Park Forest, IL-(ENEWSPF)- A Park Forest man was arrested during a traffic stop last week and charged with felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. The man already had two active arrest warrants, one from Cook County and the other from Will County. One of these warrants involved a previous charge of unlawful use of a weapon.
Keon Townsend, 20, 39 South Arbor Trail, Park Forest, was arrested on June 17 and charged with felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, resisting a peace officer, and processed on an outstanding warrant out of Will County charging resisting a peace officer as well as a warrant out of Cook County charging aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. The latter was in reference to a Park Forest Police Department report from 2021.
Detectives were on patrol in the area of Autumn Ridge Apartments when one officer saw an SUV allegedly parked illegally in the fire lane in the first block of South Arbor Trail, according to police. A detective recognized the vehicle as being “associated with Keon Townsend” and the detective was aware that Mr. Townsend “routinely possesses firearms and has an active arrest warrant from the PFPD,” according to the report.
A short time later, that detective saw that same SUV traveling west on Sycamore Drive toward Western Avenue. The vehicle turned north on Western Avenue allegedly without a turn signal activated, according to police. Detectives caught up with the vehicle on Western Avenue just south of Steger Road and activated their emergency lights, according to police. The SUV slowed down but allegedly did not immediately stop, according to police. Police activated the vehicle’s siren and eventually, the SUV stopped on Western Avenue just north of Monee Road, according to police.
A detective recognized the front seat passenger as Keon Townsend. Mr. Townsend leaned his body forward and his shoulders down as if he was reaching toward the floorboard of the vehicle, according to the report. The detective believed that Mr. Townsend was concealing a firearm beneath the front passenger seat, according to police.
Police instructed the driver to turn off the vehicle and the driver did so, according to police. The driver, later identified as Amari A. Redditt, 21, 14733 Beechview Ter., Dolton, was ordered to exit the vehicle and allegedly refused at first, according to police. After multiple commands, Ms. Redditt complied, according to police.
Police said Ms. Redditt allegedly refused to follow directions and had to be physically escorted away from the SUV, according to police.
A passenger in the vehicle, Karisa D. Townsend, 30, 39 South Arbor Trail, Park Forest, also complied with officers but allegedly became verbally combative and began to argue with and curse at officers, according to police.
Keon Townsend was then ordered to exit the vehicle and he complied, according to police. Detectives informed him that he was under arrest in connection with the warrants. Mr. Townsend then allegedly began to flex his arms and pull away from police, according to the report. Both Ms. Redditt and Karisa Townsend allegedly reached toward Mr. Townsend and attempted to pull his arms and hands away from the detectives, according to police.
“As Detectives continued to attempt to handcuff Keon, Karisa continued to
approach Detectives and obstruct the arrest. Karisa was eventually placed under
arrest,” the report says.
Other officers who showed up to assist had to physically “push and escort” Ms. Redditt and Karisa Townsend away from Keon Townsend, according to the report.
When police searched the SUV, a detective found a .40 caliber Taurus PT 140 Pro handgun that had one live round of ammunition in the chamber and 10 live rounds in the magazine.
The SUV was impounded by police in connection with the unlawful use of a weapon charge, according to police.
Karisa D. Townsend was charged with two counts of resisting a peace officer.
Amari A. Redditt was charged with two counts of resisting a peace officer and issued a citation charging failure to signal when required.
Another passenger in the vehicle was released without charges.
About Police Reports
Please note that we repeatedly say “according to police” in these reports and often use “allegedly.” We are not asserting in any way that those police arrested and charged committed any offenses. We report on what is in the reports that the police furnish to us. As those accused are innocent until proven guilty, the burden is on prosecutors and police to prove all alleged crimes.
eNews Park Forest has continuously published the addresses of those arrested and will continue to do so. 5 ILCS 140/2.15 states that the governmental body (for these reports, the Police Department), shall release information on those charged, including their name, age, and address. This information is necessary to ensure the proper identity of those arrested.
Presumption of Innocence
An arrest does not mean that a person is guilty. The law presumes all those whom police arrest are innocent until proven guilty. It is the policy of eNews Park Forest not to remove items from the public record from publication. Suppose you find your name in the police reports. Our policy is that we will only add information relevant to the final disposition of the case at hand, e.g., “Mr. Smith was subsequently acquitted,” “Mr. Smith entered a guilty plea,” or “All charges against Mr. Smith were subsequently dropped.” We will do so upon receiving and verifying proof of such disposition.
We do not strike, “unpublish,” or delete news.
According to police, officers captured all the incidents in this report on body-worn and dash-mounted cameras at the respective scenes. All Park Forest police officers wear body-worn cameras. Officials typically abbreviate these devices as BWC in the reports.
We encourage persons wishing to leave anonymous information on any criminal matters, including narcotics or gang activity, to call the Park Forest Police Department Investigations Division at (708) 748-1309.