By Steve Metsch
Chicago Sun-Times
OAK FOREST, Ill. - An Oak Forest man who duped police into an hours-long, one-sided standoff was described as an odd neighbor who enjoys blowing up fireworks at random times, nearby residents said.
Nicole Kerkstra lives two houses away from Mark Fitch, the man who was at the center of the hoax that caused a neighborhood to be evacuated and brought out more than 100 police officers, including hostage negotiators. Kerkstra said she had feared either her home or one of a neighbor’s would one day be damaged by one of Fitch’s explosives.
“At 10 o’clock at night, he’d blow off M-80s,” she said. “He’d blow them off, then drive away so the police never caught him.”
A friend of Fitch’s called police about 4 p.m. Thursday concerned that the 44-year-old, of the 5500 block of Babbette Court, might have been armed and suicidal or intent on harming authorities. Police responded, eventually calling out the South Suburban Emergency Response Team and shutting down traffic along Central Avenue at 159th Street and evacuating nearly a dozen area homes.
Eventually, Fitch was arrested outside a nearby Beggars Pizza after he allegedly misled authorities to believe he was holed up inside his home. Fitch had been at a bar the whole time, talking to police on his cell phone.
A bartender overheard Fitch, who did not resist arrest, telling others he was wanted in a police manhunt, Oak Forest Police Chief Gregory Anderson said.
“Apparently, they saw the news on TV in the bar and recognized the guy,” Anderson said.
Mayor Hank Kuspa said Fitch was overheard saying, “I can’t go home, the SWAT team wants to arrest me.”
A man who identified himself as Fitch’s father Friday declined to answer questions.
Fitch was undergoing a mental evaluation Friday at Palos Community Hospital and could face charges of disorderly conduct, Anderson said. His friend likely will not faces charges, Anderson said.
Neighbor Sarah Janozik said she moved into the neighborhood in July and had problems with Fitch. She said he seemed fascinated by fireworks and would occasionally fire them off in his back yard.
“I was hearing random booms that would wake me up at night,” Janozik said, but she never called police on him. “He was very strange and never came out of his house.”
Court records show this was not Fitch’s first brush with the law.
In March 1995, when Fitch lived in Evergreen Park, Chicago Police stopped him for driving at least 21 mph over the speed limit, and cited him for DUI, with a blood-alcohol content over the legal limit. He paid a $200 fine, and the speeding and DUI charges were dropped, court records show.
In May 2005, Illinois State Police stopped him for speeding 26 to 30 mph over the limit, and cited him for DUI and not wearing a seatbelt. Fitch was ordered to pay $550 and go to eight hours of traffic safety school.
If criminal charges are filed against Fitch in this case, he faces a legal battle with the city.
City officials estimate the standoff - which involved about 100 police from about 20 communities - would cost taxpayers “much more” than $50,000.
However, Kuspa will not seek money “if it turns out this was just a sick individual truly in need of help.”