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Man Who Reports Gunfire Arrested on Drug Charges


Park Forest, IL–(ENEWSPF)– A man called police to report gunfire last week. When police concluded their investigation, they determined there had been no shots fired, and the man who called was arrested on drug charges.

Police were dispatched to 87A Hemlock on July 25 at 4:25 p.m. to investigate a report of shots fired. Upon arrival, Corporal Strahla spoke with several subjects in the court who area told police there had been no gunshots. A resident at that address, Timothy Paige, related that while he and a friend were in his house, three other adult males came to his house. He said that the three were having an argument on the porch area when one of the men pulled out a black revolver and Paige then slammed the front main door shut. Paige said he heard breaking glass and ran into the basement and called police from the basement. When he came back up he observed two side windows of his door were broken.

Corporal Strahla entered the house to check for bullet holes in the residence with negative results. Strahla also observed the basement window had been broken. Strahla found that a kitchen window had also been broken. When he checked the bathroom, he found no windows broken, but a green leafy substance, suspect cannabis, was located floating in the toilet, according to police.

Paige and man at the residence were taken into custody for investigation of the cannabis. Detective Corporal Baugh and Detectives Beilke and Busse arrived on the scene, and the case was turned over to them.

Detective Beilke smelled a strong odor of fresh cannabis. Beilke also observed stems and seeds on the table and packaging material on the stove. Detective Beilke asked Paige who had recently been inside the residence, and Paige answered he and the other man who had been taken into custody. When Detective Beilke asked about the cannabis, Paige responded that he was smoking it earlier, according to police.

Detective Beilke contacted Felony Review and spoke with Assistant States Attorney Carlsted, apprising him of the investigation. Carlsted approved a search warrant for the residence at 87A Hemlock. The warrant was signed by Judge Panichi.

Detectives executed the search warrant at approximately 5:07 p.m. Among the items they discovered were a glass smoking device with cannabis residue, thirty-two 9 mm Luger bullets, one .38 caliber lead ball ammo, one 9 mm live round ammo, a magazine containing eight 9 mm bullets, fourteen 38 special bullets, an instruction manual for a Model CPX-1 handgun, and approximately six grams of suspect cannabis.

Detectives brought Paige into an interview room, read him his Miranda Rights, which he acknowledged and waived, according to police. Detective Beilke apprised him of the ammunition, cannabis, and “one hitter” they had discovered in his residence along with plastic bags for packaging as a result of the search warrant. According to police, Paige allegedly stated that he does smoke pot and sells a little “weed” to make extra money. He stated that the ammunition belonged to someone else.

Timothy J. Paige, 87A Hemlock, Park Forest, was arrested and charged with possession of cannabis. The investigation of the criminal damage to property to Paige’s window will continue, according to police.

The other man was questioned and released without charges.


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