Chicago man charged

Joseph J. Caliendo, 24, of Chicago was charged with assault after he attempted to attack a police officer who was booking him for attempted theft charges at about 1:30 a.m. June 15, police said.

Officers arrested Caliendo after he was caught attempting to take more than $800 worth of items from a garage on the 2600 block of South Cuyler Avenue. The homeowner had flagged down an auxiliary officer after a neighbor alerted him of a prowler inside his garage, police said. The homeowner and officer confronted Caliendo as he was leaving the garage area and waited until police arrived.

Police later recovered a large green container filled with DVDs and tools that had been removed from the garage. Caliendo was then arrested and taken to the police station. While being processed, an officer began removing Caliendo’s handcuffs and had freed his right hand when Caliendo jerked to free himself from the officer, police said. The movement broke the key the officer had inserted to remove the handcuffs.

The officer became concerned that Caliendo may use the right-hand cuff as a weapon and brought Caliendo to the ground, according to a police report. Caliendo continued to struggle, and the officer held him down to avoid Caliendo’s attempts to bite the officer’s hands, police said.

Caliendo was again handcuffed and charged with aggravated assault, criminal damage to property for breaking the handcuff key and attempted theft. He was given a preliminary court date of July 9.

Melrose Park man gets third DUI offense

Rodolfo Gonzalez, 33, of Melrose Park was charged with two counts of aggravated drunken driving and seven other violations after he was pulled over for speeding near the 1800 block of East Avenue at about 3:30 p.m. June 14, police said.

An officer spotted Gonzalez driving about 43 mph in a 20 mph zone. Gonzalez had difficulty finding his driver’s license and insurance card, police said, when the officer noticed a 12-pack of beer with cans missing. A search of the vehicle later produced four partially empty cans in the car.

Police arrested Gonzalez and learned he had several previous convictions, including drunken driving offenses. Gonzalez had previously told police that he never been arrested, but a background search found he had previously used an alias and a false birth date to avoid prosecution, police said.

Gonzalez later registered a .235 blood alcohol level. The legal limit is .08. He was charged with two counts of felony aggravated drunken driving, one for his third drunken driving offense and one for driving with a suspended license, police said. He was also charged with speeding, failure to wear a seat belt, two counts of driving under the influence of alcohol, illegal transportation of an open alcohol container, driving an unsafe motor vehicle and failure to notify the secretary of state of a name change.

Cicero man charged with cocaine possession

Luis R. Davila, 23, of Cicero was charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance after police discovered cocaine residue on a dollar bill in his pocket at about 1:15 a.m. June 15, police said.

Police were called to a bar on the 6500 block of West Cermak Road after the owner said he believed two men were using drugs in the bathroom. The owner identified the two men when police arrived and asked that they be escorted out.

Davila agreed to a search, in which an officer discovered a folded dollar bill with a white powdery substance, later identified as cocaine, police said. Davila told police the bill was not his, and he did not know where it came from.

He was charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance. The other man was not charged.