Berwyn Police Blotter
Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Horrifyingly dry dead Christmas tree signals mental deterioration
February 25, 2010, 7:15 AM
A 24-year-old woman in the 1600 block of Oak Park repeatedly called 911 claiming her landlord was stalking her and lying in wait to rape her. After warning the woman to cease the phone calls, police advised that she receive a physical and psychological evaluation. They noted a large, dead Christmas tree was still present in the apartment, complete with lights. The woman was told the tree was a fire hazard and had long ago died; needles littered the floor. Furthermore, there were smokers in the home. She was advised by the fire department not to turn on the lights. and to remove the tree immediately. During this incident, the landlord in question was at the Berwyn Police Department asking for an order of protection against the tenant and her mother, both of whom he was trying to evict.
February 25, 2010, 2:54 PM
A man replacing the fuel pump on a Chevy Tahoe SUV in the 2700 block of Highland spilled gasoline on the garage floor, which was ignited by a nearby propane space heater. Fire crews put out the fire and boarded up the garage.
Graffiti was reported in the following locations:
February 25, 2010
2825 Harlem, 3815 Elmwood and 7083, 7175 and 7001 Cermak.
-- J. LeHane
Graffiti / vandalism / criminal damage • Miscellaneous • Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Pediatrician charged with sexually assaulting 13-year-old patient
February 18, 2010, 11:30 AM
Berwyn police announced charges against pediatrician Abdulbari Akhras, 63, for sexually assaulting a minor. Akhras, who lives in Burr Ridge and whose office is in the 6900 block of Ogden, was charged with nine felony counts including the assault of a 13-year-old patient in his office last month. He was released on $100,000 bond. Police Chief Joseph Drury said the investigation is ongoing and they are looking for others who may have been assaulted. Akhras is a registered physician at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn and La Grange Hospital in La Grange. Police Unit Commander James Sassetti said that the department is working with the Illinois Department of Professional Regulations to revoke or suspend Akhras’ license. Until then Dr. Akhras was granted permission to continue to practice medicine temporarily if another adult is present in the room.
--J. LeHane
Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (1) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Abduction, burglaries and a phony gun
Fake gun in waistband
February 15, 2010, 1:03 AM
Police arrived at Tiger O’Stylie’s in the 6300 block of Ogden expecting to find an armed patron with a pistol sticking out of his belt. Turns out Cesar Esteves, 24, of Stickney, was sporting a pellet gun—a replica of a black Beretta PX4 Storm. He was charged with disorderly conduct.
Residential Burglaries
February 15, 2010, 11:47 AM, 2:43 PM
Drawers were found open and ransacked in a building in the 3400 block of Highland. The resident was unclear what, if anything, was missing. Burglars broke the basement window with a rock. In the 1500 block of Elmwood, the bottom panels of a back door were smashed “with blunt force” and someone crawled through the opening and unlocked the door, removing three flatscreen televisions, a Playstation 3 game system and a Sony laptop. Neighbors told police they saw a black car on the garage apron.
Garage Burglaries
February 16, 2010, 1:55 AM, 5:45 PM
Two garage burglaries occurred two blocks apart on Clarence. Stolen from the 2500 block was a snowblower, large power drill and a bag of assorted tools. In the 2300 block someone made off with a new Igloo chest freezer (in box) a new-in-box card table with chairs, a bag of girls’ clothing and a folder of legal papers.
Lawn ornament removed
February 16, 2010 9:19 PM
A building owner told police he suspected that the person who stole the lawn ornament from the 1900 block of Euclid was an opponent in a legal dispute. The missing monument was described as a stone statue of a boy and girl on a bench.
Viaduct vandalism
February 17, 2010, 12:41 PM
Someone broke the plastic lenses in the pedestrian tunnel lights under the railroad tracks at 31st and Ridgeland. Graffiti in black magic marker was also discovered.
