Berwyn Police Blotter
Memorable incidents
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Shot in the head
June 25, 2008, 11:36 PM
An 18-year-old man told police he was standing on his porch in the 1200 block of Wisconsin when he felt something strike his head forcefully. The victim, who was bleeding from the side of his head, told police he heard a sound like that of a BB gun, and counted a total of three shots fired.
Memorable incidents • Weapons-related • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Bomb City Hall? Threat gets swift response, felony charge
June 22, 2008, 10:26 PM
Dispatchers alerted police after a disturbing call from a man who complained of loud fireworks at the end of the Berwyn Centennial fest. Police listened to the tape; the caller was upset and said the fireworks disturbed his small child. When the dispatcher recommended the man call city hall to make the complaint, the caller grew hostile, threatening to break windows at city hall. He also said next time this happened he would “pipe bomb” city hall. Police determined the call came from a Riverside resident. Robert R. Dixon was charged with felony disorderly conduct.
Disorderly conduct • Memorable incidents • Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Monday, June 16, 2008
Burglary investigation leads cops to baby left all alone in apartment
June 12, 2008, 4:54 AM
A caller told police a man tried to enter a basement window in the 1600 block of Wesley. Police found no burglar, but did see a damaged window. The landlady told police she had seen a man in a red and white shirt yelling “LYNN! LYNN”; then she heard breaking glass and saw the man heading north on the sidewalk. She let police into the basement apartment. No adults were present, but an 18-month-old baby was alone in a crib. DCFS took custody of the baby boy, who was not injured but wore a soiled diaper.
12:40 PM
Nearly eight hours later, police located the baby’s mother at 31st and Austin in Cicero. Police told the 26-year-old woman what had happened, and asked why she left her baby alone. The woman said her ex-boyfriend was trying to break in, so she fled and left the baby behind. When asked where she went for the next nearly eight hours, the woman reportedly said, “Just on the street, staying away from [the ex]”. At no time, police said, did the woman call 911 or contact anyone for help. Police received no inquiries about the baby from 5 AM to 12:40 PM, and not once during the interview with the mother did she ask how or where her baby was. She was charged with endangering the life of a child.
Domestic • Memorable incidents • Miscellaneous • Suspicious people, objects or events • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Market research conducted at Walgreen’s, bus stop
May 15, 2008, 5:15 PM
A police sergeant came to Cermak Plaza after callers reported a man selling marijuana to people in Walgreen’s and at the 23rd and Harlem bus stop. He found a man matching the description given to dispatchers; the man said he “knew who called” and stated that he was asking people if they wanted to buy weed. He added that he was merely trying to get an idea of how many people that might be. The man said he had no weed on him, and gave permission for a search of his person. During the search, the sergeant located a hard eyeglass case in the man’s pocket. In the case were three clear baggies containing a total of 2.1 grams of marijuana. After this discovery, the man—19-year-old Tyrone L. Bennett, 19, of the 1500 block of south Trumbull, Chicago—stated he was just going to sell the baggies because he was “bored.” Bennett was charged with possession and unlawful delivery of marijuana.
Drugs, alcohol, DUI • Memorable incidents • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Friday, May 02, 2008
Flowering shrub temporarily relocated from Proksa Park to Cicero and back again
April 28, 2008, 1:36 PM
Berwyn Park District workers reported the theft of a flowering bush from the park. One worker told police he saw a woman leaving Proksa Park, 3001 Wisconsin, with a purple flowering shrub in her hand, which the worker recognized as belonging to the park. The woman was seen entering a red Jeep; workers noted the license number. The plates registered to a Cicero address. Park workers traveled to Cicero, and Berwyn police soon received a call from them stating they were watching the woman as she planted the bush in her yard. Berwyn and Cicero police made contact with the woman, who admitted removing the bush from Proksa Park. She removed it from her yard and returned it to one of the park employees. The Park director signed a complaint of theft against Juana Pena-Kizaur, 58, of Cicero.
