Dogfight Leads to Battery Charge: Blotter

SUNDAY, JAN. 25

DUI

Alex Kizer, 37, of the 900 block of Central Park, Chicago, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence, driving with a blood-alcohol content of more than 0.08, driving with an open container of alcohol, driving without proof of insurance, driving with an obstructed windshield and failure to properly signal after a Jan. 25 traffic stop, according to Homewood police reports.

Police pulled over Kizer at about 2:54 a.m., after observing him driving his silver Pontiac Grand Prix erratically northbound in the 17400 block of Halsted Street, the report stated. Police also noticed a large object obstructing the windshield, the report added.

During the stop, police detected a strong odor of alcohol coming from Kizer’s breath, the report stated. Later, Kizer submitted to a breath test, which registered a blood-alcohol content of .146, the report added.

SATURDAY, JAN. 24

Battery after Dogfight

Barry Klippenstein, 58, of the 18300 block of May Street, was arrested and charged with battery after a Jan. 24 incident involving his dog fighting with another one, according to Homewood police reports.

A woman contacted police at about 8 a.m. concerning an unleashed dog on a walking path around the 1100 block of Ridge Road, the report stated. The dog began growling at the woman’s dog, and the two started fighting, the report added.

The woman finally was able to separate the two dogs, grabbing the unleashed canine by its collar, the report stated. Klippenstein, the owner of the unleashed dog, then came over and told the woman to let go of his dog because she was choking him, the report added. The woman said she wouldn’t let the dog go and told Klippenstein to come over and control his pet, according to the report.

Klippenstein then walked over to the woman, pushed her in the shoulder and told her to let go of her dog again, the report stated.

Police eventually took Klippenstein in to custody and cited him with a no-trespass notice along with the battery charge, the report stated. His court date is March 18.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 21

Retail Theft

Two men face retail theft charges after one was stopped for shoplifting while the other who drove them both was accused of making a fraudulent store return, according to Homewood police reports.

John Crawfore, 45, of the 18900 block of Jonathan Lane, Homewood, was charged with two counts of felony retail theft. Lee Carl Chatman, 48, of the 14300 block of Dobson Street, Dolton, was charged with two counts of misdemeanor retail theft.

A loss prevention agent for Kohl’s, 17620 Halsted St., contacted police at about 5:11 p.m. Jan. 21, after observing Crawfore concealing several girls shirts (totalling $168) in a bag and leaving without paying for them, the report stated. The agent also claimed Chatman, the driver of the car the two left in, made a fraudulent store return that same day, taking a blender (worth $97.19) from the home goods department and receiving store credit for a no-receipt return, the report added.

Information on how police apprehended Crawfore and Chatman was redacted from the police report.

Possession of a Controlled Substance

A woman was arrested Jan. 21 when police found cocaine and a phony $100 bill on her after she was caught fleeing with a man after he had shoplifted alcohol from a grocery store, according to Homewood police reports.

Selina Moore, 20, 100 block of Wabash Avenue, Glenwood, was charged with possession of a controlled substance and forgery. Darryl Linnear, 30, 5000 block of 159th Street, Oak Forest, was arrested and charged with retail theft and possession of a theft detection device.

According to the report, Linnear fled Jewel, 17705 Halsted St., at about 7:59 p.m., with $130.51 of alcohol he had taken without paying for from the store. He drove northbound on Halsted Street in a silver Honda that had Moore as a passenger, the report added.

Once police stopped the two, a search of Moore uncovered a counterfeit $100 bill and a Newport cigarette box containing a clear, plastic bag filled with a powdery substance that was field tested as cocaine, the report stated. A search of Linnear revealed a hand key used to deactivate anti-theft security devices, the report added.

TUESDAY, JAN. 20

Retail Theft

Kendall Brazier, 18, of the 19100 block of Walter Street, Lansing, was arrested and charged with felony retail theft after being accused of stealing items Jan. 20, from Target, 17605 Halsted St., according to Homewood police reports.

Brazier, a store employee, had been seen via closed-circuit TV taking items from the store and putting them in his personal book bag before leaving at the end of his shift, the report stated.

