MM_070617

8 | July 6, 2017 | The Mokena Messenger news
mokenamessenger.com
Police Reports
Police: Thief stole groceries,
more from department store
Robert Goryl, 34, of 1772
Heather Glen Drive in New
Lenox, was charged June 24
with retail theft after he allegedly
stole ten items valued at
a total of $46.78 from a department
store in the 11300
block of Lincoln Highway.
According to the police report,
a loss prevention officer
employed by the store observed
Goryl fail to scan the
10 items while utilizing the
self-checkout line. According
to the report, Goryl exited
beyond the last point of purchase
without paying for eggs
valued at $.99, 2 percent milk
valued at $2, Greek yogurt
valued at $2, Oreo cookies
valued at $2.50, four tortillas
valued at $1.59, potato chips
valued at $1.99, a 31-ounce
ketchup bottle valued at
$2.99, antiperspirant valued
at $3.59, baby formula powder
valued at $25.94 and hand
soap valued at $3.19.
June 25
• Several items were reportedly
stolen from a Chevrolet
four-door vehicle in
the 11300 block of LaPorte
Road at some point between
11 p.m. June 24 and 10 a.m.
June 25. According to the
police report, the vehicle
had been left unlocked, and
a black purse with a blackand-white-patterned
strap
that had been on the passenger
seat was removed from
the vehicle. Among the items
within the purse were the alleged
victim’s wallet, driver’s
license, credit card, social security
card and $10 in cash.
June 24
• A mailbox was reportedly
stolen from a yard in the
19400 block of 116th Avenue
during the night of June
23 or morning of June 24.
According to the report, the
mailbox was white and had
black numbers on it. Police
also noted that there was a report
of a downed stop sign in
the same block earlier in the
morning of June 24.
• A black male subject reportedly
stole six cartons of menthol
cigarettes from a convenience
store in the 19100
block of La Grange Road.
According to the report, an
employee verified the numbers
on the credit card and
asked for identification on the
card. The subject reportedly
left the store with the cigarettes,
saying he would return
with ID, but he did not come
back. The subject reportedly
left the payment credit card
with the employee.
June 23
• Police reportedly responded
to a call for service in the
10400 block of Camden Court
regarding damage to a black
Ford Escape’s windshield.
According to the report, the alleged
victim told police he exited
his home the morning of
June 23 to discover damage to
the vehicle’s front windshield.
The damage was small, round
and “hammer-sized,” according
to the report, and it was
located in the lower driver’s
side are of the windshield.
June 22
• Police were dispatched in
reference to a theft of an Apple
iPhone 6 valued at $500.
According to the report, the
alleged victim placed his cellphone
on a shelf at the Mokena
Meijer, 11305 W. Lincoln
Highway, between 4-5 p.m.
When he returned to retrieve
the phone, he reportedly discovered
that it was missing.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Mokena
Messenger’s police reports
come from the Mokena Police
Department. Anyone listed in
these reports is considered to
be innocent of all charges until
proven guilty in a court of law.
FROM THE FRANKFORT STATION
Powerlifter qualifies for
national competition
It is late this past May,
and Frankfort resident John
Brolley, 55, has found an
area to himself.
Around him, other competitors
ranging in age from
their late teens to their 70s,
are stretching or talking.
Brolley is there, but he also
is somewhere else — somewhere
deep in his head, going
over and over again what
he is about to do.
He sees the weight on either
end of the bar. He sees
himself popping up from off
the ground, and the deadlift
executed perfectly. He sees
this time after time, visualizing
success.
He has three lifts. His goal
is simple, a motto he picked
up from an old coach and
adapted to fit his new passion:
lift for fun and personal bests.
Brolley accomplished
both May 28, competing
at the Amateur American
Powerlifting Federation’s
national meet — winning
his age group (55-59) and
qualifying for the September
AAPF world championships
in Lisle.
Reporting by Jon DePaolis,
Freelance Reporter. For more,
visit FrankfortStation.com.
FROM THE ORLAND PARK PRAIRIE
Village-hosted e-recycling
event benefits VetTech
Hundreds of Orland Park
residents recycled old or
unused electronics June 24
during a Village-sponsored
event at public works facility.
Organizers estimated that
approximately 600 cars visited
the drive-thru recycling
lanes during the event. The
event benefited VetTech — a
Lansing-based organization
that supports and trains veterans
for IT careers.
At the event, residents
recycled any electronics,
excluding large appliances.
This meant residents could
drop off televisions, computers,
small kitchen appliances,
stereos, lamps, batteries,
cellphones and other items.
“TVs were the big one,
because that is the hardest
thing to recycle,” said Trustee
Michael Carroll, who as
the Public Works Committee
chairman helped organize
the event.
When Carroll started researching
Village history,
he found that an e-recycling
event had not been held in
more than five years.
“I know the Township
does one, and that is usually
very busy when they do
theirs,” he said.
Reporting by Jon DePaolis,
Freelance Reporter. For more,
visit OPPrairie.com.
FROM THE LOCKPORT LEGEND
Lockport’s new teen
librarian brings change
Justin Williams’ literary
love story began in middle
school.
One fateful day, Williams’
then-classmate — and current
best friend — brought
in a shoebox full of paperback
books with wizards,
knights and halflings gracing
their covers, catching his
attention. In pages of those
books, Williams discovered
a thirst for reading — one he
hopes to pass on in his role
as teen librarian at the White
Oak Library District’s Lockport
Branch.
“One thing I want to push in
this position is the importance
of reading and reading anything
you can get your hands
on,” said Williams, who graduated
from the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
in May with a master’s degree
in library information science.
“I discovered that a lot
of teens, when they come into
the library, they come for the
programs and for the community
and pretty much anything
other than the books on the
shelves.
“What I really want to do
in the next couple months is
develop programs that will
really show the teens this
idea without feeling like a
teacher, without being an
adult saying, ‘You should
read.’ I want to find ways
to get creative and to show
them this without being that
overarching figure telling
them to do something.”
Reporting by Erin Redmond,
Assistant Editor. For more, visit
LockportLegend.com.
FROM THE TINLEY JUNCTION
Tinley Park Bulldogs, SSSRA
pair up for exhibition game
This date was circled on
some calendars. On others, it
was highlighted or starred.
The game on this particular
day was no ordinary game. It
was the sixth annual softball
contest featuring the Tinley
Park Bulldogs 18U, a travel
softball team, and the South
Suburban Special Recreation
Association Stingrays, a team
for adults with special needs.
“More important than our
playoffs, our tournaments,
this is the day we all look
forward to every year,” Bulldogs
18U manager Don Wetzel
said.
The unified contest June
27 divided the Bulldogs and
Stingrays in half and mixed
the two squads into black and
blue teams for the slow-pitch,
exhibition softball game.
While there was some
good-natured trash-talking,
big hits and defensive gems,
the game felt laid-back.
“It’s not like a typical game
where everything is so serious
and you want to win,”
said Marleh Wodka, who
took off of work to play in the
game for the Bulldogs for the
sixth year in a row.
The Bulldogs and Stingrays
played alongside each
other in the field, with one
player from each of the
teams at every position, except
pitcher and catcher. It
gave the Bulldogs players a
chance to talk with the Stingrays
about their day, their
hobbies and more during the
game.
Reporting by Frank Gogola,
Freelance Reporter. For more,
visit www.TinleyJunction.com.
FROM THE HOMER HORIZON
Need to safely store small
belongings leads to business
for college student
They are scenarios in
which just about everyone
has found themselves at one
point or another.
Participating in a sport
and wanting to empty out
pockets to move more freely.
Boarding a roller coaster
with multiple loops and having
that worry of belongings
toppling away. Traveling and
worrying about pickpockets.
The common denominator
in each instance is a desire to
securely fasten small items
to keep them safe.
Kat Samardzija, a Homer
Glen native, is entering her
junior year at Grand Valley
State University on a tennis
scholarship.
One day early last year,
she went with some teammates
to the university’s
recreation center after tennis
practice to work out. They
quickly encountered the
problem of what to do with
their stuff.
“We have all this extra
stuff,” Samardzija said. “It’s
inconvenient.”
That was when the idea
for her now-growing company,
Locker Lifestyle, was
born. To solve the issue of
where to keep those small
items, Samardzija first came
up with the wrist locker.
Beyond the wrist locker,
several similar products
have since been developed
or are patent pending. All of
the products can hold cash,
cards, keys, an ID, Chap-
Stick and more.
Reporting by Thomas Czaja,
Editor. For more, visit Homer-
Horizon.com.