Police Blotter: ER Visits Under Fake Name, Gun Mugging

SATURDAY, JAN. 28

Not-So-Free Health Care

Police questioned a 54-year-old man who gave nurses a fake name to try to receive free medical service at St. James Hospital, according to the report. Everything was working for the man until a doctor remembered treating him at another hospital under a different name, police said.

Though no charges were filed at the time of the report, the man told police he had been having chest pains and wanted to avoid paying the emergency room bill. A stack of “patient service cards” with varying names, which the man had thrown away, were recovered at the hospital, police said.

Stolen ID, Stolen Taxes?

A 24-year-old Chicago Heights man told police someone used his social security number to file 2011 income taxes. The man said he got a message about it while using Turbo Tax, and the Internal Revenue Service told him to file a police report.

Alleged Gun Mugging

Police are looking for four male black teenagers who may have flashed a handgun and stolen $50 from a pedestrian at 16th Street and Vincennes Avenue around 4 a.m., according to the report.

FRIDAY, JAN. 27

Obstructing Justice

Arturo G. Salazar, 22, of the 300 block of 26th Street in Chicago Heights, was charged with obstructing justice, according to the report. Police said Salazar took off running when they went to question him for standing in the middle of 12th Street and Park Avenue around 2:15 a.m. Once stopped, Salazar gave police a fake name, according to the report. He was also booked on an outstanding Chicago Heights warrant.

Open Alcohol, Open Mouth

Donald Melvin, 31, of the1400 block of 5th Avenue in Chicago Heights, was charged with open alcohol, according to the report. Police said they saw Melvin drinking a 40-ounce King Cobra outside Center Liquors around 11 a.m.

While questioning Melvin, another man kept interfering with officers and refused to back away, according to the report. Jaron R. Calhoun, 27, of the 1300 block of Lincoln Avenue in Chicago Heights, was arrested after allegedly handing Melvin a cigarette and was charged with obstructing justice, police said.

Police report information is provided by the  and other law enforcement agencies. Charges are not evidence of guilt. They are a record of police actions 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.