Attempted Restaurant Arson; Crew Casing Cars Charged: Police

NILES, IL — The following information comes from the Niles Police Department as a record of police activity and those arrested by police. Criminal charges represent mere accusations by the state and are often dropped or reduced. Updated information may be available from the Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court. All persons named are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

INCIDENTS

CAR DEALER FRAUDS

• Someone bought a 2010 Ford Edge from Golf Mill Ford, 9401 N. Milwaukee Ave., on April 7 using a bad $1,000 deposit check.
• Someone bought a 2010 Ford Escape from Golf Mill Ford on April 26 using a bad $500 check.
• Someone bought a 2018 Ford Focus from Golf Mill Ford on May 7 using a bad $2,000 check. In each case, the dealership was notified the check did not clear due to insufficient funds.

INDECENT EXPOSURES IN TARGET LOT

• A man in a black four-door sedan, described as in his mid 20s with stubble, pulled up next to a woman in the north end of the Target parking lot at 6150 W. Touhy Ave. and exposed his genitalia to her shortly after 8 p.m. on Aug. 15.
• A man in a gray Buick was reportedly exposing himself to women in the same parking lot shortly before 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 21.

MCDONALD'S FIGHT
Police were called to a report of a disturbance in the parking lot of the McDonald's at 8460 W. Dempster Street around 8:43 p.m. on Aug. 25 after a man told police he had been blocked in the lot by another vehicle. He honked his horn for it to move and five men came out of the car and started a fight, pushing him and punching him in the face.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Police were called to a home on Oleander Avenue shortly before 2 a.m. on Sept. 1 for a report that a woman had been thrown to the ground and had her phone stolen by a romantic partner before fleeing to her mother's house to call police. The suspect was immediately located.

STOLEN CAR
Someone stole a blue Ford SUV from the 9200 block of Woodland Drive during the overnight hours of Sept. 2-3. The car was believed to have been left unlocked with a keyless fob inside, and the owner was not immediately able to access data from the vehicle's GPS locator.

ATTEMPTED RESTAURANT ARSON
Police were called to a possible fire at 2:14 a.m. on Sept. 6 at Amici Ristorante at 7620 N. Milwaukee Ave. A suspected arsonist described as a thin man in his 20s wearing a light-colored hoodie and a beige bandana covering his face reportedly tried to light the rear door of the restaurant on fire before taking off running. Officers did not find a fire but noticed the alley on the west side of the building smelled strongly of gasoline. There was also visible damage along the base and part of the door. There was no damage reported inside the restaurant.

ARRESTS/CITATIONS

Blanca Sustaita, 22, of the 200 block of East Norman Lane in Wheeling, was arrested at 1:38 a.m. on Aug. 16 and charged with battery, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest after police were called to a bar in the 9000 block of North Milwaukee Avenue for a report of a patron outside, yelling at bouncers and threatning to "kill and sue" the staff. She had reportedly been kicked out and tried to fight her way back in. When an officer tried to take her into custody, she threw her phone and resisted.

Lukasz A. Wojewoda, 32, of the 9300 block of Ozark Avenue in Morton Grove, Casey F. Martin, 31, of the 1000 block of North Fairfield Road in Round Lake Beach, Michael P. Gibbs, 33, of the 4900 block of West Berteau Avenue in Chicago, and Justin J. Turley, 20, of the 8800 block of South Harlem Avenue in Bridgeview, were arrested around 9:30 p.m. on Aug. 16 in the Home Depot parking lot after police were called about a suspicious group of people in a car looking into various parked cars. Arriving officers learned their car was reported stolen from Chicago, and conducted a search. Turley was arrested on a warrant issued by DuPage County and also charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and criminal trespassing to a vehicle. Wojewoda was charged with possession of a controlled substance. Martin was charged with identity theft. Gibbs was charged with possession of burglary tools.

Pamela L. Williams, 39, of the 8300 block of West Golf Road in Des Plaines was arrested and charged with retail theft in connection with an incident at 2 p.m. on Aug. 17 at the Old Navy, 8315 W. Golf Road.

Uriel B. Arcos, 27, of the 300 block of Oak Street in Des Plaines, was arrested around 4 a.m. on Aug. 18 and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and DUI with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more following a traffic stop for improper lane usage near the intersection of North Western Avenue and West Golf Road.

Kinga Politanska, 44, of the 1400 block of Granville Avenue in Park Ridge, was arrested around 11 a.m. on Aug. 20 at the Niles Police Department and charged with forgery for reportedly cashing bad checks.