Memorable incidents • Theft • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Peeper report
March 22, 2008, 3:47 PM
Police received a report of a suspicious male peering into resident’s windows in the 3800 block of Oak Park Avenue. A witness described the peeper as a male white in his 20s with dark medium-length hair, wearing jeans and a hoodie. When a witness went outside to see what was up, the suspected fled southbound on foot through the 3800 block of Oak Park/Grove alley.
Memorable incidents • Miscellaneous • Suspicious people, objects or events • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
“What do I have to do to not get stopped by police?”
March 19, 2008, 11:54 PM
Police patrolling the 6300 block of Cermak noticed a man riding a bicycle behind a business, while carrying a bag around his shoulder. They stopped the man and asked who he was. The cyclist stated he was Charles K. Ramirez, 41, of Cicero, and “I didn’t do anything wrong.” Officers explained he was stopped because he was riding his bike behind a business instead of in the street. Ramirez got off the bike and placed his hands on the hood of the squad car, even though police had not asked him to do so, stating he knew they were going to search him because he had been stopped several times recently. Ramirez said, “What do I have to do to not get stopped by police?” He then claimed he was being harassed and requested the names of the officers. When backup units arrived, Ramirez stated, “This is ridiculous,” and told them he was just biking from Family Liquors to his home in Cicero. He was sent on his way. As he got back on the bike, he looked at police and said, “Fascists!”
Memorable incidents • Miscellaneous • Suspicious people, objects or events • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Saturday, March 22, 2008
House inhabited by couple, teens, clutter, filth, bugs—oh, and a baby
March 17, 2008, 4:23 PM
Police came to the 3600 block of Home after receiving a tip about a baby in a house so filthy, nobody should be in it. The tipster said the place was filled with trash, dog feces, mice and insects. Officers at the house learned the inhabitants included a married couple, their teenage son and daughter, and the daughter’s six-month-old baby. Items in the basement were stacked floor to ceiling, making it impossible to reach the furnace or the water heater; this led the fire department to declare a fire hazard. Boxes, bags and debris were piled four to five feet high throughout the house, leaving only a narrow path. Police saw insect or rodent droppings. The ceiling corners were occupied by spider webs, and the webs contained dead cockroaches. The clutter was so extensive that only the rear door to the house could be reached or used. Police contacted the Department of Children and Family Services. The homeowners agreed to move into the home of another, adult, son, until the house could be cleaned and declared fit for habitation.
Memorable incidents • Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Thursday, March 20, 2008
“What r u wearing?”
March 16, 2008, 11:16 AM
The real answer was, “My badge.” On five dates in the first two weeks of March, a Berwyn police detective entered an AOL chatroom in the persona of a non-existent 16-year-old Berwyn girl, and was immediately approached by a man who used the screen name “Bankerslifedb”, and who sent the imaginary girl instant messages stating he was a 42-year-old male from Joliet. They engaged in a 20-minute instant message conversation, the first day. On subsequent days, the “girl” logged on, and the same man struck up conversations with “her” in which he suggested he might visit her if she were alone, and in which he made explicitly sexual proposals, as well as offering to bring her money and food. At one point, he emailed her a photograph of himself. The man asked what she was wearing; he was provided with an imaginary address in north Berwyn. A few days later, he gave the “girl” his cell phone number, prompting police to have a female officer call him and arrange to meet. The man told the female officer she had a sexy phone voice, stated that he knew she was 16 and he was 38 [younger than he originally claimed), asked whether she shaved, and made further sexual suggestions. On the appointed date, a black Lexus parked across the street from the Berwyn address given by the “girl”. A man matching the photograph sent to the “girl” stepped out of the car, approached the address and was arrested. He spontaneously stated, “What did I do? I just brought a girl some money!” When confronted with evidence of two weeks’ worth of sexually-oriented Internet chats with what he believed was an underage girl, Berres told police he had been “just talking Internet talk like everyone else.” The man’s ex-wife gave police permission to seize his computer. She later posted his bond. Morris resident Dean Berres, 44, was charged with one felony count of indecent solicitation of a child.
April 2, 2008
The Berwyn Police Blotter has received several comments on this story which have remained, so far, unpublished because of the site’s policy of not publishing comments without a valid email address. Anyone interested in having comments published needs to provide such an address; nevertheless, publication is entirely at the discretion of site management.
