Berwyn Police Blotter
Miscellaneous
Friday, January 11, 2008
Been burglarized in Berwyn? Loot from Oak Forest raid may include your stuff
This story is from the Southtown Star:
Drug bust yields stolen merchandise
January 10, 2008
By William Lee, Staff writer
For Oak Forest police and federal agents, it was a case of expecting one thing and getting another.
They served a search warrant Tuesday night at a house at 15738 Lavergne Ave., where they believed a drug-trafficking operation was centered.
More than $200,000 of stolen goods, including these power tools, was found in an Oak Forest home raided by police. But they got a surprise when they found about $200,000 in stolen goods in the house, breaking up the largest theft ring in the city’s history.
They arrested three men and recovered merchandise that had been stolen from locations ranging from Berwyn to Frankfort, authorities said. They also found three pounds of marijuana hidden in a safe, ammunition and a bulletproof vest.
Oak Forest detectives and tactical officers and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents converged on the home about 9:45 p.m. Police believe the three men, who were awaiting charges Wednesday night, burglarized suburban homes and construction sites dating back to last summer. After hours of rooting through the home and an outdoor shed, the police and agents uncovered an array of home appliances, jewelry and electronics, including several large plasma televisions and laptop computers. The most unusual item found might have been a large industrial saw used to break concrete in roads and highways.
“It’s the biggest bust I’ve seen in my 30 years of police work,” Oak Forest Detective Jim Emmett said while inside the police department garage that’s housing the stolen items.
The men, described as friends in their 30s, face felony theft and drug charges, authorities said.
Police from throughout the Southland are expected to examine the stolen goods, hoping to link them to open burglary and theft cases.
Police said anyone who thinks their property might be among the recovered goods must bring receipts, serial numbers or police reports with them to help authenticate ownership.
http://www.southtownstar.com/news/734601,011008burglars.article
Burglary • Miscellaneous • Theft • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Thursday, January 10, 2008
INCLUSIVE NIGHTCLUB LICENSE SUSPENDED
Article is from the Wednesday Journal of 1/8/2008
Mayor says revocation looms if problems continue
By BILL DWYER
A loud and raucous Roosevelt Road nightclub, which was the target of combined policing efforts by Berwyn and Oak Park police last summer, is once again the scene of fights and brawls among patrons, leading to the club’s liquor license being suspended.
Since Labor Day weekend, Berwyn police have responded to six violent disturbances at Inclusive nightclub, 6319 Roosevelt Road, on Sept. 1, Sept. 23, Sept. 30, Nov. 17, Nov. 24, and Dec. 6. Besides arresting several patrons during that period, Berwyn police cited the bar’s manager, Vernon Weaver, three times for not calling police when fights broke out, as required by the business’ liquor license.
Berwyn Mayor Michael O’Connor, who serves as the village liquor commissioner, said he’s sympathetic to the club’s owner, Pamela Langdon.
“She’s doing what she can. She has a big investment there,” O’Connor said. “She’s very frustrated. She has a set of patrons she can’t control. I think she’s at wit’s end.”
Still, O’Connor said, the village’s patience is wearing thin.
“She’s getting close to where we’ll shut it down, but we’re not there yet,” he said. O’Connor fined the bar a total of $750 and suspended its liquor license for a week after a hearing on two citations last month. That will increase with any future problems, he said.
“I told her the next time it could be a month.”
According to police records, the bar had 19 calls for service at Inclusive between December 2006 and June 2007.
Members of the South East Oak Park Community Organization first contacted Oak Park police with their concerns last May, complaining of loud and uncivil behavior by the bar’s patrons. The two Oak Park blocks primarily affected were the 1150 blocks of Highland and Cuyler avenues. Neighbor complaints included loud noise by some of the patrons leaving after the 3 a.m. closing time. Area residents reported regularly finding beer bottles and cups on their lawns, and complained of people urinating in alleys.