Donesha M. Robertson, 22, of the 1700 block of West 80th Street in Chicago, was arrested at 8:48 p.m. on Aug. 20 after she was taken into custody by Evergreen Park police for retail theft while also wanted for a retail theft at a Niles Jewel-Osco.

Yoviel T. Gebre, 33, of the 800 block of West Lakeside Place in Chicago, was arrested around 6:30 p.m. and charged with retail theft at the Walmart, 5630 W. Touhy Ave., after he reportedly took a bottle of whiskey without paying by only ringing up a packet of Kool-Aid mix at the self-checkout aisle.

Kaushik Chaudhari, 28, of the 4700 block of Kildare Avenue in Chicago, was arrested at 1:06 a.m. on Aug. 25 and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol after he was pulled over for speeding 51 mph in a 35 mph zone in the 7200 block of North Milwaukee Avenue. He reportedly admitted to having one beer but showed signs of impairment during field sobriety testing.

Karolina D. Kalat, 25, of the 4900 block of Oconto Avenue in Harwood Heights, was arrested at 3:36 a.m. on Aug. 25 and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and possession of drug paraphernalia after she was pulled over for speeding 52 mph in a 35 mph zone. She appeared impaired and admitted having just left a bar and having two beers. A search of the car turned up a water bottle with alcohol inside and a glass pipe in the glove compartment.

Christopher E. Knapcyzk, 23, of the 7300 block of Howard Street in Chicago, was arrested at 3:03 a.m. on Aug. 27 and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and DUI with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more following a traffic stop for swerving across the road in the area of West Oakton Street and North Cumberland Avenue. After nearly striking the curb, the driver admitted having a couple of beers about an hour earlier. A search of the car revealed an empty bottle of alcohol near the passenger seat.

Thomas J. Tangney, Jr., 49, of the 5500 block of Spalding Avenue in Chicago, was arrested at 1:04 p.m. on Aug. 27 and charged with retail theft after he left the Home Depot at 8650 W. Dempster Street with a $379 table he had not paid for. He also had three outstanding arrest warrants.

A 17-year-old Glenview boy was arrested at 1:14 a.m. on Aug. 28 and charged with zero tolerance – underage drinking and driving – driving without a valid license and cited for being out past curfew after he was pulled over for speeding 59 mph in a 35 mph zone in the 9300 block of North Milwaukee Avenue and found to have an open bottle of whiskey on the floor. He admitted having three to five drinks of whiskey and smelled strongly of booze.

Mitchell M. Janvier, 32, of the 8100 block of Kenton Avenue in Skokie, was arrested at 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 29 at the Niles Police Department and charged with retail theft in connection with a July 9 incident at Assi Plaza, 8901 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Mark R. Peters, 54, of the 2600 block of West Fitch Avenue in Chicago, was arrested at 3:07 a.m. on Sept. 5 and charged with driving under the influence of a combination of drugs and alcohol following a traffic stop for speeding 40 mph in a 30 mph zone in the area of West Howard Street and North Nottingham Avenue. Police smelled marijuana and alcohol coming from the car and the driver admitted to having a few beers and smoking a joint. He was also charged with DUI – drugs, DUI – alcohol and DUI with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more.

Christopher Macleish, 31, of the 5400 block of North Sheridan Road in Chicago, was arrested at 9:15 p.m. on Sept. 6 and charged with retail theft from the Target at 6150 W. Touhy Ave.

Kathryn J. Thomas, 34, of the 1200 block of Harding Avenue in Des Plaines, was arrested around 10 a.m. on Sept. 6 and charged with two counts of retail theft from the Target at 6150 W. Touhy Ave.

James A. Lange, 36, of the 3700 block of South Giles Street in Chicago, was arrested around 10:15 p.m. on Sept. 6 and charged with two counts of retail theft from the Target at 6150 W. Touhy Ave.

Primitivo Santos, 32, of the 6400 block of South Knox Avenue in Chicago, was arrested at 1:31 a.m. on Sept. 2 and charged with aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol following an incident in the 9500 block of North Milwaukee Avenue. Police said he left a car with several flat tires blocking traffic lanes and began walking toward the Walmart. Officers smelled alcohol on him and he admitted owning the vehicle and said he left it there because it had stopped running. Police also found two small baggies containing suspected cocaine. In addition to felony DUI, he was charged with DUI – alcohol, DUI with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more, driving without a valid license and possession of a controlled substance.

» Last Month: Urination, Threat Lead To Drug, Assault Charges: Niles Police Blotter, Aug. 4 - Aug. 16

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