Berwyn Police Blotter
Gang selects Berwyn bar for party; disturbances, after-hours drinking, ensue
September 7, 2008, 3:35 PM
An officer looking for graffiti behind Fonzie’s bar, 3243 Harlem, noticed seven vehicles in the lot. Because of three calls* to the same area earlier --all involving active members of a street gang who openly stated they were having a party at Fonzie’s—he called for backup. Two officers entered the bar. Manager Jamie Nieves, 28, of Cicero, said the only people drinking in the bar were employees. Police saw six people at tables with open, very cold, beers before them. Nieves agreed with the officers that it was 3:30 AM, and that he should have stopped serving at 3 AM. Nieves received a ticket for serving alcohol after hours—a ticket he refused to sign.
*
The three earlier incidents were as follows:
2:08 AM: police made a street stop of two people who said they had been at a party at Fonzie’s. Name checks revealed them to be active gang members; they were ultimately sent on their way.
2:22 AM
A disturbance call, reporting men yelling and fighting in front of Pierre’s banquet hall—3237 Harlem—brought officers back. Name checks of every man involved in this fight showed they, too, were active members of the same gang. One 20-year-old man even had a gang slogan ("ALMIGHTY A^%%@$#") tattooed across his eyebrows.
2:29 AM
A traffic stop of a vehicle pulling away from Fonzie’s; all occupants were active, admitted members of the above gang.
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