Law and Order, Local Police Reports, Park Forest

Park Forest Police Blotter Reports through January 7, 2020


TimStrong police squad
The #TimStrong police squad parked in the DownTown on July 4, 2019. (Photo: Gary Kopycinski)
First paragraph updated with correct date afternoon of Feb. 7, 2020

Park Forest, IL-(ENEWSPF)- These police reports include activity through January 7, 2020. One item is not an arrest but a citation.

Providing more details than readers will find in any other police beat reports, we invite readers to subscribe to get the whole story, every day.

eNews Park Forest has always published addresses of those arrested and will continue to do so. 5 ILCS 140/2.15 states that the governmental body (for these reports, the Police Department), shall release information on those who have been charged, including their name, age, and address. This information is necessary to ensure the proper identity of those arrested.

An arrest does not mean that a person is guilty. All those arrested are presumed innocent until proven guilty. It is the policy of eNews Park Forest to not remove items in the public record from publication. If your name is listed in the police reports, we will only add information relevant to the final disposition of the case at hand, e.g. “Mr. Smith was subsequently acquitted,” “Mr. Smith entered a guilty plea,” or “All charges against Mr. Smith were subsequently dropped.” We will do so upon receiving and verifying proof of such disposition.

Persons wishing to leave anonymous information on any criminal matters including narcotics or gang activity are encouraged to call the Park Forest Police Department Investigations Division at (708) 748-1309.

eNews Park Forest reports this information because the public in the United States has the right to know.  When that information is withheld or under-reported, it leaves questions.  We also want to show the work that the police force does every day that is not reported.  Police in Park Forest respond to thousands of calls per year, the vast majority of which do not end up with arrests.  Whether it’s conducting a routine investigation, pulling over a drunk driver, or responding to a possible theft at a store, the work of the police officer deserves acknowledgment by the public.

Battery

Damien T. Jackson Jr., 19, 2413 Sunset Rd., Hazel Crest, was issued a municipal citation charging battery after police responded to the 200 block of Lakewood Boulevard, the Park Forest Police Department, to investigate a report of a sex offense. Mr. Jackson allegedly pinched and grabbed the buttocks of a female relative, according to the report.

Assault

Yosheena C. Harper, 23, 401 Neosho St., Park Forest, was arrested on January 3 and charged with assault and resisting a peace officer after police responded to the 400 block of Huron Street regarding a 911 hang-up.

When the first officer arrived, he observed a woman, later identified as Yosheena C. Harper, who had her son in a car safety seat and was allegedly yelling and cursing at a group of approximately four men and women, according to police. The officer observed Ms. Harper quickly put the child into the back seat and, in an allegedly “aggressive confrontational manner,” according to the report, charged toward one of the women in the group as if she wanted to fight her, according to police.

The officer requested that additional units respond as Ms. Harper allegedly continued to attempt to advance toward the woman, according to police.

Ms. Harper “continued to exhibit aggressive and irrational behaviors by tensing up her arms with clenched fists,” according to the report. The officer first on the scene shouted several times, ordering Ms. Harper to stop pulling away from him, according to police.

At one point, Ms. Harper removed her pants, later allegedly telling police that this was to free up her ability to fight, according to police.

Driving While License Suspended

Stashon L. Pickens, 23, 22234 Yates Ave., Sauk Village, was arrested on January 4 and charged with one count of resisting a peace officer. Mr. Pickens was also issued citations charging speeding, operation of an uninsured motor vehicle, and driving while license was suspended.

An officer was patrolling at 7:50 AM on route 30 just east of Orchard Boulevard in the median monitoring eastbound traffic. While there, the officer observed a black Jeep traveling eastbound on route 30 allegedly at a high rate of speed, according to police. The officer activated the front-mounted radar in his patrol vehicle and determined that the Jeep was allegedly traveling at 65 mph in a posted 40 mph zone, according to police.

The officer conducted a U-turn and followed the Jeep to the intersection of route 30 and Western Avenue. The officer activated the emergency lighting on his patrol vehicle and curbed the Jeep on route 30 just east of Western Avenue, according to police.

The officer asked the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle, Stashon S. Pickens, for his driver’s license and proof of insurance. Mr. Pickens was unable to provide either dating he left his wallet and another pair of pants, according to police. Mr. Pickens instead provided his name and date of birth.

The officer returned to his patrol vehicle and conducted a LEADS inquiry which yielded that to Pickens’s Illinois driver’s license was currently invalid, surrendered to Indiana, according to police. The officer also discovered there was no record on file in Indiana for a driver’s license issued to Mr. Pickens, according to police.

The officer returned to the vehicle and spoke with Mr. Pickens who related that he once lived in Indiana but never obtained an Indiana driver’s license, according to police.

The officer conducted an additional LEADS inquiry which again returned no record on file in Indiana, according to the police.

Another officer was now on the scene and the two ordered Mr. Pickens several times to exit his vehicle. Mr. Pickens eventually complied, according to police. Officers told Mr. Pickens to place his hands behind his back as he was being placed under arrest on suspicion of driving without a valid driver’s license, according to police. While doing so, one of the officers grabbed Mr. Pickens’s right arm, attempting to bring up to the rear of his person, according to police.

Mr. Pickens allegedly tensed his arm and pulled it forward from the officer, according to police. Both officers had to take hold of Mr. Pickens’s arms, peace on the left and one the right, according to police.

Mr. Pickens still allegedly continued to pull both arms forward and allegedly ignored the officers’ commands in an attempt to “defeat arrest by officers,” according to the report.

One of the officers deployed his Taser, remove the cartridge, and placed the Taser on the small of Mr. Pickens’s back. The officer informed Mr. Pickens that he was going to be tased if he continued to resist arrest, according to police. At this point, Mr. Pickens immediately placed both hands behind his back and one of the officers was able to place Mr. Pickens into handcuffs.

Mr. Pickens was not exposed any Taser cycles, according to police.

Mr. Pickens’s vehicle was towed from the scene was and an administrative seizure was placed on the vehicle per village ordinance, according to police.


ARCHIVES