Crime Report for Jan. 20, 2013
January 18, 2013 7:24PM
Updated: February 21, 2013 6:36AM
Here is at look at crime reports in the Southland.
News includes Oak Lawn, Oak Forest and Park Forest.
OAK LAWN
DUI driver charged in hit and run
An Oak Lawn man was seriously injured Jan. 6 when struck by a drunken driver while walking on New England Avenue near 95th Street, police said.
They said the accident occurred at 12:30 a.m., shortly after both men left Tavern on the West End, 6950 W. 95th St.
John Stifter, 62, 6828 W. 96th Place, suffered multiple facial fractures, a fractured ankle, ribs and shoulder blade as well as a collapsed lung, according to police.
Eric Smok, 30, 9825 Ridgeland Ave., Oak Lawn, was charged with drunken driving, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident and driving with an obstructed windshield.
A witness told police he saw Smok’s Pontiac Trans Am hit Stifter, knock him into the air and Smok get out of his car and check on Stifter before driving away.
Police said they found Smok’s car in the lot of his apartment building, and he admitted to the hit and run, saying his windshield was fogged and he did not see Stifter.
Bob Rakow
Resident charged with vehicle break-ins
An Oak Lawn man was charged with breaking into vehicles, battery and resisting arrest following a Jan. 6 struggle with police, according to police.
Jeffery A. Smith, 23, 9519 Ridgeland Ave., also was charged with criminal trespass and possession of stolen property after police found several compact discs, a radio faceplate, phone chargers and ear buds inside two large coats he was wearing when he was arrested in the 6200 block of 94th Street, police said.
Police initially stopped Smith at 93rd Street and Meade Avenue after receiving a call about a man searching a van. Smith was uncooperative, removed his coat and pushed an officer before fleeing east on 93rd Street, according to police.
They said officers caught Smith and placed him under arrest. Smith said he was walking to a friend’s house and denied breaking into any vehicles or stealing anything, police said.
He told police the compact discs belonged to a friend, and the stereo faceplate was his. He said he ran because he thought he was going to be arrested for being drunk, police said.
Bob Rakow
OAK FOREST
Jewelry store burglarized
Gold chains and silver jewelry were stolen Jan. 8 after two men used a concrete block to smash the front window of Eddie’s Jewelry, 5203 W. 159th St., according to police.
They said video surveillance tapes show the men breaking the window to get in about 1:55 a.m., smashing two glass display cases and placing the jewelry inside a bag.
The burglars were in the store for less than two minutes and exited through the front window, police said.
Bob Rakow
Gas station robbed
A robber took $200 cash Jan. 12 from a gas station by grabbing the clerk by the hair and forcing her to open the cash register, police said.
The man jumped over the counter about 9 p.m. at the Mobil station, 14701 Central Ave., grabbed the woman by her ponytail and ordered her to open a door that he thought led to the office, according to police.
They said that when he saw it was the bathroom, he threatened to lock the employee inside but instead ordered her to open the cash register and put the cash in a bag. The robber then took two packs of cigarettes and fled, police said.
Bob Rakow
PARK FOREST
Teen robbed of cellphone
Three men robbed a 15-year-old Park Forest boy of his cellphone at gunpoint while he was walking Jan. 12 near Forest Trail Middle School, according to police.
The boy told police three men, in their late teens or early 20s, approached him as he walked through the parking lot of the school, 215 Wilson St., with one of the men carrying a handgun and another a sawed-off shotgun.
The third man, who was unarmed, patted him down, took his $200 cellphone, and after ordering the boy to the ground, they fled, police said. They said the boy’s eyeglasses were broken in the incident, but he was not injured.
Kate McCann
