A woman was arrested April 19 in Riverside after a police officer on patrol found her asleep in an idling car that had been stolen.
At about 4:15 a.m., the officer saw the car parked next to the Riverside train station; upon running the car’s license plates, the officer found them to be stolen plates from Oak Lawn. The officer saw the driver asleep in the car, but she “startled awake” after the officer knocked on the passenger door, according to police. When the officer opened the unlocked door, the woman said she had been taking a nap before turning the car off and placing her purse in her lap. When the officer asked if the car was hers, the woman said it was, but she was unable to provide any identification.
When the officer asked for her name, the woman said, “No,” and began mumbling before exiting the vehicle and fleeing on foot northwest toward the commuter parking lot, which is enclosed by fences. Police said the woman tried to scale the fence but could not get over it; the officer drew their taser and pointed it at the woman, who then got down from the fence. The woman was then arrested.
Before taking her back to the station, the officer checked the car’s vehicle identification number and ran it, which revealed it had been stolen from Westchester.
After the woman was booked and placed in a cell for questioning, the officer returned to canvas the area. According to police, the officer found the keys to the stolen vehicle, the woman’s purse and a butane lighter. Inside the purse, the officer found two glass pipes, one of which police said was “used to smoke methamphetamine” and another that police said was “used to smoke crack cocaine.” The officer also found two plastic bags with white powder residue, a plastic vape and $15 in cash.
A supplemental police report said officers who inventoried the stolen car discovered several drivers’ licenses, stolen license plates, burglary tools, stolen clothing, electronics, a glass pipe and more inside.
The woman was charged with possessing a stolen motor vehicle, resisting arrest, possessing drug paraphernalia and driving on a revoked license.
Driving under the influence without tail lights
A man was arrested April 25 in Berwyn after a Riverside officer saw him driving without operational tail lights.
Officers followed him and pulled him over near Maple Avenue. While talking with the driver, the officer smelled alcohol on his breath and saw he had bloodshot, glassy eyes, police said. The man provided proof of insurance but did not provide a driver’s license. The man also told the officer he had drunk two beers that night. When the officer ran the name on the man’s insurance, it revealed the man had a revoked license.
The man agreed to take a field sobriety testing, police said. During the horizontal gaze test, the officer asked the man to follow their finger with only his eyes, but the man moved his head too. According to police, the man “was very adamant that he was moving his eyes, which he was not.”
After the officer gave instructions on the walk-and-turn test, the man said he could not perform it due to having been “shot in the back.” When the officer moved onto the one-leg stand test, the man said the same thing before saying he could take the walk-and-turn test. When the officer mentioned the man’s inconsistent responses, he started doing jumping jacks to show the officer he could take the walk-and-turn test, police said.
When the officer resumed explaining the test, the man started on his own and did it improperly. When the officer further explained the test, the man was leaning on his car; when the officer asked the man to step away from the car and continued explaining, the man said he could not take the test due to having been shot.
The man declined a portable breath test, and the officer placed him under arrest.
The man was charged with aggravated driving under the influence, which is a felony, and driving under the influence. He was also charged with driving with a revoked license and without tail lights. A May 2 court date was set.
These items were obtained from the Riverside Police Department reports dated April 19-25 and the Brookfield Police Department reports dated April 22-29; they represent a portion of the incidents to which police responded. Anyone named in these reports has only been charged with a crime and cases have not yet been adjudicated. We report the race of a suspect only when a serious crime has been committed, the suspect is still at large and police have provided us with a detailed physical description of the suspect as they seek the public’s help in making an arrest.
