Oak Lawn trustee hails efforts of police

By Joe Boyle

An Oak Lawn trustee applauded the efforts of the village’s police force after they responded to incidents of crime during the past month.

Trustee Ralph Soch (6th) thanked the efforts of the Oak Lawn police following the arrest of a third suspect last week in Texas who was linked to a home invasion in the village last summer.

“Oak Lawn police never stopped working on this case,” Soch said regarding the home invasion that took place in the 10500 block of South Kenton Avenue.

A 71-year-old woman was the victim of that home invasion. The crime took place in Soch’s district.

Soch also mentioned during the village board meeting Tuesday night that a carjacking took place recently near Portillo’s in Oak Lawn. Police are still searching for the perpetrators in that incident, the trustee said.

Soch also said the police arrested a man in Oak Lawn who was fleeing officers from another municipality.

“I think sometimes the work the police do sometimes are forgotten,” Soch said. “They do such a great job and I just want to remind people of that. I sometimes hear on social media that Oak Lawn is not safe anymore. I just say that is quite the opposite. I would not want to be anywhere else then Oak Lawn.”

Trustee James Pembroke (4th) also said that the efforts of the police are worth noting.

“I want to thank the police for the tremendous work they do for Oak Lawn,” Pembroke said. “I also want to thank our public works department for the great work they do.”

In other news, the board approved a request by the Fire and Police Commission to promote two battalion chiefs, two captains, two lieutenants and four engineers for the fire department due to retirement.

The board also approved another request from the Fire and Police Commission to hire three firefighter/paramedics. The request was made also due to retirements.

Oak Lawn Mayor Terry Vorderer said that he spoke at the “State of the Village” luncheon on Tuesday afternoon. The event was sponsored by the village and the Oak Lawn Chamber of Commerce.

“It was a packed house,” Vorderer said. “We made a presentation and the event was attended by many of the businesses from Oak Lawn. We have many great businesses in Oak Lawn.”

The mayor pointed out for residents and community and business leaders who did not attend the event that the presentation will be made available on the village website.