Memorable incidents • Miscellaneous • Suspicious people, objects or events • (1) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Brave big brother takes no chances
March 14, 2008, 7:29 AM
A brother and sister preparing to leave for school heard someone at the front door of their apartment in the 6400 block of 27th Place. They asked who was there, but received no answer—just breathing. When their dog began to bark at the unseen person, the big brother, age 11, took charge, leashing the dog and leading it and his 7-year-old sister out the rear door and straight to the police station, where he reported the incident. Police went to the apartment building. There was no evidence of tampering at the front door, and nobody was in the hall. But the kids did not imagine the breathing: it was coming from a neighbor’s apartment, in the form of loud snoring.
Memorable incidents • Suspicious people, objects or events • Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Monday, March 17, 2008
Man rides bus into Berwyn to drink; graduates to ranting, swearing, scaring people
March 13, 2008, 7:45 PM
An 18-year-old woman parked in her space at a building in the 3300 block of Harlem when she saw an older male white standing in an alley. She was frightened when the man came towards her, yelling and swearing. The woman ran south on Harlem and was upset to realize the man was following her. She flagged down a police officer, and police spoke with her pursuer. They learned he was 57 years old, and lived in the 1000 block of west Lawrence, Chicago. The man also told them he lived in Berwyn years ago, and arrived earlier in the day via public transportation in order to drink with friends. Police noted that the man appeared to be “intoxicated and talking out of his mind.” Police contact the man’s landlady in Chicago. She confirmed he has lived in her building for three years, and “always” yells, swears and chases people. Police arranged a ride home for the man.
Memorable incidents • Miscellaneous • Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Putt-n-pee
March 13, 2008, 2:52 PM
The owner of a building in the 3400 block of Harlem called police when she saw a tenant—a man in the process of being evicted—hitting golf balls off a second-floor landing in to the parking lot below. The owner, a Riverside resident, backed up her assertion with digital photos she took of the man’s activities. She told officers she also saw the man urinate from that landing onto the one beneath; the report did not record whether this action was also photographically documented. Fernando Rafael Razzino, 36, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.
Disorderly conduct • Memorable incidents • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Wanted: more dads like this one
March 13, 2008, 11:30 AM
Police were dispatched to south Berwyn after a caller reported someone chasing a man northbound on Cuyler from the 3800 block of Ridgeland. There, they spoke with a 20-year-old woman, who told them her dad, age 43, was chasing her ex-boyfriend after spotting him in their back yard. Apparently, the 20-year-old Maywood man entered their yard and left a rose outside the young woman’s bedroom window, which was extremely creepy, since the woman has an order of protection against the young man and definitely does not want him around. The dad confirmed this account, explaining the young man has been told many times not to come to their house. The dad told police he chased the unwanted suitor, and also said he saw the young man’s car parked in the 3700 block of Cuyler. Police towed the Chevy Malibu.
Later, when the rose-bestower came to the Berwyn police station to claim his towed Chevy, he was arrested and charged with criminal trespass.
Memorable incidents • Trespassing • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Friday, March 14, 2008
Sewage-spewing cited
March 10, 2008, 1:18 PM
A caller alerted police to raw sewage being pumped into the street in the 1600 block of Scoville. Arriving officers saw a pump and a hose reaching from the side of a house to the street. Two men were on the scene; they stated they were doing plumbing for a friend and had emptied raw sewage into the street. The men were Camilo Bautista, 24, of the 2400 block of Lawndale, Chicago, and Isabel [sic, per report] Tellez, 31, of the 1300 block of Euclid. Both were charged with open dumping of waste on a city street. Berwyn fire personnel were summoned to decontaminate the area.
Memorable incidents • Miscellaneous • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Conscience prods woman out of bed and over to police station
March 6, 2008, 7:11 AM
A woman from the 7100 block of Windsor came to the police station and told police she recently missed a court date and felt there might be an arrest warrant for her. A check of her name revealed that she was indeed wanted by Cook County. Since she was already at the station, police processed her for sheriff’s deputies.
Memorable incidents • Miscellaneous • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink