Park Forest, IL—(ENEWSPF)—The Force was not with everyone on May the Fourth. From the night before through May 4, Park Forest Police were busy. Star Wars Day culminated for one officer when a handcuffed man allegedly set a fire in the back seat of a squad car. He reportedly did so while an officer transported him from Monee to Park Forest.
May the Fourth, 2024, was also the first time we’ve read of a suspect who set a fire while inside a squad vehicle.
We belatedly say, “May the Fourth be with you.” And I hope it’s better next year for those in Blue.
Park Forest Police Blotter Reports Through May 4, 2024
Battery
Police arrested Karla M. Fox, 42, Country Club Hills, on May 3 and charged her with battery. Police responded to a home on Hay Street at 7:16 PM to investigate a report of a fight. According to SouthCom Dispatch, the caller reported two women fighting in the front yard.
One of the women told police she had just lost her job and got into an argument with her boyfriend. During their debate, Karla M. Fox allegedly called her a “Hoe,” according to police. This led to an argument between the two women.
According to the report, Ms. Fox then attacked the other woman, grabbing her by her braids and throwing her, according to police. She also allegedly slapped the other woman approximately four times and punched her with a closed fist five times, according to police. An officer also saw a bite mark on the other woman’s left arm, according to police.
Aggravated UUW
Police arrested Dorian M. Rucker, 40, Chicago, on May 3 and charged her with suspended registration – mandatory insurance, operation of an uninsured motor vehicle, unlawful transportation of cannabis, and driving while license was suspended. The Cook County Felony Review Office approved one count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon (UUW).
An officer was traveling westbound on Sauk Trail near Indianwood Boulevard at 11:48 PM. He saw a Mazda CX5 also heading westbound. He conducted a leads inquiry and learned that the vehicle’s registration expired in January 2024. The vehicle’s registration was suspended because of a mandatory insurance violation, according to police. The officer curbed the vehicle on Sauk Trail just west of Indianwood and spoke with the driver, later identified as Dorian M. Rucker.
Ms. Rucker provided the officer with her license but was unable to produce insurance, according to police. She told the officer she was unaware that the plates were suspended. According to the report, the officer saw a small Ziploc bag of cannabis flower in the cup holder next to Ms. Rucker. The officer advised Ms. Rucker on the lower regarding the transportation of cannabis in a vehicle in Illinois. He asked the passenger in the car if he had any cannabis on his person. He responded that he did, according to police.
Police Find a Weapon
The officer then asked Ms. Rucker to exit the vehicle. She complied. While searching the car, the officer found a black Canik TP9SF 9 mm handgun between the driver’s seat and the center console, police said. The weapon had 18 rounds of ammunition in the magazine and an empty chamber, according to police.
The officer asked Ms. Rucker if she had a Concealed Carry License (CCL). Ms. Rucker allegedly said that she did. She further confirmed that the firearm was hers, according to police. The officer subsequently conducted a computer inquiry and learned that Ms. Rucker’s Illinois driver’s license was suspended. Police learned that she only possessed an Illinois Firearm Owner Identification Card, FOID. Ms. Rucker did not have a Concealed Carry License, police said.
The officer continued to search the vehicle and found a magazine in the center console. This magazine also contained 18 rounds of live 9 mm ammunition, according to police. Ms. Rucker allegedly told the officer that she had not gotten around to obtaining a CCL, according to police.
DUI BAC Greater than 0.08
Police arrested Alyssa J. Klyczek, 25, Steger, on May 4 and charged her with driving under the influence of alcohol, driving under the influence of alcohol with a BAC greater than .08, improper lane usage, and illegal transportation of liquor.
An officer and a probationary police officer were in a vehicle heading north on Western Avenue at 2:16 AM. As they approached Norwood Boulevard, the officer driving saw a vehicle traveling east on Norwood Boulevard toward Western Avenue. According to police, the car made a wide right turn and then briefly drove in the center of both lanes as it traveled south onto Western Avenue.
Police: Car Crosses and Straddles Lines
Conducting a U-turn, the officer began to follow the car. He saw the vehicle cross the center dividing line and then weave back into the lane, according to police. It then allegedly drifted toward the center lane line again and straddled the line as it continued south on Western Avenue from Main Street, police said. The officer approached the vehicle, now identified as a red 2019 Chevrolet Trax. He initiated a traffic stop on Sauk Trail just east of Western Avenue.
The Chevrolet slowly came to a halt.
The officer spoke with the driver and the only person in the car, Alyssa J. Klyczek. Ms. Klyczek said she was driving home from a bar in Homewood where she worked. Immediately upon making contact, the officer detected the odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from inside the vehicle, according to police. Ms. Klyczek’s eyes were also glassy, and her speech had a distinct slur, police said. She gave the officer a valid driver’s license but could only produce an expired insurance card, police said.
Standardized Field Sobriety Tests
The officer asked her how much he had to drink. She replied, “Not much,” according to police. The officer asked her to exit the car to perform Standardized Field Sobriety Tests. After administering the tests, the officer advised Ms. Klyczek that he was arresting her on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.
According to police, the officer found an empty 355 mL can of High Noon Vodka Seltzer inside the car in a small garbage bin next to the driver’s seat. The garbage bin also contained a 50 mL plastic bottle of Deep Eddy vodka. The officer transported Ms. Klyczek to the Park Forest Police Department.
According to police, Ms. Klyczek provided a breath sample at 3:04 AM, which indicated a BAC of .153.
Driving Under the Combined Influence of Alcohol, Other Drug or Drugs, or Intoxicating Compound or Compounds
This is the first time we remember encountering this specific, encompassing DUI charge.
Police arrested Kembryana B. Corett, 31, Kankakee, on May 4 and charged her with driving under the combined influence of alcohol, other drug or drugs, or intoxicating compound or compounds.
An officer was heading north on Western Avenue from Indianwood Boulevard at 2:34 AM when he saw a gray 2021 Hyundai Sonata running with the headlights on in the CVS Pharmacy parking lot. The officer entered the lot and saw that the car was parked over the dividing line of two spots, according to police. Inside was a woman, later identified as Kembryana B. Corbett, asleep in the driver’s seat with the driver’s window down, according to police.
Police Wake Sleeping Driver
The vehicle was running but in Park. The officer walked around the vehicle for about two minutes, shining his flashlight into the car, but Ms. Corbett did not wake, according to police. Two other officers to assist.
The first officer knocked on the vehicle, and Ms. Corbett woke up. According to police, Ms. Corbett told police she knew she was in a CVS parking lot and that she was in Park Forest. She told officers that she was in the parking lot to “get herself together.”
She said a friend made lemonade earlier, and she did not know what was in it. She said it was “nasty,” police said.
According to the report, Ms. Corbett had glassy eyes and slurred speech. She moved slowly and had a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from her breath. Ms. Corbett told officers she didn’t know where she was drinking. She said they got to a bar around 11:50 PM and left the bar recently, according to police.
She allegedly admitted to drinking multiple shots at the bar, police said.
Standardized Field Sobriety Tests
Police asked her to get out of the vehicle since she told them she drank alcohol, according to police. An officer administered Standardized Field Sobriety Tests. After the tests, police arrested Ms. Corbett on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.
When police put her in a squad car, “she became erratic and was screaming and crying,” the report said. According to the report, Ms. Corbett was uncooperative at the Park Forest Police Department. She initially told officers that she takes medication for anxiety but would not share what the medication was. She told police she did not drive the vehicle, but her friend did.
Low BAC
Ms. Corbett consented to a breathalyzer test, which showed a BAC of 0.031, according to police. She denied taking any prescription medications nor any form of illegal narcotics, according to police. Officers asked her to take a blood draw, but she refused, according to police.
Police terminated the interview with her around 4:03 AM, according to the report.
Report: Man Set Fire to Interior of Squad Vehicle: Aggravated Damage to State-Supported Property
Police arrested Charles P. Diorio, 28, Park Forest, on May 4 and charged him with aggravated damage to state-supported property, aggravated resisting a police officer, domestic battery, and obstructing. The aggravated damage to the state-supported property charge relates to the suspect, who allegedly set fire while handcuffed in the back seat of a squad vehicle.
Police responded to a home on Neola Street at 9:57 PM to investigate a report of domestic battery. The alleged victim told police she was in a rental car in front of the house with her boyfriend, Charles P. Diorio.
Mr. Diorio was no longer at the scene, according to police.
She offered her boyfriend a puppy from a litter. Because they were fighting, she told him he could not have the puppy anymore, according to police. According to the victim, Mr. Diorio then got out of the car, took a glass Starbucks bottle, and threw it through the front passenger window.
Bottle Shatters Window Sending Glass Flying
The bottle shattered the window. Glass flew throughout the vehicle all over the woman’s two children, police said. One of the kids was not injured, but the other got glass in his left eye. The woman sustained multiple lacerations to her back, according to police.
Paramedics arrived on the scene and treated the injured. However, neither wanted to be taken to the hospital. Police note that the child with the eye injury complained of pain in his eye while speaking with paramedics, according to the report.
Police Discover Boyfriend is in Monee
Police searched for Mr. Diorio and, after some inquiries, requested the assistance of the Monee Police Department to check the Red Roof Inn, according to police. The Monee PD found Mr. Diorio at the Red Roof Inn and asked that a Park Forest officer respond to the scene.
Upon arriving in Monee, the Park Forest officer learned that Mr. Diorio allegedly became irate and yelled at the Monee officers. He denied being in Park Forest and said he was at the hotel all night.
The officer from Park Forest told him he was arresting him on suspicion of domestic battery.
Police: Man Set Fire in the Back Seat of Squad Car
While attempting to lock the handcuffs on him, Mr. Diorio allegedly began to pull his arms away from the officer, police said. He then reportedly began to resist the Park Forest officer and the other Monee officers, according to police.
Police subdued him to the bed in the hotel room and double-locked the handcuffs, according to police.
Officer: Suspect Set Fire to Seatbelt
The Park Forest officer escorted Mr. Diorio to his squad car. He secured Mr. Diorio into the rear of his patrol vehicle and tried to close the door. While doing so, Mr. Diorio allegedly kicked the squad door into the officer. The door struck the officer’s finger and jammed it against the flashlight on his vest, causing pain, police said.
The officer then began transporting Mr. Diorio to the Park Forest Police Department. Along the way, Mr. Diorio allegedly screamed obscenities. He also reportedly engaged in kicking and headbutting the side windows and front dividing plastic, according to police.
He then told the officer there was smoke inside of the vehicle. The officer initially did not see or smell any smoke. At around 12:07 AM, however, the officer noticed “a working fire” in the rear of the cabin, police said.
Report: Set Fire “Burns Away” Seatbelt
The officer pulled over at Governors Highway and Cicero in Monee. Approaching the back seat, the officer noted that the fire had been extinguished as the seatbelt completely burned away, according to police. The officer rolled down the rear windows of the squad car and continued to the PFPD.
At the Park Forest Police Department, Mr. Diorio allegedly was combative with officers. Police said he was “noncompliant” as they attempted a custodial search of his person. Officers had to forcibly remove his pants and socks, according to the report.
Inspecting the damage to the squad vehicle, the officer noted that the entire passenger side seatbelt burned away, rendering it inoperable, according to police. Likewise, the molded rear plastic passenger seat was burnt and melted, according to police. This indicated a significant fire, police said.
Police: Reviewing Internal Squad Video Shows When Man Set Fire
Park Forest squad cars have internal video, however. Police said the video shows when Mr. Diorio set fire to the seatbelt.
The officer who had been driving observed that, on May 5, 2024, at approximately 12:05 AM, in the 5800 block of West Monee and Manhattan Road in Will County, Mr. Diorio pulled an unknown object from his waistband, according to police. He allegedly did this while handcuffed behind his person, police said.
He then moved to the passenger side of the squad car. The officer saw on the video a light “consistent with the flame” behind Mr. Diorio’s back, according to police.
For about a minute-and-a-half, Mr. Diorio allegedly tried to set the seatbelt on fire, according to police. He succeeded, and the seatbelt caught fire at 12:07 AM, according to police. Mr. Diorio then moved to the driver’s side of the squad car and began screaming about smoke and the vehicle being on fire, according to police.
About Police Reports
Please note that we repeatedly say “according to police” in these reports and often use “allegedly.” We are not asserting that the police officers arrested and charged committed any offenses. We report on the information contained in the reports that the police furnish to us. As those accused are innocent until proven guilty, the burden is on prosecutors and police to prove all alleged crimes.
eNews Park Forest has consistently published the names and 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 charged, including their name, age, and address. This information is necessary to ensure the proper identification of those arrested.
Presumption of Innocence
An arrest does not mean that a person is guilty. The law presumes that all those arrested by police are innocent until proven guilty. It is the policy of eNews Park Forest not to remove items from the public record from publication. Suppose you find your name in the police reports. Our policy is that 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.
We do not strike, “unpublish,” or delete news.
According to police, officers captured all the incidents in this report on body-worn and dash-mounted cameras at the respective scenes. All Park Forest police officers wear body-worn cameras. Officials typically abbreviate these devices as BWC in the reports.
We encourage individuals wishing to leave anonymous information regarding any criminal matters, including narcotics or gang activity, to call the Park Forest Police Department’s Investigations Division at (708) 748-1309.