SUNDAY, JAN. 18

DUI

Markendrick Redmond, 26, of the 3500 block of Marseilles Lane, Hazel Crest, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence, driving with a blood-alcohol content of more than 0.08, driving without a rear registration light and improper use of a turn signal after a Jan. 18 traffic stop, according to Homewood police reports.

At about 3 a.m., an officer noticed Redmond driving a tan Oldsmobile Aurora northbound in the 18200 block of Kedzie Avenue without the rear registration light on, the report stated. While following the car, the officer watched as Redmond alternated between his left and right turn signals without actually turning, then slow before accelerating again, the report added. The officer finally pulled over Redmond in the 17600 block of Kedzie Avenue, according to the report.

During the stop, the officer reported smelling a strong odor of alcohol on Redmond’s breath and noticed that he was “extremely disarranged” and had trouble removing his driver’s license from his wallet, the report stated. Redmond told the officer he had been drinking earlier that evening at a friend’s house, the report added.

Redmond later submitted to a breath test, which registered a blood-alcohol content level of .210, the report stated.

SATURDAY, JAN. 17

Retail Theft

Eva Lawson, 32, 200 block of Leonard Street, Chicago Heights, was arrested and charged with felony retail theft after being accused of shoplifting clothing Jan. 17, from Kohl’s, 17620 Halsted St., according to Homewood police reports.

A store employee noticed Lawson, via closed-circuit TV, exiting a dressing room with fewer clothing items than she had when she went in, the report stated. Lawson then paid for the item she had and attempted to leave the store when the employee stopped her, the report added.

In the store’s security office, Lawson removed a pair of misses fitness pants (totalling $50) from her purse, the report stated.

FRIDAY, JAN. 16

Retail Theft

Robert Jacox, 37, of the 1100 block of 191st Street, was arrested and charged with retail theft and obstructing identification after being accused of stealing saw blades Jan. 16, from Menard’s, 17545 Halsted Street, according to Homewood police reports.

At about 9:05 a.m., Jacox allegedly put five saw blades from a display and left the store without paying for them, the report stated. An employee detained Jacox in the store’s security office until police arrived, the report added.

Jacox was taken to the station and fingerprinted, the report stated. It was at the station that he finally gave police his real name, the report added.

The value of the five blades was $11.54, the report stated.

Retail Theft, Possession of Marijuana, Drug Paraphernalia

Janelle Smith, 28, of the 17300 block of Wooded Path Drive, Hazel Crest, was arrested and charged with retail theft, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia after being accused of stealing women’s clothing Jan. 16, from Kohl’s, 17620 Halsted St., according to Homewood police reports.

Kohl’s loss prevention officer told police that he witnessed, via video monitoring, Smith enter a dressing room with items she had taken from the racks, then exit the room without them. When the officer inspected the dressing room, he only found hangers and no clothing, the report stated.

Other store associates stopped Smith after she tried to leave the store without paying and asked her if she was concealing the items on her person, the report stated. Smith admitted she had put the clothing in her purse, and she was then taken in to custody, the report added.

Smith reportedly had tried to take the following clothing items:

• two women’s junior knit tops (worth $12 and $14)
• two pairs of women’s intimate apparel tops (worth $11.50 each)

The loss prevention officer also claimed Smith had stolen a junior knit top ($14) and a pair of junior bottom pants ($40) the previous day, Jan. 15, the report stated. Smith said she would return those items to Kohl’s, the report added.

Information concerning the drug charges was redacted from the report.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 14

Possession of Stolen Credit Cards

Dennetta Wandick, 33, of the 7000 block of Merrill Avenue, Chicago, and Yaki Lee, 41, of the 15200 block of Wabash Avenue, South Holland, were arrested and charged Jan. 14 for identity theft and possession of stolen credit cards, both felonies, according to Homewood police reports.

Wandick and Lee were accused of being in possession of re-embossed credit cards with stolen credit card numbers, the report stated. Those fake cards were then used at Target, Speedway and Homewood Deli & Liquor, the report added.

Police Blotter information is provided by local law enforcement agencies. Charges are not evidence of guilt. They are a record of police actions taken on a given day, and persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. If you or a family member are charged or cited and the case is subsequently adjudicated, we encourage you to notify the editor. We will verify and report the outcome.