Police Blotter: Backyard Free Range Shooting

March 12

Toothfairies

Two men tried to return a toothbrush kit and toothbrushes, which they lifted off a shelf minutes earlier, at an Orland Square Mall department store around 12:30 p.m., police said. Michael Bennett, 49, of the 10600 block of Central Avenue in Chicago Ridge, was charged with retail theft. James Presto, 47, of the 10700 block of Ridgeland Avenue in Worth, was charged with felony retail theft. On Feb. 4 was accused of trying to return a vacuum cleaner he also did not purchase.

Barrette

Silvia F. Valencia, 38, of the 9500 block of Avers Avenue in Evergreen Park, was charged with retail theft. Orland Square Mall security told police that Valencia tore the tag off an $18 barrette and put it on her head around 4 p.m. before leaving a department store.

Backyard Free Range Firing

Michael T. Casper, 35, of the 8700 block of 170th Street in Orland Park, was charged with reckless discharge of a firearm and possession of a firearm without a FOID card. Police said Casper fired four or five shots from his Smith and Wesson handgun straight into the air while standing on his patio on March 5.

Clothing Switcheroo

Labaron D. Houston, 49, of the 14400 block of Shepard Drive in Dolton, was charged with retail theft. Security told police that Houston entered a department store around 1:45 p.m. with two old pairs of pants and placed them on a shelf. He picked up four new pairs of pants and exchanged them for store credit, which he then used to try to purchase several shirts, police said.

Houston offered to pay for only one article of clothing, arguing that he had left two articles of his own clothing and taken three, according to the report.

Wrist Watch

James Redmon, 58, of the 100 block of 104th Place in Chicago, was charged with retail theft. Mall security told police that Redmon hid a $35 watch in jacket and tried to leave a department store around 5 p.m. without paying.

Domestic Battery

Brent A. Smith, 39, of the 15500 block of Catalina Court in Orland Park, was charged with domestic battery and interfering with reporting a domestic battery. Police said Smith was arguing with a woman in his kitchen when he broke a glass and cut his hand around 11 p.m. He then chased the woman into a bedroom, while pulling her hair and hitting her head against a wall, according to the report.

Police dispatch was only able to hear the woman say, “Oh no, oh no,” before the line was disconnected, police said. When police arrived, they found the woman covered in her own blood, with shattered glass, as well as a clump of her hair, on the floor, according to the report.

Heroin Hiding

Stephen J. Tuminello, 29, of the 16700 block of Winterberry Lane in Orland Park, was charged with possession of a controlled substance, driving under the influence of drugs, unlawful parking and operating an uninsured motor vehicle. Police said they questioned Tuminello around 8 p.m. about parking his car in the roadway of the Countryside Bank parking lot and found a bag containing less than a gram of heroin.

Tuminello was taken to Palos Community Hospital where a similar bag of heroin was found inside his butt cheeks, police said.

Police report information is provided by law enforcement agencies. Charges are not evidence of guilt. They are a record of police actions taken on a given day, and persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. If you or a family member are charged or cited and the case is subsequently adjudicated, we encourage you to notify the editor. We will verify and report the outcome.