Uninvited Party Guest Tosses Firecracker Into Garbage Can, Exploding Mailbox: Fireworks Blotter

OAK LAWN, IL -- A man drinking and walking through the neighborhood was arrested for disorderly conduct when he disrupted a random Fourth of July party by tossing a firecracker into a garbage can, reports said. Khalil Quran, 24, of Oak Lawn, was charged with disorderly conduct. Police also confiscated Quran’s alleged stash of illegal fireworks.

Officers met with a homeowner around 1:40 a.m. July 5 in the 9300 block of South McVicker Avenue. Earlier in the evening, the homeowner said he was hosting a party when a man, later identified as Quran, allegedly tossed firecracker in his garbage can. Quran was not an invited guest and a verbal altercation ensued, reports said.

The homeowner did not wish to sign a complaint, but only wanted Quran to leave. While talking to the homeowner and his guests, police received a second call about a man matching Quran’s description who had allegedly been yelling and arguing with people in the neighborhood.

Quran told officers that he had no prior problems with the party guests. Officers searched Quran’s backpack and confiscated his fireworks, reports said. Police remained in the area until Quran left and then returned back to McVicker. As officers were approaching him, police said the homeowner called 911 to report that Quran was standing in front of his house. Quran was recording the house with his cell phone, and being “argumentative and verbose,” the report said.

This time, the homeowner wished to sign a complaint. Quran was taken into custody where he was charged with disorderly conduct. Quran has an Aug. 3 court date in Bridgeview.

Exploding Mailbox

In an unrelated incident, police assisted the Oak Lawn Fire Department in putting out a fire inside a mailbox near 99th Street and 52nd Avenue. A man driving by called 911 around 11 p.m. July 6, when he noticed a small fire inside the mailbox.

Mail inside the mailbox was burnt by the fire, police said. Firefighters found leftover pieces of a firecracker that had apparently been tossed into the mailbox. Police contacted the U.S. Postal Service, who advised they would have to contact their bosses about the fire. The report said the mailbox could not be secured.