22 PM
Police received a call from the 3800 block of Wisconsin, reporting an injured cat. But when they arrived, the caller, a 20-year-old woman, said she was carrying her child up her steps when a cat leaped from the steps onto the child’s back. She told police the offending animal was a black, white and tan cat who limped. Police located a cat of that description, walking around next door. The complainant identified the cat as the offender. Just then, a vehicle pulled up, driven by a woman the complainant identified as the cat’s owner. According to the report, “the cat made a beeline to her at curbside.” The officer advised the cat’s owner not to allow cats to run at large with nobody to keep an eye on them.* She was cited for having an at-large cat. The case will be heard in Berwyn’s local ordinance court on December 11, 2008 at 3 PM in the Community Room of the police station, 6401 west 31st.
*
A dissenting opinion.
Illinois governor Adlai Stevenson wrote:
“… I cannot agree that it should be the declared public policy of Illinois that a cat visiting a neighbor’s yard or crossing the highway is a public nuisance. It is in the nature of cats to do a certain amount of unescorted roaming.”
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Talk:Adlai_Stevenson
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Saturday, November 22, 2008
Man says he foiled knife, gun-wielding crowd bare-handed
November 17, 2008, 3:18 AM
Brookfield police reported a man in their lobby said he had been the victim of an armed robbery in Berwyn. The victim, a 24-year-old man from the 3600 block of south Morton, Brookfield, stated he got off the Metra train at Oak Park and Stanley the previous night at 11 PM. He said he stood on the platform, using his cell phone, when, suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his upper left chest. He realized he had been stabbed from behind by an unknown male Hispanic who yelled “Give me your wallet!”
The victim said he grabbed the hand holding the knife and elbowed the offender in the face, rendering him unconscious. Next, a second assailant came on, striking the Brookfield man in the head with a black handgun. The victim told police he “instinctively” grabbed the hand holding the gun and fought until his attacker gave up. He then fought off two more men and managed to render them unconscious as well. The victim told police that, altogether, he was attacked by six male Hispanics in their 20s, all in dark clothing. He added that, after he rendered the first three men unconscious, numbers 5,6 and 7 fled south on Oak Park Avenue, but not without firing “at least two rounds” in the victim’s general direction. No shell casings were found in the area when police came to investigate.
The victim said that after the incident, he walked southwest, stopping periodically because of his bleeding knife wound, until he wound up at the Brookfield police station.
The victim had cuts on his right hand and a four-inch cut on his chest, consistent with knife inuries; he also had a scrape and a bruise near his right eye. The victim told police he attributed his ability to fight off so many attackers to having been a martial arts instructor.
The victim also said the offenders made off with his wallet, his cell phone and his martial-arts black belt.
Assault, battery • Memorable incidents • Weapons-related • Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Common Sense, Rights of Man, conflict with state law
November 11, 2008, 6:36 PM
An anonymous letter informed police that people continue to smoke inside Junior’s bar, 7011 Ogden, despite the statewide ban. Police came to Junior’s and saw a 30-year-old Stickney man inside, smoking a cigarette. The man said he always smokes there, and so do others. Bar manager Thomas Paine was advised of the complaint. The report will be sent to the Illinois Dept. of Public Health for investigation.
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Wednesday, September 24, 2008
After-work plan: Buy drugs. Do drugs. Repeat.
September 19, 2008, 12:27 PM
Concerned citizens alerted police to three men asleep in a silver PT cruiser parked at Burger King, Cermak and Oak Park. An officer woke the driver and ask him, “are you OK?” The driver said he was, but added, “I’ll be honest with you, we came here for dope but didn’t get any”. When asked whether there was any contraband in the car, the driver reportedly said that, in the console, there were some needles and a cooker he uses to cook heroin. He also stated that he and his companions used heroin earlier in the day.
After backup officers arrived on the scene, police asked the driver and the front seat passenger to exit the car; the man in the rear seat slept on. On the front passenger side, police saw a syringe with an exposed needles on the floor. The driver was Brandon R. Buginas, 29, of Montgomery. The front passenger was Jason E. Doerries, 28, of La Grange. Police then woke the rear passenger—Joseph M. Ziemer, 19, of Aurora—and got him out of the car also.
The console contained a silver hard eyeglass case which held four hypodermic syringes, cotton swabs, and a metal lid or bottle cap with an improvised handle, which had a greyish-brown residue. In the back seat lay a black sweatshirt. In its front pocket was a Newport cigarette box containing a glass marijuana pipe. Ziemer reportedly said the back seat items belonged to him. All three were arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia.
