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NBA star and Chicago-native Antoine Walker was robbed at gunpoint inside his River North home early Monday evening. Walker was home with a family member at the time of the home invasion, in which a vehicle, cash and jewelry were taken.
The home invasion took place around 6:30pm on the 400 block of W. Huron -- not exactly a neighborhood where one expects for something like this to occur. Either the River North neighborhood's rougher than we thought, or this crime sounds a bit fishy.
It's a pretty bold move to storm into a $1 million townhouse in broad daylight, in a busy neighborhood, when people would be likely to be home and awake.
We wonder whether Walker was the specific target. Did he make enemies with somebody who'd do something like this? Was somebody from his old neighborhood hard up for cash and knew where he lived? We're betting there is some connection between whomever did this and Walker. But maybe that's just because Chicagoist has been watching too much "CSI" lately...
Photo via NBA.com
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Having said that, it is still a fishy-sounding crime (certainly not a random break-in). I guess if I were a criminal and knew where a NBA player lived, and that he had lots of fun expensive stuff to steal, that would be a pretty desirable target.
Regardless of Walker's status, I feel bad for the man. Had to be a very scary experience.
I live right around there, and i guarantee you that this does not happen on a normal basis. I'm betting that this was done by somebody he knew.
Walker has a history of this kind of stuff, dating back to his days at Visitation grammar school on the Southside. It was an inside job by someone with some connection to him.
Does he have a gambling problem?
This is a very safe neighborhood. I have lived there for over 1 year. Those Townhomes go for 3-6 million, not 1 million. The gate to his house is the only one that is always wide open, not just unlocked, but wide open. There was no damage to the outside of the house. From what I hear and see, I feel there's some gambling going on in there....
Every day there is a different fancy car out front with ridiculous hub caps.
There's no such thing as too much CSI. It can only help you to further your plotting the perfect crime.
From the public property records, looks like $4.1 million for the pad, paid last September.
And it's not a "townhouse", it's a single-family house. Townhouses have party walls, single familys have four walls all to themselves.
From the first definition in American Heritage Dictionary:
A Townhouse is a:
1. A residence in a city.
From the first 2 definitions in Webster's:
1. a house in the city, esp. as distinguished from a house in the country owned by the same person.
2. a luxurious house in a large city, occupied entirely by one family.
I'd say it fits as a "town house." It does not share common walls. His is free standing.
re 3:56.
I wasn't talking about the dictionary definition of townhouse (i.e. as opposed to a country house); I was talking about (1) the distinction made in Cook County property classification between Single Family residences and "Individually Owned Row Houses or Townhouses"; (2) the common terminology used by the real estate industry; and (3) common, modern American usage.
P.S. Convenient choice of the dictionary definitions, too.
AmHer definition #2 is "A row house, especially a fashionable one."
Merriam-Webster Online (don't know which Webster's you are citing):
1 : a house in town; specifically : the city residence of one having a countryseat or having a chief residence elsewhere
2 : a usually single-family house of two or sometimes three stories that is usually connected to a similar house by a common sidewall; also : ROW HOUSE
Using similar selective definitions, you, 3:56, are probably not a pedant:
M-W online
1st def: a male schoolteacher;
2a one who makes a show of knowledge,
but you most certainly do fit def 2b: "one who is unimaginative or who unduly emphasizes minutiae in the presentation or use of knowledge"
Oh I am sorry, I thought you were talking about dictionary definitions. Good for you pedant.
I've lived around the corner from there for 3 years and I've never had a problem...even as a single girl walking home alone at midnight. The residents in what is left of Cabrini don't really venture south of Chicago. Regardless, the nature of these mansions (and they are mansions...they range from 8,000-16,0000 square feet in size, some have 4-5 terraces, 5 floors, 4 car garages, etc.) are sure to attract someone looking for a big score. That's why I live in a high rise with a doorman. :-)
Seriously though...that row of houses/mansions that line that block of Huron are largely unoccupied (or at least seem so) because a) they're brand new and b) who the hell can afford to live there aside from Vince Vaughn and NBA stars. And while there is a new condo building that just went up right across the street, it has yet to be finished, so that block is still very quiet and empty for the most part. Which makes it easier to do something like this in the broad daylight.