Report details melee at Tinley Park Convention Center
BY STEVE METSCH smetsch@southtownstar.com July 18, 2012 8:06PM
Updated: August 20, 2012 11:47AM
Someone was hit in the face with a shoe. Another person was pepper-sprayed. And a woman was slapped in the face, even as she was speaking with a police officer.
All were part of what police called a “large disturbance” after a beauty school graduation ceremony Sunday at the Tinley Park Convention Center, according to a police report on the incident obtained Tuesday by the SouthtownStar via a Freedom of Information Act request.
A Sauk Village woman and a Chicago woman face battery charges for their roles in the fight that occurred about 6:15 p.m.
Police did not say what sparked the melee, but Tamika Greene, 30, of 22220 Brookwood Drive in Sauk Village, was charged with two counts of battery and one count of reckless conduct for her role in the incident, according to the police report. Deandra Jane Wilson, 19, of 4008 S. Dearborn St. in Chicago, was charged with battery, police said.
A 21-year-old Dolton woman told police that Greene sprayed a Mace-like substance into her face while she was inside the convention center.
While an officer was talking with that woman, Wilson ran up and struck her in the face with an open hand, police said. Wilson immediately was detained by the officer, and the woman then pointed out Greene, who still was on the scene, police said.
Greene told police she sprayed a substance at the woman because someone had hit her in the face with a shoe. Police noticed a minor laceration to her forehead, according to the report.
Greene and the 21-year-old Dolton woman were treated for minor injuries at the scene, police said.
A 17-year-old Markham girl told police Greene had sprayed something into her face and into the face of a baby girl she was holding at the time. Police were unable to find evidence that the infant had been sprayed, but they did find in Greene’s possession a can of dog spray containing capsaicin, a compound found in chili peppers, according to the report.
Greene and Wilson were released on their own recognizance and are due in court July 30, police said.
