2 Juveniles Arrested In Connection to Evergreen Park Car Burglaries

Evergreen Park Police chased down two juvenile offenders after they had allegedly burglarized four cars early Tuesday morning, according to a police news advisory. 

An Evergreen Park police officer was forced to discharge his weapon when one of the juveniles resisted arrest. Both juveniles are from Chicago, police said.

According to police, officers were dispatched to the 2700 block of West 97th Street for a car burglary in progress around 12:35 a.m. Tuesday. The caller said he witnessed two offenders, ages 17 and 16, in a car parked on West 97th Place.

When police rolled up on the scene, another witness said he saw four male blacks running eastbound down the alley between West 97th Street and West 97th Place. Police said the witness observed the four pulling on the door handles of several cars in the area.

Evergreen Park police, with the assistance of officers from Chicago, Oak Lawn and Hometown, created a perimeter and combed the area for the alleged offenders.

Shortly before 1 a.m., an Evergreen Park cop found the two juvenile suspects in backyard in the 9800 block of South California Avenue. The officer drew his weapon and had the two juveniles lay on the ground, police said.

As he attempted to place handcuffs on the first juvenile, the second juvenile got up from the ground and started to approach the officer, police said. The officer verbally ordered him to get back on the ground.

Police said the juvenile continued approaching the officer, ignoring all verbal commands. Not knowing if the juvenile was armed and fearing for his safety, the officer fired a shot into the ground in an attempt to get the juvenile to comply with his commands.

The juvenile then fled the area by reportedly climbing over a fence. The officer was able to detain the first juvenile. He then relayed information regarding the second juvenile’s direction of flight, and let fellow officers know that he had fired a shot.

An Evergreen Park police K-9 found the second juvenile at 1:44 a.m. He was taken into custody.

Police said that first juvenile offender was positively identified by the caller, and the second juvenile offender was positively identified by the officer he had fled from.

A third subject was detained and released following an investigation by Evergreen Park detectives.

Police said that both offenders will be charged as juveniles with multiple offenses, as approved by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.