The college student was beaten and robbed. The 11-year-old sister called 911. Harvey police ignored her. They brushed off mom too, who got so mad….
She found the perps herself
By Lauren FitzPatrick
Staff writer
When Marice Wall’s son was jumped in a park near her Harvey neighborhood, children came to her home to tell her. Before running to help, Wall told her 11-year-old daughter to call 911.
But Harvey police didn’t show up.
Instead, Wall said, a dispatcher told the girl children shouldn’t dial 911 because the department receives too many prank calls.
Furious, the mother dialed 911 herself — twice, she says — only to wait more than half an hour for officers to arrive. A less-than-zealous effort by Harvey police to track down the perpetrators further enraged this mother and former legal assistant.
“The cops are even complaining they don’t have the help,” Wall said. “They’re frustrated. They’re like, ‘Ma’am, we’re only allowed to give you so many minutes.’ “
So she took it upon herself to do the detective work and find the young men who attacked her son. Wall took down the license number of the getaway car, found addresses of the boys her 21-year-old son identified and tried to hand over her findings to Harvey police.
Harvey officers and detectives, Wall told the Daily Southtown, told her they’re busy with other cases.
“They’re busy. That’s crap. They are busy? I’m a taxpayer. I’m the one doing all your work,” Wall said.
She enlisted the help of police officers from neighboring suburbs. One of the suspects is in custody, but two others remain on the loose. Now she’s adding her voice to the ranks of those who want Harvey’s police department to get outside assistance and supervision. That call has been led by U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and includes state lawmakers.
On July 7, Marcus Abston, a senior at Southern Illinois University, was using his laptop computer at Riverside Park on 148th Street about 4 p.m. when two young men approached him from behind.
He recognized them from the neighborhood. They asked if he could get the Internet on his computer, Abston said, then one punched him in the back of his head and tried to trip him while the other grabbed the computer and ran.
Abston swung back and chased after his computer.
A getaway car was waiting on East Riverside Street. Abston, recognizing the driver as a high school classmate, pleaded with him to stop, Wall said. Abston held onto the car and was dragged for about a block as the car sped away.
Meanwhile, as Wall ran to the park to find her son, 11-year-old Marissa Abston dialed 911 and tried to tell them what happened.
Instead of dispatching officers, the 911 operators told the girl to get her mother.
Wall found the dazed young man as he walked home. Abston’s left hand was skinned. An urgent care clinic later dressed his wounds and diagnosed him with a concussion, according to Wall.
Home with her son, Wall called 911 herself. She said the call was ignored. Twenty minutes later, she said, her second call was met with a response: “Oh, I didn’t know that someone was getting beat up. We’ll send someone right out.” Though Abston gave police descriptions and names of his attackers, Wall said the officers told her they didn’t have much time to dedicate to this crime.
Harvey officials did not return calls placed by the Southtown to ask questions and request the 911 tapes or transcripts.
Wall decided to look outside Harvey for help. She called the South Holland police later that night because she lives so close to its border.
“They took an interest in … questioning my son with respect and even drove around to see if they could at least spot the car that was used in the robbery,” she said.
The robbery took place in Harvey, but the getaway car sped into South Holland.
“They informed me that they would keep an eye out for the men and the car, although it’s out of their jurisdiction,” Wall said.
South Holland Chief Warren Millsaps said one of his patrol officers drove Wall and her son back to the scene about 4 a.m. Together, they checked Dumpsters for the computer and looked around for suspects.
“She told us she was having a hard time getting the case investigated,” Millsaps said. “She wanted somebody to respond because Harvey was busy.
“Anytime something happens in a bordering community, our officers are always on the lookout,” he said, explaining that cleaning up the streets, no matter what town, helps all the surrounding neighborhoods.
Wall also called an acquaintance who works as a Markham Park District officer and asked for help.
One of the suspects, 18-year-old Terrell Jones, tried to sell the computer to the off-duty Markham officer, according to a Harvey police report dated July 8.
Jones, of the 14900 block of Markham Drive, was arrested after Abston and the officer identified him. Charged with robbery, Jones is due in court July 26.
Harvey police since have confiscated the getaway car, according to
Harvey police Detective William Martin. But police haven’t questioned the two others involved, he said, because they can’t be found.
“We got the car. We got the guy in jail. We’re looking for two other people; we’re looking all over Harvey,” Martin said.
Wall said the more she has publicized what happened to her son, the more responsive Harvey has been.
Mayor Eric Kellogg has called to apologize, she said.
But that doesn’t help her son, who’ll need his computer when he returns in a few weeks to school, where he runs track and commands a drumline. His hand injuries mean he can’t train for either activity, his mother said
“Like I told (the mayor), that’s fine. But I want an arrest and a court date,” she said.
Lauren FitzPatrick may be reached at lfitzpatrick@dailysouthtown.com or (708) 633-5964.
