Park Forest, IL-(ENEWSPF)- The first few days of August 2023 were busy for police. With the exception of the last report in this post, the incidents involved battery charges of one sort or another. That meant charges against three people in three different incidents resulting in battery charges for each.
This is the first of two parts of one series of reports. These span a two-week period from August 1 through August 14, 2023. We note that the previous week, the last week in July, was not an especially “busy” week for police. There were only two reports in that batch police sent us. Of those two, only one showed an arrest. The other was a report of a call that did not result in any arrests or municipal citations as police determined the parties they spoke to had conflicting stories.
Park Forest Police Blotter Reports Through August 14, 2023 – Part I
First of Three Battery Charges: Domestic Battery
Police arrested Bryan E. Novak, 38, 326 Miami St., Park Forest, on August 1 and charged him with domestic battery. Police responded to a home on Miami Street to investigate a report of an in-progress domestic battery, according to police. The complainant alleged that Mr. Novak had an alcohol use problem and said she confronted him because he had just bought alcohol, according to police.
The complainant said she removed the alcohol from Mr. Novak’s room. Mr. Novak allegedly threatened to take his mother’s purse to go purchase more alcohol, according to police.
The complainant said she took out her cell phone and began recording Mr. Novak as she dialed 911 to report his behavior, according to police. Mr. Novak allegedly tried to grab the phone from her hand to prevent her from calling the police, according to the report. While trying to take the phone, Mr. Novak allegedly caused skin abrasions and bruising to the complainant’s left forearm, according to the report.
Second of Three Battery Charges: No Arrest – Municipal Citation Charging Battery
Police issued Kahil G. Banks, 33, 137 Interocean Ave., South Chicago Heights, a municipal citation on August 2 charging him with battery.
Police responded to Logan Park, 207 Grant Street, at 11:05 AM to investigate a report of a disturbance. An employee from the Village of Park Forest flagged down officers and told them he observed some kind of disturbance between a man he was with and another man who was holding a stick, according to police.
A man with the employee told police that while he was walking on the path a man he didn’t know allegedly struck him with a stick, according to the report.
The complainant had dried up blood on his stomach and neck, according to police. The officer asked him where the blood came from and he said he just left the hospital, according to police. The report states that the complainant “appeared to be on an unknown substance as he was not making a lot of sense,” according to police.
Alleged Offender Complained of Unwanted Sexual Advances
Police found Mr. Banks walking on the trail. Mr. Banks allegedly admitted to hitting the complainant with the stick, according to police. He alleged that the complainant made unwanted sexual advances towards him, according to police. Mr. Banks allegedly said he hit the complainant. This was in an attempt to get him away from his home, according to police. Mr. Banks also said children were present, according to the report.
Nowhere does the report mention police or the Village employee seeing children.
Mr. Banks reportedly said that he swatted the complainant one time with the stick. He allegedly told police he struck him in the stomach, according to police.
The complainant did tell police he told Mr. Banks he was “very attractive” and “cute” according to the report.
Based on the alleged statements Mr. Banks made, the responding officer gave him a municipal citation charging battery and let both parties go on their way without further incident.
This was not an arrest.
Third of Three Battery Charges: Domestic Battery
Police arrested Sentoria M. Tyler, 51, 325 Indiana St., Park Forest, on August 3 and charged her with misdemeanor domestic battery. Police responded to a home in the 300 block of Indiana Street at 7:45 AM to investigate a report of domestic battery. Ms. Tyler allegedly pushed the complainant into a wall, according to police. The complainant told police that the right side of her head hurt and her right arm was sore, according to the report.
Driving While License Suspended
Police arrested Darius E. Williams, Jr., 26, 29 Hemlock St., Park Forest, on August 3 and charged him with driving while license suspended and disobeying a stop sign. Police also issued Mr. Williams a municipal citation charging unlawful possession of cannabis.
An officer stopped the vehicle Mr. Williams was driving at 1:07 PM. The officer saw the vehicle allegedly disobey the stop sign on Indianwood Boulevard at Orchard Drive, according to police. The officer conducted a name check on the driver, Darius Williams. He discovered that Mr. Williams had a suspended driver’s license, according to the report.
The officer handcuffed Mr. Williams and took him to the Park Forest Police Department, according to police. The officer found a bag in the center console of the vehicle filled with suspected cannabis, according to police. The bag was not childproof, or odorless, nor did it contain an original dispensary serial number, according to police.
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.