Further search of the PT Cruiser located a prescription bottle of 13 blue pills in the rear compartment; the prescription was in the name of a man from the 4000 block of west Maypole, Chicago, and the label said “CLONAZEPAM 1 MG.” On the front passenger floor was a black duffle bag. It held a CD case which contained a plastic bag of two smaller plastic bags containing white powder which tested positive for heroin. There was also a $1 bill wrapped around a pill police suspected was “Ecstasy”. There was also a bag of marijuana.
After hearing his rights, Buginas told police he left work—FJR News in North Aurora—with co-worker Ziemer. They picked up Doerries, then drove to an undisclosed location in Chicago and purchased Heroin. With the heroin, they drove to the forest preserve at Roosevelt and 1st Avenue, where Buginas said he cooked two $10 bags of the drug and injected them into himself, then injected 3 or 4 $10 bags into Doerries because, he said, Doerries was afraid to do it himself.
Next, the three men drove to another undisclosed location to buy marijuana, returned to the same forest preserve, and were scared when they saw a forest preserve police car in the lot. They managed to get pulled over, but the forest preserve cop let them go with a warning to wear seat belts. They drove away, all three smoking marijuana as they went. Nobody was quite certain about how they ended up in Berwyn at a Burger King.
When asked how he acquired the Clonazepam, Buginas reportedly stated he goes to a bus stop in the area of Madison and Pulaski in Chicago, where one may purchase Xanax, Clonazepan, downers or methadone. He told detectives he buys pills when he cannot afford heroin, to “take the edge off.” The officer showed him a pill; Buginas stated, “it’s probably Clonazepam,” adding that the “white bars in the bottle are Xanax”. When police showed him there were no “white bars”, Buginas reportedly said “there should be three or four. Wow—I must not remember using them.”
Buginas, Ziemer and Doerries were charged with possession of drug paraphernalia.
Buginas was charged with one felony count of possession of a controlled substance. Doerries was charged with two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance. Police had the PT Cruiser towed; it will be held for possible seizure for use in the commission of a crime.
Drugs, alcohol, DUI • Main Street • Memorable incidents • Suspicious people, objects or events • (1) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Friday, September 12, 2008
Over the sidewalk and through the fence, it’s onto the tracks we go
September 6, 2008, 9:18 AM
Police responded to a call about an unoccupied car sitting on the Burlington Northern train tracks at Stanley and Euclid. Police saw the misplaced Honda Accord, and were able to contact BNSF railroad in time to halt train traffic. The driver, a Des Plaines woman, was reportedly existing the MacNeal hospital parking structure when she hit the gas instead of the brakes. The Accord jumped the curb, hit two parking meters, cleared the sidewalk, continued across the grassy parkway, went through a metal fence and came to rest on the tracks; this was observed by numerous witnesses. Bilquees T. Hussain, 56, was charged with failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident; driving with an expired license and no insurance, and damage to city property. Damaged parking meters #128 and 129 were taken to the police station.
Memorable incidents • Traffic stops / accidents • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Busted on seat belt charge
September 5, 2008, 7:22 PM
A police sergeant stopped a blue Ford Mustang at 16th and Wesley because its front passenger was not wearing a seat belt. The passenger explained that she needed to remove the seat belt in order to “adjust her bra strap.” The ill-timed underwear adjustment ended up costing driver Veronica Velez, 19, of the 4700 block of north Kennicott, Chicago, who received tickets for her passenger’s mammary lapse, as well as for having no license on her person, driving without insurance, and with registration that was both suspended and expired.
Memorable incidents • Traffic stops / accidents • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Kids confide porn-pix presentation to parents; sex offender charged with felonies
September 3, 2008, 6:51 PM
Parents and children approached a police sergeant to complain that a man from a basement apartment in the 6300 block of 32nd showed numerous pornographic pictures to the kids. The complainants said he also made lewd comments and gestures. One of the children said the group was playing when the man called out to them from his apartment. The children said the man held several pictures of nude women in lewd positions, stating, “Don’t you want to be like her?” The offender also reportedly held a stick in his hand and stroked it up and down. The child victims said they could identify the man, and that he had done the same things several times in the past.