Garage burglaries
February 17, 2010, 1:34 PM, 5:57 PM
A damaged overhead garage door was the entry point in a burglary in the 1600 block of Wisconsin. Stolen were two Lajobi baby cribs, a two-ton floor jack, two wet-vacs, an air compressor and battery charger as well as miscellaneous hand tools and car electrical parts. In the 1900 block of Wesley, a service door was broken in half with locks damaged and the frame pried off. The victims gave police a list of missing items.
Woman abducted; “Now we have a new friend!”
February 17, 2010, 4:58 PM
A 26 year old woman told police she was grabbed from behind at Cermak and Euclid and forced into a car by a 40-year-old husky, short white male with a grayish beard. The kidnapper allegedly told her “now you’re going to suck my @#$%” and displayed his penis, trying to push her head down into his lap. She resisted and he then reached into her shirt and fondled her, while driving through Berwyn. He then headed into North Riverside and took her to a house telling her, “Sit down on the couch. If you scream I’ll hurt you.” A second woman appeared whom the man introduced as “Tiffany” telling her, “Now we have a new friend.” Both abductors left the room and the woman called a former boyfriend asking him to call police. The subject returned and allegedly “asked if she know any young girls or had any children.” He “stated he wanted to meet [the woman’s] daughter and she told him “that would never happen.” When police called the woman’s phone, “Tiffany” answered the call and, impersonating the victim, allegedly told them she was “fine.” However, the phone call upset the couple and the woman told police the man loaded her back into his car and dropped her off at her employer, a tax service.
-J. LeHane
Burglary • Disorderly conduct • Graffiti / vandalism / criminal damage • Miscellaneous • Suspicious people, objects or events • Weapons-related • Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Smoked sausage
January 12, 2010, 2:07 PM
A young woman in an apartment building in the 3100 block of Harlem smelled smoke in the building and called 911. When police and firemen arrived, an officer began knocking on doors because it was not obvious where the fire was burning. A woman answered their knock, opening the door to reveal an apartment completely filled with dense smoke. She appeared confused. She told police she had been drinking gin throughout the day, began cooking Polish sausage on the stovetop, then fell asleep before it was done.
Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Monday, June 15, 2009
Invasion by invitation
June 9, 2009, 7:17 PM
Ten officers were dispatched to the 1300 block of Gunderson on reports of a home invasion. The building was pointed off and police spoke with the owner, who stated she is the only person living in the house, that nobody else should be there, and that she “heard people in the basement”. Police entered the house and found two men in the basement. The men told officers they rent the basement from the woman, who lives upstairs.
When questioned again by police, the landlady admitted she had, in fact, rented the apartment to the men, but had called 911 because she felt the tenants were being too noisy. She also appeared intoxicated, according to the report. During this incident, police noticed the basement flat was not up to code because it had only one exit. Argentina McCann, 70, was charged with disorderly conduct.
Disorderly conduct • Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Friday, June 05, 2009
Dancing in the driveway
May 29, 2009, 3:56 PM
Police answering a call about loud music in the 2600 block of Harvey found a man and a woman dancing in the driveway. A check of the man’s name showed an active arrest warrant out of Hoffman Estates, so police took into custody Hector Zermeno, Jr., 23, of that block.
Suspicious people, objects or events • Traffic stops / accidents • Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Friday, May 29, 2009
That rotting-corpse smell
May 23, 2009, 5:24PM
On May 23, police were sent to the 3200 block of Maple on reports of a “foul smell and swarms of flies” from a black pickup truck parked in the driveway of a house on the block. Officers found a large black garbage bag in the truckbed. Flies were entering and leaving through holes in the bag. The entire truckbed and the back of the truck’s cab were covered with hundreds of flies. From as much as 20 feet away, the stench of decomposing flesh was obvious.
Officers spoke to the truck’s owner, a woman who said the bag contained white bass from a resort she owns in Wisconsin. She reportedly stated she had the fish in the truck because she “could not get rid of them up there”. Police confirmed the source of the odor was in fact fish, then instructed the woman to place the bag inside another bag, see that it was airtight, and dispose of it in a waste bin to prevent further breeding of flies; they also told her to clean the truckbed to kill the smell.
