Crime & Safety
Evergreen Park Fugitives Nabbed in Oak Lawn, Cops Say
Police picked up two people wanted on warrants during separate incidents.
Two Evergreen Park fugitives were taken into police custody last month in two separate incidents.
A Burbank man was a passenger in a car that was stopped by Oak Lawn police after the driver of the vehicle was stopped allegedly for speeding on the 4900 block of West 95th Street around 1:07 a.m. Dec. 23.
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According to the police report, the driver was in a hurry to get home and told police he was not aware he was going 50mph in a 30mph speed zone. All four people in the car were able to produce valid ID.
An ID check revealed that John Judd, 22, of Burbank, had an active warrant for a disorderly conduct charge in Evergreen Park, police said. Judd was taken into custody.
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A pair of Chicago residents was also nabbed last month while allegedly fleeing a retail theft at Kmart, 4101 W. 95th St. in Oak Lawn.
Police responded to a call of a man identified as Marcus A. Moore, 22, striking a loss prevention officer around 9:47 p.m. Dec. 19, as he was leaving the store with stolen merchandise, reports said.
Employees described the car Moore was driving as a gray Pontiac, who was said to be traveling with a woman, later identified as Gabrielle N. Smith, 21.
Oak Lawn police stopped the car near 95th Street and Kenton Avenue. Officers said the Moore and Smith denied behind involved in the Kmart theft. Both complied when they were asked to step out of the car.
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The Kmart loss prevention officer positively identified Moore and Smith. Both denied being involved in the thefts, police said.
Initially, Smith allegedly gave a false name to police and when told that her ID didn’t match, she gave police her real name. A records check showed that Smith had an active warrant for a similar retail theft charge in Evergreen Park.
Smith copped to lying to police about her name because she had a previous arrest for retail theft.
The loss prevention officer saw Moore and Smith enter the store and glance up at the ceiling looking for camera locations. Both proceeded to the toy aisle where police said Moore was observed selecting two toys and placing them in a bag.
The two then moved on to the clothing section, where Smith selected socks and two shirts and allegedly placed them in her coat. Moore took a set of pajamas and put them under his shirt, reports said.
Both proceeded past the cash registers and left the store without paying for the merchandise, police said. The loss prevention officer confronted Moore who purportedly pulled away striking the store officer in the eye.
Police said the Pontiac’s trunk was full of stolen merchandise from various stores. Some of the items had foil wrapped around the security sensors. While both finally admitted to taking items from Kmart, police said Moore and Smith both denied knowing that the merchandise had been stolen.
Smith allegedly told police she was out shopping with her cousin and didn’t pay attention to what her cousin was doing. Moore told a similar story of shopping with some people but not paying attention to what they were doing. While he knew the items were in the trunk, she didn’t they were stolen, police said.
Felony charges for retail theft were approved against Moore, based on a prior armed robbery charge. He was charged with misdemeanor battery.
Smith was was charged with misdemeanor retail theft, obstruction of justice, and not having valid ID.
The combined value of the stolen merchandise was from Kmart was $115, police said.
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