An area witness told police the suspect has been verbally reprimanded by a neighbor in the past for exposing numerous pornographic pictures in his windows. Police looked in the window of the suspect’s apartment, and saw the man seated inside; they recognized him as a registered sex offender, arrested in Berwyn in the past for child pornography. The man, Ron Dubbins, 76, gave police permission to enter; when they asked him what was going on, he reportedly answered, “I am just sitting here waiting to die.” Dubbins gave permission for a search of the flat. Police found ten porn magazines, containing images of adults, as well as a wooden rod lying on the window sill facing the alley.
After hearing his rights, Dubbins made statement to detectives. According to police, Dubbins admitted to attempting to lure 6 separate children into his apartment for the purposes of performing sex acts on them. All the children were under the age of 10. Dubbins had previously been convicted of this, leading the state’s attorney to charge him with six felony counts of child abduction.
A highly-placed source in the Berwyn Police Department said, “the fact that we had him in custody within a half an hour of being called by a concerned parent—after he had been doing this for over a month—points out that when people call us we can accomplish things quickly and efficiently.”
Memorable incidents • Suspicious people, objects or events • Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Friday, September 05, 2008
Funnel-cake fire finishes fest
September 1, 2008, 9:23 PM
Police and fire personnel responded to an explosion and fire at the Italian fest held at 24th and Home. One victim, a 43-year-old man working at a funnel cake booth run by Suzie’s Fun Foods, told police he was cleaning when a propane tank valve became disconnected while the tank was still in operation, which ignited a deep fryer, which in turn ignited more propane tanks. The victim sustained burns on his arm. The booth owner said four 100 lb propane tanks were connected to the grease fryers at the time of the accident. That ended the fest for the night; police made everyone leave. A number of attendees suffered minor injuries, but according to police reports, signed refusals of medical treatment.
Memorable incidents • Miscellaneous • Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Burning, not learning
August 19, 2008, 10:48 AM
Police responding to a call about a fire came to the 3000 block of Oak Park Avenue alley, where some schoolbooks were burning. The sergeant put out the fire with a bucket of water.
Memorable incidents • Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Screams of frustration?
August 14, 2008, 3:04 AM
Callers complained an intoxicated woman had been screaming in the alley of the 3200 block of Clarence, south of Windsor, for at least half an hour. Police found a woman stumbling in the alley; she identified herself as Khalila Amara Southall, 25, of the 4900 block of west 43rd, Chicago. When asked why she happened to be where she was, the woman reportedly told police she had been in a nearby apartment, “f^@*!%& some dude”, but then he “threw me out because I was drunk”. Southall was charged with public intoxication.
Disorderly conduct • Memorable incidents • Suspicious people, objects or events • Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (1) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Get a room
August 12, 2008, 11:56 PM
Callers complained to police of an ongoing problem in the 1900 block of Cuyler; they said people were parking on the block and having sex.
Disorderly conduct • Memorable incidents • Suspicious people, objects or events • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Night of the iguana
July 29, 2008, 8:24 PM
Police came to the 3400 block of Grove on reports of an iguana on an outside window ledge. There it was, perched outside the front window of the residence. Nobody was home but the lizard, which police rescued and took to A-American veterinary for safekeeping.
Memorable incidents • Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Handicap-space hog resented correction
July 29, 2008, 2:29 PM
A Berwyn woman told police she had parked her Kia in the parking lot at Justice Foods, 6901 Ogden, when she saw a woman wrongly parked in a handicap space. The Berwyn woman informed the space-misuser that she was going into the store to call police, but as she walked away, she saw the offender scratch the side of the Kia, before fleeing in a grey Ford sedan. The victim recorded the offender’s license plate; it was registered to a woman from Romeoville.
Graffiti / vandalism / criminal damage • Memorable incidents • Suspicious people, objects or events • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Friday, July 25, 2008
I was ignoring you
July 21, 2008, 4:17 PM
When an officer stopped a Mitsubishi Galant at East and 21st for speeding 35 MPH in a 20 MPH zone, he could not be heard over the car’s stereo and had to signal to the driver to turn it off. Instead, the driver only turned it down some. When the officer asked why he did not turn it down when he knew the officer was approaching the car, the driver reportedly replied, “I was ignoring you”. When advised of the noise ordinance, the driver said, “Well, now I know”. Tickets for speeding and violating the noise ordinance were issued to Claudio V. Bedoy, 33, of Cicero, and the Galant was impounded.
Memorable incidents • Noise violations • Traffic stops / accidents • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink