Results tagged “police”

Former Chicago Police commander John Burge, arrested last year on charges of obstruction of justice and perjury, has successfully postponed his trial for the third time. The Chicago Sun Times reports Burge has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and will be undergoing radiation treatment in Florida when his January trial is scheduled to begin. Burge’s lawyers requested the postponement, saying that it was “nonsense” to imply he is using his illness to further stave off the trial. In fact, Burge’s legal team appeared disappointed in not beginning the trial, with one of his lawyers saying he “would have loved a Christmas jury with a cancer patient. That’s a combination for an acquittal.”

On Saturday night around 10:30 p.m., officers from the Targeted Response Unit were on patrol in the 8200 block of South Marquette Avenue, an area notorious for ongoing drug and gang activity. Officers noticed a man standing on a porch holding a weapon, according to a police statement. As the officers exited their vehicle and ordered the 41-year-old man to drop his weapon, he allegedly attempted to shoot them twice, before trying to run away.

Valerie Booker, 38, of the 8800 block of South Loomis Street, was charged on Thursday with false impersonation of a police officer and misdemeanor name use, after she allegedly threatened her son's 15-year-old classmate near Mount Carmel High School, according to police news Affairs Officer JoAnn Taylor. The twist? Booker may be a former City of Chicago employee.

An increase in robberies and gang members hanging out in various parts of Rogers Park has area residents worried.

Narcotics police arrested two men suspected of shooting a man in his 30s during a robbery Friday afternoon on the South Side.

We don't enjoy starting our mornings by having a downright hissy fit, but reading the Sun-Times story on Mayor Daley's planned speech in which he'll allegedly admit he made a mistake with the infamous parking meter deal is throwing us into a hulk-out rage. Know why? Well, for starters:

Kankakee officials broke up a dogfighting ring over the weekend, arresting seven and rescuing nine pit bulls. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart says that while he's seen many things at dogfights, but the case of 50-year-old Ronald Patton of Chicago, who took his five year-old daughter along with him is particularly shocking. Officials say the winner of the fight stood to win $20,000, which authorities seized. "This was a high stakes one. We were estimating the purse for the final champion was going to be $20,000 to $30,000," Dart told CBS2.

A newborn baby boy was abandoned in a garbage can in the Southwest Side neighborhood of Brighton Park, Chicago Breaking News reports.

Beggars in Hyde Park are getting a run for their money as police encourage "panhandlng victims" to file complaints, according to Chi-Town Daily News. An increase in solicitations in the South Side neighborhood (and home to President Barack Obama and the University of Chicago) has residents worried. Police have upped their patrolling in the area and tell "merchants and customers not to give panhandlers money or food."

Just in time to cash in on the opening of “Public Enemies” this week, the site of John Dillinger’s last bank robbery shootout in South Bend, Indiana is up for sale. The historic State Theatre formerly known as the Blackstone Theatre Vaudeville House still bears bullet marks from the over 100 bullets that flew during gunfight between police and Dillinger’s gang in the 1934 robbery of Merchant Bank. The shootout left one police officer dead and eight people wounded as the gang made off with $30,000.

At the end of this year, Chicago could be short 800 cops compared to last year the police union told the Sun-Times. The shortage is attributed to vacancies, attrition rates, and Mayor Daley’s 2009 budget which has significantly slowed down hiring. Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis told the Sun-Times last week that the CPD hopes to use federal grant money to hire 150 new officers this year. In the short term Weis will manage the officer shortage by shifting officers from desk jobs, or pay officers overtime with federal grants to cover the streets this summer.

Two officers were injured when their squad car hit collided with a civilian car when they were responding to an early morning call of a man with a gun. The accident happened about 4:30 a.m. at the intersection of North Kimball and West Irving Park Road. One officer was taken to Thorek Memorial Hospital, and the other was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital. Both had injuries, but none were considered life threatening. A third person, in the civilian car, was taken to Swedish Covenant Hospital. [WBBM]

We don't know what the hell is going on around town lately, if it's something in the water, but a trio of unusual crimes - including a pair of attacks against authorities - caught our attention.

One last, self-indulgent note before we bow out for the day. Chicagoist went live on May 10, 2004 featuring a design you can see above (via the Wayback Machine). Since then, we've had ups and downs but it's been one hell of a ride. Five years is an eternity in internet time, so thanks to Jen, Jake and all our benefactors in NYC, thanks to Rachelle and Margaret for getting the ball rolling here, thanks to every single writer who has posted - past and present - for your hard work, and last but most importantly, thanks to all of you readers who keep coming back every day. We hope to see you tomorrow night at our celebration, and we'll see you back here next week as we start the next five years. - M.G.

• Police shot and killed an 18-year-old man late last night after the man had opened fire in a South Side convenience store, injuring four.
• Carlos Hernandez-Garcia, 19, has been charged in a hit-and-run that occurred Monday night and killed two pedestrians.
• WBEZ's Eight Forty-Eight talks to Gary Goehl, who knows a few things about Chicago corruption, and his recent NY Times op-ed.

