Berwyn Police Blotter
Weapons, drugs and wads o’cash confiscated after apparent robbery
October 11, 2007, 10:53 AM
A witness walked into the police station to report seeing what looked like a robbery at the Marathon gas station, 26th and Ridgeland; he said a man punched a FedEx driver in the face, appeared to remove packages from the FedEx truck, then entered a late-model Chevy Tahoe and followed the truck. It should be noted that no 911 calls came in about this incident. Responding officers spoke with another witness, who saw a man ask the FedEx driver for money. Police found the FedEx van in the 2100 block of Wesley, and the Tahoe at 24th and Gunderson. Because police believed a robbery or hijacking had just occurred, the Tahoe driver was ordered out and onto the ground at gunpoint. Police handcuffed him and his front-seat passenger. The back-seat passenger was paralyzed and had his wheelchair in the Tahoe with him. A fannypack on the seat of the wheelchair had its zipper open, enabling police to plainly see a large amount of US currency, as well as a handgun. As the wheelchair was removed from the Tahoe, two bags fell out of the bottom of the chair: one containing marijuana, the other cocaine. A patdown of the paralyzed man produced additional pot in a bag in his left sock.
The victim—the FedEx driver who was punched in the face—told police he stopped for lunch and parked on 26th. As he was parking, the Tahoe pulled up so as to partly block in his van. The FedEx driver recognized the front passenger, a man he knew only as “Tunes”. The victim said he and his nephew were drinking at the Windsor sports bar once when the nephew introduced him to “Tunes”. He said “Tunes” asked him for money, but he stated he had none. He told police his nephew may be the one who owes the money. He said he feared “Tunes” because he knew he carries guns. Next, he said, “Tunes” stepped up onto the running board and said “move over, move over.” He said “Tunes” punched him in the nose, then jumped down and tried the passenger door. Noticing the van was no longer blocked, the victim drove away.
When asked why he did not report the incident, the victim said he was afraid.
The fanny pack police found on the wheelchair contained a loaded Taurus PT 22; it held nine rounds of ammunition. There were also three bundles of currency totalling $4,000. The Tahoe’s center console—to which the narcotics-sniffing dog alerted—held $1,641.
The pot found in the paralyzed man’s sock weighed 4.2 grams. The bag of pot from the wheelchair weighed 5.0 grams; the bag of cocaine weighed 15.1 grams. There was also a 7” knife in the passenger-side door of the SUV.
After being read his rights, the front-seat passenger—Vince Hernandez, 26, of the 6100 block of south Nashville, Chicago (aka “Tunes"), an admitted gang member, told police he was driving around with his friends when they saw the victim. He said he lent $2000 to the victim a few months earlier, money he said he “just had lying around.” He stated he had no job at the time of the loan and still had no job.
Hernandez was charged with three felony counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon; one felony count of possession of cocaine and one of possession with intent to deliver, and one count of misdemeanor battery.
The Tahoe driver, Octavio Navarro, 31, of Cicero, told police he had no idea how the drugs or the loaded gun got inside the Tahoe. He received the same charges as above, but without the charge of battery.
The back-seat passenger, Eric Vasquez, 34, of the 1800 block of Euclid, received the same charges as Navarro with an additional misdemeanor pot-possession charge. Court date for the three is October 31st at 9 AM in room 103 of Maybrook Courthouse.
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