Oak Park police partnered with Berwyn cops to crack down on rowdy and uncivil behavior, which escalated into mob violence, the weekend of June 1, when a fight inside the club resulted in a Berwyn officer being injured badly enough to require hospitalization and placed on medical leave. After another large fight a week later, things settled down.
While there were several incidents involving loud noise, no crowd violence was reported until September. Oak Park police say they have had no involvement with the nightclub or its patrons since last summer.
“It’s been pretty quiet,” said Commander Phylis Howard, who directs Oak Park’s community policing programs. “We developed a pretty good working relationship with Berwyn ... to get a handle on the problem.”
The worst violence this autumn occurred around 1 a.m., Nov. 24. Weaver called police after a fight “got out of control.” When police arrived, the 15-20 combatants on the sidewalk outside the bar ignored their orders to break it up. Officers then used pepper spray and a police dog to quell the disturbance.
Meanwhile other patrons inside the bar were also reportedly fighting and also ignoring police orders to stop. With the dog’s assistance, they cleared the room and restored order.
O’Connor said Berwyn police are purposely showing up each weekend night at the club, making their presence known to the bar’s patrons.
“The third shift has a stroll through every night,” he said. “We want [patrons] to know we’re around and can be there in a minute if need be.”
http://wednesdayjournalonline.com/Main.asp?SectionID=1&ArticleID=9980
(For previous incidents, search Berwyn Police Blotter with the term “Inclusive")
Drugs, alcohol, DUI • Fight/brawl/riot • Miscellaneous • (1) Comments • (1) Trackbacks • Permalink
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Night-owl juvenile girl is suspect in criminal damage case
January 7, 2008, 6:31 PM
A man from the 6400 block of 18th told police someone used a brick to break his teenage daughter’s window; another window of the residence was broken recently also. A fellow Morton West high school student is the suspect. The juvenile suspect was arrested the previous day while the car she was riding around drinking beer in was stopped because the men in the car were robbery suspects; link is below:
http://www.berwynpoliceblotter.com/index.php/site/comments/curfew_we_dont_need_no_stinking_curfew/
Graffiti / vandalism / criminal damage • Miscellaneous • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Junkie collapses in library
January 7, 2008, 12:26 PM
An employee at the Berwyn public library, 2701 Harlem, heard a loud thud, then found a man lying in the aisle. Paramedics treated the 27-year-old man, a resident of the 2100 block of Highland; he told them he used heroin while riding a bus to Cermak and Harlem.
Drugs, alcohol, DUI • Miscellaneous • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Curfew? We don’t need no stinking curfew!
January 6, 2008, 4:12 AM
At 27th and Harvey, tactical officers stopped a black Chevy Blazer containing three adult males and three female juveniles, because the men matched the description of the offenders in a recent robbery. A heavy smell of marijuana issued from the vehicle. Several full and empty beer cans were strewn throughout the SUV. In the vehicle, police also found a bag containing eight smaller baggies of marijuana, totalling 24 grams. There was also a .22 calibre revolver with nine live hollow-point round, wrapped in a towel. There was no record on file for the weapon. The girls were asked why they were out with the men in the middle of the night. The girls said they were sleeping over at the home of one girl, when the friends of the brother of the hostess arrived. The girls got hungry around 3 AM and asked the men to take them out for snacks. The men, they said, had beer in the car and permitted the girls to drink it. One girl had gang symbols written on her arm in red magic marker; they matched symbols from multiple recent local graffitis, also done in red magic marker. The investigation continues.
Drugs, alcohol, DUI • Gang activity • Miscellaneous • Suspicious people, objects or events • Traffic stops / accidents • (1) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Detailed gun sighting merely a figment
January 5, 2008, 9:27 PM
A caller told police a male white in a black SUV displayed a handgun at the gas station at 16th and Ridgeland, before fleeing southbound on Ridgeland. The caller even gave a license plate number. Police ran the plate, which came back “no record on file”. When asked about the reported incident, the gas station clerk said there had been no disturbances at all.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Hydrant blocker towed
January 4, 2007, 10:15 PM
Police had a brown 1988 Oldsmobile towed away from the 1800 block of Clarence, where it was blocking a fire hydrant. The ticket for the violation was issused to the registered owner, a Lyons woman.
