Police: Driving under the influence of alcohol – driver was asleep, others charged with domestic violence

Park Forest, IL—(ENEWSPF)—Police have charged a driver with DUI after allegedly finding him asleep in a running vehicle after 1:30 a.m. In two other cases, two Park Foresters were charged with domestic violence. Officers arrested another driver on three warrants and he was allegedly driving without a license.

Park Forest Police Reports through April 13, 2024

Household battery

Police arrested Valentino L. Garcia Jr., 23, of Park Forest, on April 10 and charged him with domestic violence. Officers responded to a home on Mantua Street at 10:58 a.m. to investigate a disturbance report. A woman alleged to SouthCom that Mr. Garcia assaulted her.

When police arrived, Mr. Garcia and the woman were arguing, police said. Both the man and woman had scratches on their bodies, the woman on the left side of her neck and Mr. Garcia on his back. According to police, an officer determined that Mr. Garcia was the alleged aggressor in this incident.

According to the report, police learned that there had been 10 previous domestic incidents between the two individuals, most of which occurred in Richton Park.

Household battery

Police arrested Will A. Tyler, 71, of Park Forest, on April 11 and charged him with domestic violence. Police responded to the 300 block of Indiana Street to investigate a report of a disturbance. During the response, SouthCom dispatch notified police that the caller claimed someone was attacking him.

Upon arrival, an officer noticed welts on the alleged victim’s right shoulder that indicated someone had struck that person with “a looped object,” police said. At the same time, the alleged victim said, “You can arrest her (meaning Will A. Tyler); she hit me with a cord,” police said.

The plaintiff stated that an argument arose between him and Ms. Tyler over the laundry, after which Ms. Tyler allegedly began hitting the plaintiff with a string, police said.

The reporting officer later checked the police database and found six emergency calls between the two parties involved in the incident dating back to 2023, the report said.

Revoked license

Police arrested Melvin W. Jones, 54, of Park Forest and charged him with suspended registration, revoked license for driving while intoxicated and driving while intoxicated. According to police, Mr. Jones was also under investigation for two warrants for failure to appear in court for driving while intoxicated and one warrant for failure to appear in court for a suspended license. All of the warrants were from Cook County.

An officer was on patrol at 10:43 p.m. and parked in the parking lot of a business in the 400 block of Sauk Trail. The officer saw a dark blue BMW drive into the parking lot from Sauk Trail. According to police, the vehicle briefly stopped next to the officer’s patrol car before driving through the drive-through.

Officers searched the BMW’s registration and found that the registration was suspended, police said.

The BMW exited the drive-through and turned east on Sauk Trail toward Blackhawk Drive. The officer followed and initiated a traffic stop at the intersection of Blackhawk Drive. Melvin Jones was the only person in the car.

When the officer asked Mr. Jones for his driver’s license and proof of insurance, police said, Mr. Jones admitted to the officer that he did not have a driver’s license.

Driving under the influence of alcohol

Police arrested Jermaine Lyes, 52, of Park Forest on April 13 and charged him with driving under the influence (DUI), illegal possession of alcohol by a driver and failure to have proof of insurance.

Police responded to the parking lot of a Juniper apartment building at 1:38 a.m. to investigate a noise complaint. SouthCom notified officers that an unknown caller reported someone playing loud music from a vehicle in the parking lot.

Police: Driver is sleeping

When an officer arrived, he saw a silver 2004 Lexus RX330 parked on the south side of the lot with its headlights on. As he exited his unit, he heard loud music coming from inside the Lexus, according to police. One officer approached the driver’s window, another the passenger side. They found a man, the driver, later identified as Jermaine Lyes, asleep in the driver’s seat of the Lexus, police said. Police said although the driver was asleep, the keys were in the ignition and the engine was running, police said.

According to police, an officer saw an open Steel Reserve beer can in the center console cup holder through the window. The can was open and about half empty.

Driver sleeps, starts to wake up

Mr. Lyes appeared to wake up when the officer shone his flashlight into the car. Police knocked on the window and Mr. Lyes opened his eyes and “eventually rolled down the window,” according to the report. When questioned, Mr. Lyes told police he lived in the Juniper apartment building.

An officer asked him where he was from and if he had just come home. Mr. Lyes allegedly responded, “Um, no, handicapped,” according to the report. The officer asked him again where he was from, and Mr. Lyes allegedly spoke “incoherently,” saying, “Just from a crib, man,” according to police. According to police, he allegedly told them, “I didn’t come home for the crib, man, I got my license yesterday, man,” he said.

Mr. Lyes showed officers his driver’s license but did not have proof of insurance, police said. He told officers he could not walk and used a wheelchair that was folded up in the back seat of the Lexus, police said. He was capable of driving a vehicle, police said.

Police smell alcohol

Mr. Lyes told police he was going to the grocery store. When officers asked him what he wanted to buy, he allegedly replied, “Damn, there’s nothing I can do,” police said.

According to police, Mr Lyes had shiny, red eyes, his speech was slurred and police could smell alcohol on his breath.

An officer decided to conduct the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test through the driver’s open window while Mr. Lyes was still in the driver’s seat. The officer told him he wanted to make sure he was not too intoxicated, police said.

Because Mr. Lyes had difficulty walking, the officer did not perform a walking and turning test or a one-legged standing test, according to police.

Police officer asks driver to recite the alphabet

The officer asked him if he could say all the letters of the English alphabet. Mr. Lyes agreed. He started with the letter A and when he got to the letter P, he allegedly continued with J, Q and R, followed by more letters that he mumbled, police said. He finished with the letters L and C.

Police told him they were arresting him on suspicion of driving under the influence. He attempted to take a breathalyzer test but “did not blow hard enough into the test tube,” police said.

Inside the car, police found an empty Icehouse beer can, an unopened beer can and 10 opened New Amsterdam 0.5ml vodka bottles, in addition to the half-empty Steel Reserve beer can. Police said seven of the bottles were empty and three were about half-empty.

About police reports

Please note that in these reports we repeatedly say “according to police” and often use “allegedly.” We are not in any way alleging that the people arrested and charged by police have committed crimes. We are reporting what is written in the reports provided to us by the police. Since the accused are innocent until proven guilty, the burden of proof for all alleged crimes lies with prosecutors and police.

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 government agency (in these reports, the police department) must publish information about the accused, including name, age and address. This information is required to ensure the identity of the arrested.

Presumption of innocence

An arrest does not mean a person is guilty. The law presumes that all persons arrested by police are innocent until proven guilty. It is eNews Park Forest’s policy not to remove any public record entries from publication. Suppose you find your name in the police reports. Our policy is that we only add information that is relevant to the final disposition of the case at hand, such as “Mr. Smith was later acquitted,” “Mr. Smith made a confession,” or “All charges against Mr. Smith were later dropped.” We will do so after we receive and review evidence of such a decision.

We do not cross out, retract, or delete messages.

According to police, all incidents in this report were recorded by officers at the scene using body-worn and dashboard-mounted cameras. All Park Forest Police officers wear body-worn cameras. Officers typically abbreviate these devices as BWC in reports.

Individuals wishing to leave anonymous information regarding crimes, including drug or gang-related crimes, are asked to call the Park Forest Police Department’s Investigations Division at (708) 748-1309.