Catalytic Converter Crook Waved Electric Saw in HOBO Parking Lot, Police Say

Oak Lawn police chased a man down Cicero Avenue up to the Ford City Shopping Center after he threatened another man with a saw in a shopping center parking lot, reports said.

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Officers responded to a reported theft in the HOBO parking lot at 8716 S. Cicero Ave., around 3:37 p.m. Nov. 24.

A 20-year-old store employee told police that he had just finished his shift and was walking to his car, when he heard a loud noise and noticed a shadow beneath his car, police said.

When he walked to the driver’s side of his car, a man in his 30s wearing black pants and a black hoody came out from under his car. Police said the would-be thief tried to get into a Honda SUV when the employee pushed him.

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According to the report, the alleged thief activated his electric handsaw and pointed it at the employee, threatening him. The thief got into the back seat of the Honda, driven by a man in his 20s. A woman was also riding in the front seat.

Police chased the Honda northbound down Cicero Avenue to 85th Street, until a police supervisor called off the pursuit.

The thief managed to remove part of the catalytic converter, reports said.

Catch up on the week's crime blotter:

• SNAPSHOT: November Car Breakins

• Two Public Safety Town Halls Planned for Dec. 4 and Dec. 6

• Cops Tase Man Breaking Up Christ Hospital Fight
• Car Burglaries Pick Up With Approaching Holidays 
• How to Help Residents Displaced by Condo Building Blaze

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