Man inadvertently ticks off aggressive father, daughter
January 4, 2008, 10 AM
A Berwyn man told police he was in an altercation on January 1st in the parking lot of a grocery store in North Riverside; a man who parked next to the victim’s vehicle began to yell at him. On January 3, the victim said a woman came to his Berwyn workplace around 7:30 PM, asked whether he had been in an altercation in the Jewel parking lot, then stated, “I’m his daughter and now he knows where you work.” The woman was described as white, about 5’7” and 160 pounds.
Memorable incidents • Miscellaneous • Unusual, mysterious, odd or just weird • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Monday, January 07, 2008
Disturbance explained
January 2, 2008, 5:25 PM
Police answering a disturbance call in the 1900 block of Grove learned that the complainant’s ex-friend— a 27-year-old man residing in the 1900 block of Kenilworth—“threatened to get a gun”.
Domestic • Miscellaneous • Weapons-related • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Pouring drinks behind a curtain
January 1, 2008, 3:55 AM
Police noticed several people exit via a side door of El Corral tavern, 6310 26th St., which should have closed for the night nearly an hour earlier. Inside the place were about 15 people drinking alcohol and shooting pool A large curtain covering the front window prevented anyone from seeing the interior of the business. Owner Juan Banda, 39, of Cicero, was cited for selling liquor after hours and ticketed for having a curtain obstructing the view into the bar.
Drugs, alcohol, DUI • Miscellaneous • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Friday, January 04, 2008
The “everybody does it” excuse
December 26, 2007, 2:48 AM
A woman in the 6600 block of 21st called police to complain that while she was watching TV, a neighbor knocked heavily at her door and, in a loud voice, asked her to turn down the volume. Police asked the woman whether her TV was, indeed, loud. The woman said yes, and stated that “everyone” listens to loud TV or music at all hours. The woman made numerous statements such as “I pay your salary” and “You guys never do nothing but harass me. So what if the TV is loud? Everyone else does it.”
Monday, December 31, 2007
Garage fires follow explosion
December 26, 2007
Berwyn firemen extinguished fires in two garages in the 3400 block of Euclid. The caller said she heard a “BOOM!” but saw nothing. Soon, however, a neighbor told her her garage was on fire. The fire spread to another garage before it was put out. Fire investigators said the fires were not accidental, but the cause is still being checked out.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Fitzgerald’s forbids Darien pair
December 23, 2007, after midnight
After the bartender cut them off because they were already wasted, a man and woman from Darien caused a disturbance at Fitzgerald’s, in the 6600 block of Roosevelt. Police told the couple they had worn out their welcome and needed to leave.
Drugs, alcohol, DUI • Miscellaneous • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Con game deceives elderly citizen
December 20, 2007, 11:15 AM
While one man distracted her in the front room, a second apparently stole money from an elderly woman in the 3800 block of Wisconsin. The victim said a man rang her back doorbell, claiming he was working on power lines and needed to “check the outlets in her house”. She allowed him inside, and he walked her into the front room, where they “checked outlets” for about 30 minutes. Later, she realized someone must have come inside during this incident, because she was missing $944 in cash.
Miscellaneous • Suspicious people, objects or events • Theft • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Anger mismanagement
December 20, 2007, 1:22 AM
Police came to the 2700 block of Ridgeland, where a woman reported her boyfriend got mad at her because she went out after work. She said he argued with her, slapped her upside the heard and kicked the walls until their child woke up. He left when she called police, then reportedly phoned and threatened harm to the woman for making the 911 call. Police later located the offender in the gangway outside the residence. He was charged with domestic battery and telephone harassment.
Assault, battery • Miscellaneous • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink