Arrest In Fight, Car Part Theft: Darien Cops

DARIEN, IL — The Darien Police Department released its later blotter Thursday. Here is information from the police reports:

Battery

• Angel Rivera, 24, of Joliet, was arrested at 9:30 p.m. Saturday in the 6700 block of Crest Road on a charge of battery. Police were responding to a fight. He was released and given a date to appear in court.

Catalytic converter theft

• A catalytic converter was stolen from a car overnight Friday in the 7400 block of Brookdale Drive. The loss was estimated at $300. Catalytic converters, which are part of cars' exhaust systems, contain precious metals. Those metals have become a lot more valuable during the pandemic because of supply issues. That has resulted in a wave of thefts of catalytic converters across the country. The converters contain metals such as palladium and rhodium, both of which are soaring in price. According to the New York Times, the price of rhodium has risen from $640 an ounce five years ago to $21,900 this year, about 12 times the price of gold.

DUI

• Michael Williams, 29, of Downers Grove, was arrested at 1 a.m. Saturday in the 8100 block of Cass Avenue on charges of DUI, failure to yield from a private road and driving too fast for conditions. He was released and given a date to appear in court.

Driving violations

• Tairryonn Askew, 27, of Calumet City, was cited at 1 a.m. March 8 on 75th Street at Dunham Road on charges of driving with a suspended license, speeding, operating an uninsured motor vehicle and twice disobeying traffic signals. He also had a valid warrant from the Warren County Sheriff's Office on a charge of delivering 30 to 500 grams of marijuana. He was speeding 61 mph in a 45 mph zone. He was released and given a date to appear in court.
• Angela Biancofiori, 22, of Woodridge, was cited shortly before 10 a.m. March 8 on charges of unlawful possession of marijuana by a driver and driving with expired registration. She was released and given a date to appear in court.
• Lawrence Benson, 31, of Chicago, was cited about 2 a.m. March 9 in the 7100 block of Cass Avenue on charges of driving with a suspended license and speeding. He was speeding 55 mph in a 40 mph zone. He was released and given a date to appear in court.
• Jorge Ortiz-Hernandez, 24, of Chicago, was cited about 8:30 a.m. March 11 in the 8000 block of Lemont Road on charges of driving with a suspended license and speeding. He was speeding 62 mph in a 40 mph zone. He was released and given a date to appear in court.
• David Gray, 50, of Chicago, was cited about 10:30 a.m. March 11 on Cass Avenue at Interstate 55 on charges of driving with a revoked license and speeding. He was speeding 69 in a 40 mph zone. He was released and given a date to appear in court.
• Gediminas Kazlauskas, 71, of Justice, was cited about 9 p.m. Friday in the 8300 block of Lemont Road on charges of driving with a suspended license and driving with one headlight. He was released and given a date to appear in court.

Police report information is provided by local police departments. 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.