----
May 24, 2:49 PM
Police were dispatched to the same address on the same complaint. This time, they found the bag of dead fish had been removed, but the truckbed had not been cleaned. Catherine McNamara, 58, was issued a ticket under the following ordinance:
672.08 FOUL CONDITIONS ON PREMISES.
No person shall keep or permit to be kept, in a foul, offensive, nauseous or filthy condition, any premises or part thereof belonging to or occupied by such person.
Suspicious people, objects or events • Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Rooster roundup
May 21, 2009, 5:03 AM
Police encountered two roosters standing in the street in the 1300 block of Cuyler. Each bird had to be cornered separately, but at last they were caught in nets and caged.
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Friday, May 22, 2009
A fine romance
May 18, 2009, 3:43 AM
Callers reported an underage drinking party in the 2700 block of Ridgeland. Police arrived and saw no signs of drinking, but spoke to a woman who said her boyfriend woke her up, yelled at her, pushed her and held a stun gun in her face. The victim said she yelled back, causing her friends to run into the room in time to witness the assault.
Police recovered the fully-charged stun gun from the man’s person. Andrew Constanzo, 21, of 3819 Gunderson, was charged with aggravated assault and unlawful use of a weapon.
Assault, battery • Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Friday, May 15, 2009
Stolen car stashed in vacant property’s garage
May 9, 2009, 5:30 PM
A real estate agent checking on a vacant property in the 2800 block of Ridgeland found the garage door forced open. Inside, police found a vehicle that had been reported stolen the previous day. The stolen car’s owner was notified of the find.
Theft • Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Hospital bomb threat investigation
May 7, 2009, 4 PM
Dispatchers received a call from a man who complained he did not like treatment recently received at MacNeal Hospital, and claimed to have placed a bomb on the premises. The call came from a public telephone in the 6300 block of Roosevelt.
The entire hospital had to be searched for the device. When emergency room security guards were interviewed, one recalled an ER patient from a few days earlier who, in the guard’s words “gave the staff a hard time” and seemed unhappy with his treatment. A check of the man’s name revealed he lived half a block from the public phone from which the threats were made. Police brought the man in for questioning.
After being read his rights, the man, age 27, told of what he saw as unfair treatment at the hospital: “They restrained me to the bed for no reason.” He stated a nurse “stuck me very hard in the arm with a needle for no reason.” He also claimed a doctor “lied and said I tried to hit him”. The suspect admitted he had been drinking, had phoned the hospital twice, then called police from a gas station to make a false bomb threat. He added that he was sorry and did not realize how seriously a bomb threat against a hospital would be taken.
Suspicious people, objects or events • Weapons-related • Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Monday, April 27, 2009
Man wants old hose back
April 18, 2009, 7:22 PM
A woman who bought a foreclosed-upon house in the 3500 block of Clarence was startled to see a strange man in her gangway. She asked him what he wanted; the man told her he was the previous owner of the house and was “just coming back for his hose”.
Suspicious people, objects or events • Trespassing • Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Ditched for something better, no doubt
April 10, 2009, 6:27 PM
A bag containing nine grams of marijuana was found lying on the floor in MacNeal Hospital, outside the psychiatric ward.
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Bicycle finds its way home
April 9, 2009
An Oak Park man employed at a bicycle shop in the 6700 block of Roosevelt told police a man brought a mountain bike in for service the previous day. The worker realized it was his own bike, which he had reported stolen in April of 2008. He showed police the receipt, serial number, etc, proving the bike was his. The bike was brought into the shop by a Chicago man, who told police he got it at a pawn shop.
Theft • Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Living like pigs
March 18, 2009, 8:04 AM
Callers complained of a foul odor inside the building at 6817 21st. Police noted the presence—on the sidewalk and in the foyer—of some type of liquid, and a foul odor in the air. After the landlord let them into one apartment, police noticed the same foul odor as in the foyer. It appeared to be emanating from numerous soiled baby diapers.
Suspicious people, objects or events • Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink