Berwyn Police Blotter
Suspicious people, objects or events
Saturday, March 06, 2010
A box of Newports and all the cash in the drawer, please
March 1, 2010, 9:39 PM
The clerk at a gas station in the 6700 block of Cermak reported being robbed at gunpoint. The victim described the offender as a male black, about 30 years old, 5’10”, medium build, wearing a black leather hat and a black leather coat. The offender, who was on his cell phone during the incident, approached the counter and requested a pack of Newport cigarettes, then displayed a black handgun and demanded cash. The clerk handed over approximately $600 from the register. The robber fled the scene westbound on Riverside Drive in a white vehicle.
Robbery • Suspicious people, objects or events • Weapons-related • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Creeper alert
February 19, 2010, 9:40 AM
A Berwyn crossing guard reported a suspicious man staring at children as the kids were going to school in the 16th/Wenonah area. The witness said the man circled the area several times, and also stopped and backed up several times, as he stared at kids. The witness described the man as a male Hispanic, 30-35 years old, with “minor facial hair;” he drove a white Ford work van featuring a maroon and a blue horizontal stripe.
Suspicious people, objects or events • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Not THAT lonely
february 19, 2010, 7:20 AM
A 53-year-old woman in the 6600 block of Windsor told police that, at 6:50 AM, a male neighbor, known to her only by his first name, knocked at her front door. When the woman answered the door, the man asked her whether she had a small stand for his TV. As the woman looked around for something to give him to use as a TV stand, she noticed the man—clad in naught but a T-shirt and boxer shorts—had his penis protruding through the slit in the boxers. When the victim pointed out his exposure, the man told her it was an accident, then put his arms around her and stated “We are two lonely people.” After the man left, the woman complained to the landlord, who told her to call police.
Assault, battery • Suspicious people, objects or events • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
“Irrational, aggressive and agitated”
February 18, 2010, 7:45 PM
Callers reported seeing an agitated man yelling as he walked down Cermak. Police in the area were flagged down by a citizen who said a man had just punched out the window of a business in the 6500 block of Cermak. Officers located the man in a yard in the 2100 block of Clarence as he headed for the door to go inside; instead of stopping when police asked him to, however, the man reportedly yelled at them and went inside, slamming the door. Police saw the man’s hand was bleeding. When officers knocked at the door, the man’s parents answered and explained their son was on parole and very drunk. They let police in to see 31-year-old Efrain Nava; he was reportedly lying in bed with his hands concealed by a blanket. Police ordered him to show his hands, and described him in the report as “irrational, agressive and agitated” as well as “yelling and making odd statements”. According to the report, Nava took a swing at an officer; police were obliged to handcuff him in order to get him outside so paramedics could tend to his injured hand. Throughout the incident, the report stated, Nava was noncompliant, pulling away from police and yelling “F@%$ You!” He also kneed one officer in the groin. He was charged with criminal damage to property; battery charges were pending at the time of the report.
Assault, battery • Deceptive practice, fraud • Drugs, alcohol, DUI • Graffiti / vandalism / criminal damage • Suspicious people, objects or events • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Known gypsy scammer picked from photo lineup
February 18, 2010, 1:15 PM
An elderly man from the 6900 block of 34th told police a man came to his house claiming he needed to come inside to “check the water”. Officers showed the victim photos of known gypsies working the Berwyn area; the victim identified one of them as the suspect, and police are trying to locate him.
Suspicious people, objects or events • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Lovin’ it at McD’s
February 11, 2010, 1:58 PM
A woman customer at the McDonald’s at Cermak and Harlem told police a man inside the restaurant was fondling himself while staring at her and her young daughter. She said the man then left in a blue 1997 Cadillac, from which she noted the license plate number. Police ran the plates and learned they were registered to a 73-year-old man from Oak Forest. The victim described the offender as a male white, 5’2” and about 200 pounds, with short grey hair.
Miscellaneous • Suspicious people, objects or events • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
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 31, 2010
Sex not in the cards
Burglar stopped in the act
January 15, 2010, 7:39 AM
A woman in the 1900 block of Wesley observed a bald, white male (early twenties or late teens) in a black jacket at her back door, crowbar-in-hand, who fled when he saw her. Police reported pry marks and deadbolt damage to the door.
Burglary from vehicle
January 15, 2010, 9:36 AM
Seven thousand dollars worth of tools were reported stolen from a white Dodge van parked in the fire station parking lot in the 6700 block of 26th St. The van’s passenger-side lock had been punched out.
GPS stolen during doctor appointment
January 15, 2010, 10:48 AM
Someone smashed the passenger-side window of a black Nissan parked near the medical office at 7120 Cermak and stole a GPS unit worth $130.
Lady-in-red steals purse at Burger King
January 15, 2010, 1:31 PM
Witnesses told police they observed a purse theft from a woman’s coat in the Burger King in the 2100 block of Oak Park. The black female who allegedly took the coin purse was wearing all red clothing.
Sex not in the cards
January 15, 2010, 1:31 PM
Luis M Garcia-Narvarro, 21, address not given, was charged with disorderly conduct after he allegedly asked for sex after his Tarot card reading at the psychic establishment in the 2600 block of S. Ridgeland. Garcia-Navarro paid his fortune-telling bill of $40, but then made “lewd sexual comments” offering to pay for sex as well. The female psychic called police.
Handgun stolen in Nicor imposter scam
January 15, 2010, 1:56 PM
A man with fake Nicor identification credentials convinced a 74-year-old man in the 2600 block of Ridgeland to let him in because, he said, “they were investigating a gas leak.” The scammer “quickly” showed his company ID and convinced the victim to exit the back door of his home to open the gate for gas company workers, leaving the front door unsecured and the home vacant. The “employee” waited in the back yard until the victim complained that he was cold. Then the scammer made a cell phone call from the back yard and then told the victim that the house was clear. When the man left, the victim observed that his bedroom dresser drawers had been ransacked. Missing was a blue steel police model Colt 38-caliber handgun. The scammer was described a male white, 5’9”, 175 lbs with an olive complexion, brown eyes, black hair a waist-length work coat and blue baseball hat.
Jewelry stolen
January 15, 2010, 5:15 PM
An unsecured basement window was the suspected entrance point in a home burglary in the 2300 block of Ridgeland. Included in the loot stolen was a collection of $2 bills and men’s and women’s jewelry --including a 1978 Orr High School class ring.
Cavalier vandalized
January 15, 2010, 10:37 PM
A yellow Chevy parked in the 6600 block of 18th St. was damaged on both the drivers and passenger’s side with the gas cap torn off, driver’s side window damaged as well as a mirror and running board destroyed.
Cell phone gone
January 15, 2010, 5:48 PM
An employee cell phone was stolen from desk at a tanning salon in the 6300 block of Cermak.
Graffiti
January 15, 2010, 3:00 PM
Black marker was found on inside walls in the building at 6850 Cermak . No known gang signs were deciphered.
January 18, 2010
Spray painting spree
January 18, 2010, 7:13 AM
Two autos several blocks apart were vandalized with red spray paint along the entire drivers sides of both vehicles. A white minivan in the 3500 block of Oak Park got tagged, as well as a silver Dodge pickup in the 3700 block of Ridgeland.
Other southside auto damage
January 18, 2010, 4:34 AM, 9:31 AM
A Chevy’s rear window was shattered with a bottle in the 3100 block of Wisconsin, an Astro van had two tires slashed in the 3500 block of Oak Park and a 1996 Ford Mustang had was ransacked after someone smashed both driver’s and passenger’s side windows in the 7000 block of 29th Pl.
Burglar scared off by witnesses
January 18, 2010, 5:30 PM
Neighbors apparently spooked a suspicious visitor to an apartment building in the 1900 block of Euclid. The unfamiliar man witnesses described as black, 6 ‘ tall and around 35 years old, allegedly told a neighbor, “I’m looking for the landlord.” He exited the building rapidly, according to another neighbor. After he left, the basement tenant observed gouge marks on door and dead bolts.
Door kicked in, nothing taken
January 18, 2020, 5:55 PM
Police reported that a rear door of a building in the 6800 block of Windsor had been forced open and the door jamb broken off the frame. Residents said nothing of value was missing.
Booze snatching
January 18, 2010, 9:19 PM
While his accomplice distracted the clerk by fumbling for his ID, a man allegedly grabbed three bottles of vodka and other spirits off the shelf and fled a liquor store in the 6700 block of Roosevelt Rd. The first man ran out of the store as well. Both are described as black males in their early 20s, one wearing a black jacket and the other a dark leather jacket, hat and dark hoodie.
-J. LeHane
Burglary • Disorderly conduct • Graffiti / vandalism / criminal damage • Suspicious people, objects or events • Theft • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Massage with everything
January 15, 2010, 8:16 PM
A woman arrested in a Craigslist sex sting told police she and her friends had been preparing for three weeks to open a massage business in a rented house in the 3500 block of Oak Park. On the first day of business, however, six people were arrested at the residence. Each was fined $500 for allegedly running a house of prostitution.
Berwyn police investigated a Craigslist ad which read, “Beautiful Latinas give sweet warm massages (Berwyn, Ill.)” A “sexually suggestive” photo of a woman’s torso accompanied the ad.
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When undercover officers called the number in the ad, they were told the women charged $60 for 45 minutes and $80 for an hour. When asked if services included “more than a massage,” the woman on the phone allegedly said, “whatever you work out with the girl in the room is between you two.” Two officers arrived at the address and were led upstairs, where they were brought into rooms with “massage beds, low lighting and soft music.” The women allegedly asked the officers to disrobe. According to one officer’s report, Zahira Rosado, 25, of 2705 W. Armitage, Chicago was apparently satisfied with the responses she received to her questions—she asked “Are you a police officer?” and “Why did you really come here?”—because she then straddled the officer on the massage table. When asked by the officer what $150 would buy, Rosado allegedly replied, “Everything”, then added that if he wanted to kiss her, the price would rise to $200. The officer allegedly gave Rosado $200, which she stuffed into her bra. When she left the room to retrieve condoms, the officer gave the arrest signal, bringing other officers into the building.
Included in the sting was building owner, Reggie Orellana, 57, of 4420 Forest Ave, Brookfield. Orellana allegedly told police that he owned the building, but has not paid the mortgage payment for a year and is in foreclosure. He reportedly stated he rented it to a woman, whose name he didn’t know, for $900 per month. He said he gave her no lease, fearing trouble from the bank. On the night in question, he told police, he was returning from an AA meeting and stopped at the house to collect back rent and some clothing. He told police he was surprised by the squad cars because he had no clue what his tenants were up to. Rosado, however, allegedly told police the landlord had stopped by for sex. Also arrested were Zanaida Delvalle, 27, of 3036 N. Albany, Chicago; Roberto Terrones, 20, of 3501 S. Oak Park, Berwyn; Latisa Flores Ferrones, 32, of 1976 Chelmford St., Hoffman Estates (who, the report said, told police she was a hair-dresser and was only trying to help her friends start the massage business), Maria C. Argueta, 37, 4645 Whipple, Chicago, (who allegedly told police she had no part in the sex business, but was visiting to “go out dancing later.”) Also charged was Fernando Tapia, 36, of 1806 S. 61st St. Cicero, who was found to have an outstanding arrest warrant out of DuPage County, as well as a criminal record under various aliases.
-J. LeHane
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image is not the one used on craigslist, and is included purely for entertainment.
Disorderly conduct • Suspicious people, objects or events • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Teamwork
January 12, 2010, 11:22 AM
A 21-year-old man told police, via a translator, that he was jumped and robbed at 16th and Euclid. The victim said he was walking down 16th on the south side of the street with a black four-door vehicle with tinted windows pulled up beside him. Three men wearing black ski masks jumped out and grabbed him; one held him at knifepoint while the others restrained him by the arms and went through his pockets. One of the assailants, the victim said, hit the back of his neck, causing him to fall to the ground. The robbers got away with the victim’s wallet, which, he said, contained his Mexican ID and $300 cash.
Robbery • Suspicious people, objects or events • Weapons-related • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Who’s calling who a lowlife?
January 4, 2010, 2:39 PM
An Oak Park woman told police she parked her car in the 6900 block of Windsor upon arriving at work in the morning. When she went to her car at 2:30 PM, she found a note on her windshield. The note—written on a paper towel—read, “Lowlife park in your own town Oak Park. I got your license plate. I will report you to Berwyn police”. The victim said she always parks in the same place and has never before had a problem.
Suspicious people, objects or events • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Monday, January 11, 2010
It’s his—no, it’s his!
January 2, 2010, 3:25 PM
Callers reported two suspicious men walking in the 3000 block of Wesley and looking into people’s yards. Police stopped Ellezer Torres, 36, Westchester, and Joseph A. Alvarez, 34, of 3002 Wesley. Both reportedly exhibited slurred, incoherent speech. Police said Alvarez had a PCP scented cigarette, as well as a vial of PCP; he was charged with possession of a controlled substance and public intoxication. Torres was also charged with public intoxication and processed for an arrest warrant out of Lake County. Police recovered the vial of PCP from Alvarez’s coat pocket. According to the report, “upon seeing the vial, both Alvarez and Torres began to say ‘This is bullsh!t” repeatedly”, then accused each other of ownership of the contraband.
Disorderly conduct • Drugs, alcohol, DUI • Suspicious people, objects or events • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Taco y Stick: stars of surveillance vid
January 1, 2010
A Cicero man went to a gas station at Harlem and Roosevelt, where, he said, he was confronted by two drunken men—one with a neck tattoo. They managed to persuade him to give them a ride eastbound on Roosevelt. When they reached the 6300 block, though, one of the men punched the victim in the stomach and ordered him to “get out of the f@%&ing car and give me the keys”. When the victim complied, the offenders drove away eastbound in the black Aveo belonging to the victim’s girlfriend.
Police were able to view surveillance video featuring the offenders back at the gas station. The neck-tattoo guy popped up in a search of the state criminal database as a Melrose Park resident. Berwyn police met with their Melrose Park counterparts to play the video. The Melrose Park cops took a look at the neck-tattoo guy and said “That’s Taco!’, a man familiar to them as a member of a well-known street gang; the officers also recognized the second offender as another Melrose Park gangbanger with the street name “Stick”. The investigation is ongoing.
Suspicious people, objects or events • Theft • Weapons-related • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
2009 turns into 2010 accompanied by the usual antics
January 1, 2010
Open the window—the messy way
12:55 AM
Juan Delatorre, 42, of the 3700 block of Ridgeland, broke a window so he could yell at people in front of his home, police said. He was treated at MacNeal for a cut hand.
Underage drinkers on Cermak
12:51 AM
Police charged the manager and bartender of Mateo’s tavern in the 6500 block of Cermak with serving alcohol to a minor. Luis Medina, 37, of Worth, and Heather Brasher, 31, of Chicago, were charged after police arrested 19-year-old Vedran Basic of LaGrange Park for public intoxication in front of the bar. Police reported that Medina locked the door of the tavern and delayed opening it, prompting speculation that other underage drinkers fled through the back door.
Incriminating hubcap
1:57 AM
Police stopped a damaged 1997 white BMW in the 2300 block of East; the car was limping along “low to the ground, emitting sparks and smoke from the passenger front tire.” Driver Anthony Martinez of the 1200 block of Cuyler told police he did not know how the fresh damage and red paint transfer had occurred on his vehicle, nor how his passenger tire had been bent off the rim. Coincidentally, police discovered a damaged red car in the 2400 block of Ridgeland with a BMW hubcap lying nearby. The BMW was impounded. Martinez was charged with DUI, driving uninsured, leaving an accident scene and unsafe tires.
Unwanted party guest from hell
12:33 AM
Police were summoned to help a hostess remove a party guest in the 1400 block of Cuyler. The 24-year-old man, whose phone number is listed in Bellwood, was found to be intoxicated, and when an ambulance arrived, he began “punching, kicking and fighting officers in the middle of the street.” He also, “bit an officer in the right forearm with his teeth in attempt to defeat arrest.” When the man was subdued, police found two bags of cannabis on his person each containing .2 grams with the words “stay high” on each bag. One police officer sustained a back injury and another ripped his trousers and suffered abrasions on his knee. Felony battery charges are pending.
Car on the lawn
3:12 AM
Police impounded a Toyota Camry after finding it in the front yard of a house in the 3000 block of Harlem, 40 feet from a crash site where it hit a parked Nissan Altima. Driver Lynn Van Buskirk of the 400 block of East in Oak Park, reportedly told police she did not know why her vehicle was off the roadway on a lawn. She was charged with DUI and driving on the sidewalk.
--J. LeHane
Assault, battery • Disorderly conduct • Drugs, alcohol, DUI • Suspicious people, objects or events • Traffic stops / accidents • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Man loses girlfriend’s mom’s car to carjacker
December 31, 2009, 6:30 AM
A 23-year-old man in the 2100 block of Euclid told police he had just moved his girlfriend’s mother’s Nissan Murano, parked it and exited the vehicle, when he was confronted by a man who demanded “gimme the keys or I’ll shoot you!” The victim, who said the offender implied the presence of a weapon, gave up the car keys. The offender reportedly told him to “start running”, then fled northbound in the stolen vehicle. The victim described the offender as a male black, 5’9” to 5’10”, 150-180 lbs, dressed in black jeans, black boots, and a black parka with a fur-trimmed hood.
Suspicious people, objects or events • Theft • Weapons-related • (0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink