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11/12/2008
Follow the below links to crime in the news articles you may have missed:
Armed
robbers stike Southland homeowners
http://www.southtownstar.com/news/1274130,111208homeinvasion.article
Gunmen fire shot into home
http://www.southtownstar.com/neighborhoodstar/homewood-flossmoor/1271576,111008flossmoorshooting.article
The linked articles are being posted, because the two young, black males who robbed a couple in their garage
at gunpoint have not been apprehended yet. I confirmed the race of the two offenders with the Frankfort police at the phone
number mentioned in the article. Also, I confirmed the race of the offenders in the Flossmoor incident with the Flossmoor
police. I was told they both were young, black males; one was approximately 6-foot in height and the other approximately 5-foot
8-inches.
Due to the similarities of the incidents, it would be wise to be extra cautious of your surroundings
no matter where you are or what you are doing. It may be possible that these are random acts, and the offenders are targeting
different cities in the south, southwest suburbs.
The 'Armed Robbers' article states, "Detectives
are hunting for possible links between a pair of armed robberies that left two Southland households terrified Monday."
Flossmoor Deputy Police Chief Mike Pulec said in the article, "They were similar incidents, but at the moment there's
no connection we've been able to make."
Use your better judgment, be alert and don't ignore the uneasy,
gut feeling you get when something does not seem right. Act on it by calling 911 if it causes you to feel suspicious and to
look twice.
REMEMBER:
-If you witness a crime in progress, call 911.
-If something makes you look
twice, you have a "gut" feeling or you feel threatened in any way, call 911.
-If you are not satisfied with
the dispatcher's response to your call, then ask for the supervisor on duty.
-If you have any questions, comments
or concerns about an incident and want to know the follow-up, please contact the police department and ask to speak with the
supervisor on duty. Be sure to have the exact date of the incident; this information is needed in order to look it up.
Be safe, be well!
Eva LaRoche
3rd Ward Coordinator
KNOWLEDGE IS OUR WEAPON AGAINST CRIME!!!
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11/12/2008
Hello, everyone!
Sgt. Richard Beatty is no longer an active member of the Oak Forest Police Department.
He is on permanent disability until September, 2009.
Deputy Chief David DeMarco told me that there has not been
a person designated as liaison for the crime prevention/neighborhood watch program. He said, for the time being, if you need
to call the police department with any questions or concerns, you may ask for the Watch Commander (supervisor).
Always
call 911 when you have an emergency situation.
Stay safe, stay well!
Eva LaRoche
3rd Ward Coordinator
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11/2/2008
NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH ALERT: Armed robbery incident
INCIDENT TYPE: Armed robbery
OCCURRENCE
TIME: 2:35am, October 31, 2008
LOCATION OF OCCURRENCE: On 151st Street at Lavergne Avenue
Here are the exact
details in the crime report from the Oak Forest Police Department. Words within the brackets [ ] are my own:
"R/O's [responding officer's] dispatched to 151st & Lavergne reference to an armed robbery that occurred
approx. 20 [minutes] prior. The victim was no longer at the location. R/O then went to the victim's residence at [XXXXX]
and learned the following in summary; At approx. 0235 hrs. this date the victim, [XXXXX], was on his way home from work at
Durbins. He was heading W/B [westbound] on 151st Street from Cicero and had the driver side window open. As he stopped at
the stop sign on Lavergne a subject came from the N/E [northeast] side of the street, crossed in front of the victim's
vehicle, and approached the victim through the open driver side window. The subject placed a silver handgun to the victim's
head and said 'Give me all your shit'. The victim handed the offender his wallet at which time the offender took approx.
$40.00 USC [US currency] from the wallet and threw it back at the victim. The offender pulled a gold chain and cross from
the victim's neck and fled E/B [eastbound] on 151st from Lavergne on foot. The victim informed R/O he drove quickly away
and went home to call 911. He was too frightened to use his cell phone. According to the victim, the offender was wearing
a black ski mask, a black sweatshirt, black gloves, and black jeans. The offender was approx. 5'10" and 160 to 170
lbs and from the sound of his voice the victim believes the offender was M/W. Nothing further."
With the further
decline of our country's economic health, we must be even more vigilant at all times. Know that this type of activity
is occurring everywhere, even in more affluent communities. Some people start to think they need to leave our city to go somewhere
else they might feel is safer. Again, crime is everywhere; you will not be able to flee from it, but you can do something
about it...
I ask that those of you who are not involved yet in the neighborhood watch program, to please consider
the benefits of this program. The more people who participate, the better the program works. Even if you have not been personally
affected by a crime, please do your part as a responsible resident of Oak Forest and join our neighborhood watch program.
We all have busy schedules in our daily lives, but it doesn't take a lot of time to be a part of this effective program.
We cannot expect the police to be on every corner of our neighborhoods. They are employed to react to incidents; they are
not security guards. That's why it is of the utmost importance that we begin to take responsibility of our community by
assisting the police. We are their extra eyes and ears. We must not lay blame on anyone if we don't do our fair share.
I ask those of you that are already participating in the program, to please take it a step further and get others
who are not yet involved to join. We must all work together to strengthen our community to keep it as safe as humanly possible.
Thank you. Stay safe, stay well!
Eva LaRoche
3rd Ward Coordinator
eva-laroche@att.net
KNOWLEDGE IS OUR WEAPON AGAINST CRIME!!!
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11/2/2008
If you happen to be Catholic, as Kelly is, you would know that priests wear
different vestments to commemorate
the various rites of the church. It is appropriate for a public servant to wear clothing or armbands to mourn one of their
own who has passed away. People still wear black at funerals although that is changing.
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11/2/2008
NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH ALERT: Mailbox blown up
Sometime in the middle of the night October 30th-31st
in the neighborhood of 156th & Latrobe, a mailbox was blown up. The homeowner did not hear anything, but her neighbor
said he heard something like a loud firecracker around 1:30am.
The homeowner called the non-emergency police number
to report it. An officer came out to her house and told her that there is a rash of this type of activity going on.
It is most likely teenagers that are doing this. They use Drano, pieces of aluminum foil and put the contents into an empty
pop bottle screwing the cap back on; then they place it in the mailbox. The combination of Drano and aluminum foil causes
a reaction of the contents to expand the bottle for approximately 30 minutes before it explodes. This gives the perpetrator(s)
plenty of time to leave the scene and not being caught or found.
The homeowner had to buy a new mailbox, post and
concrete to repair the damage done by the explosion.
This is an extremely dangerous activity that is being carried
out. However slight, there is a possibility that a car may drive past and get damaged with a chance of injuring the driver,
or an individual(s) may happen to walk past that particular mailbox that is set to explode and get injured. The perpetrator(s)
carrying out this activity are putting themselves in harm's way as well as it could backfire on them.
Please
be more aware of this type of activity. If you see anyone around your mailbox or neighbor's that looks like they are putting
a bottle in it or something dangerous (like firecrackers, M-80s, cherry bombs, etc.), call 911.
If you hear anything
that sounds like a firecracker or explosion, please check to see what it might be. If there is criminal activity that warrants
a call to the police department, call 911 immediately.
Stay safe, stay well!
Eva LaRoche
3rd Ward
Coordinator
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