A man shot and killed by police this morning was a suspect in 30 area armed robberies. The shooting happened around 7 a.m. at a Marathon gas station in Harwood Heights. Police and FBI agents were staking out the gas station as it matched a pattern the suspect followed. Damn, guys. Good call. Between 40 and 50 law enforcement officials have been on surveillance in the area, looking for a man who either drove a white van or worked with a get-away driver who did. Officers were watching the Marathon station, located at at West Montrose Avenue and Forest Preserve Drive, when they saw the white van park and the suspect, placing a surgical mask over his face, enter the store.

After three officers were found not guilty of criminal charges on Tuesday, Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis reinstated the jobs of five officers involved in a taped December 2006 bar fight at Jefferson Tap and Grille in the West Loop on Friday. Weis returned badges to the three officers who were defendants in the trial - Sgt. Jefferey Planey and Officers Paul Powers and Gregory Barnes - as well as two other officers who did not stand trial.

Circuit Judge Thomas V. Gainer Jr. has found three police officers accused of beating a group of men outside Jefferson Tap Bar and Grille not guilty. The policeman - Sgt. Jeffery Planey and Officers Gregory Barnes and Paul Powers - stood accused of beating several men outside the bar in December 2006. Part of the scuffle was caught on a surveillance camera, but only one of the officers is visible on the tape.

The alleged assault of a 16-year-old autistic teenager at his family’s fast-food restaurant in Pilsen Friday sheds light on the need for specialized police training on how to deal with special needs citizens in the city, family members said. Oscar Guzman, 16, suffered a gash to his head that required eight stitches, his family said. Police refused to provide details of the incident but the family shared their account of the confrontation, according to Chicago Breaking News. Guzman’s family worries the teen, who has the mental capacity of a 5th-grader, will be emotionally scarred from the incident, the news report said.

The union also wants a reduction in merit promotions -- from 20 percent to 16 percent -- and a 5 percent cap on the number of officers who can be detailed out of their assigned units, to prevent manpower at district stations from being depleted.

Gary Skoien, former Cook County GOP Chairman (and current Palatine Township GOP committeeman), will not be allowed to alter the original police report that says his wife became angry when she discovered that "Gary was downstairs in the children's playroom with two prostitutes." Eni Skoien is being charged with domestic battery after beating her husband with her fists and a toy guitar. According to police, Skoien told the responding officer that he had prostitutes with him. Skoien denied this claim and insisted he was speaking with "friends" when his wife "heard talking and went crazy." He told WLS-AM yesterday that he planned to change the police report and that "If they were prostitutes, I would've lied. I would never tell the police there were prostitutes in my house."

Olympic athletes, sports writers, and now simple towns folk: no matter who you are, it seems the gods are against you when it comes to just unwinding with some Phish and weed. This time, Mother Nature played the NARC. Those gusty winds we dealt with yesterday were also felt in South Bend, Indiana where they somehow tripped a home security system off at a residence. Police responded to the call but upon arrival, while they found no signs of a security problem, their police dog sensed drugs on the premises. Sure enough, the police uncovered "19 marijuana plants and 40 grams of processed marijuana." No one has been arrested but prosecutors are considering charges against the homeowner.

• Mayor Daley is still pissed about the teen cop: "What bothers me is I’d hate to see it at Halloween if everybody walks in - a 12- or 14-year-old walks into a police station on Halloween, they'll be handed a desk. They'll give them a car. They'll give them a badge…That's a real concern that we have."
• Maybe MayDay's on edge about his upcoming trip to the United Arab Emirates, where he'll visit Dubai and Abu Dhabi in an effort to further Chicago's stance as a global city.
• The Expired Meter takes an interesting look at how budget cuts for the city, including shutting some offices, are making it more difficult to contest and settle parking and red light camera tickets.

A group of Chicago residents living on the West Side have filed a suit against the Chicago Police Department for alleged harassment as they celebrated the outcome of the election.

City firefighters and paramedics have been asked to take home their gear so they can speed deployment during any emergency that might occur during the election night Obama rally in Grant Park. The order begins next Wednesday, and continues through until two days after the election.

Chicago police officers are making fewer arrested and taking fewer guns off the street this year, and some say it's because officers are afraid of being investigated—and don't feel supported—by the Jody Weis regime.

Did you ever go through that "I have to have the loudest bass in the world coming out of my trunk" phase? Well, some of us did for a while - and we're glad we barely even own a vehicle at this point, let alone have the cash to trick out the stereo system. On top of that, it's an even better thing we don't live in Joliet. Cops there have given out over 110 tickets in the last few weeks for "noise violations" relating to huge stereos and loud exhausts.

The police board released documentation yesterday of officers who'd been reprimanded, one of whom is ex-Sergeant Nicholas M. Ortega, who was fired for having sex in his office and wearing his uniform in a bar. Turns out it was one big incident, and the woman Ortega slept with was a rookie cop's wife.

The Chicago police board released records today that cover officers who've been suspended or fired. In the report:

Led by 25th Ward Alderman Danny Solis, immigration rights activists and several aldermen announced that they will hold hearings next week to investigate claims that city and county officials allegedly violated immigrants civil rights. "We understand the value that immigrants hold in our society, whether documented or undocumented," said Solis. The allegations include charges that undocumented immigrants are being held in custody longer than the 48 hours required by law, and that city police have been pulling over Latino drivers to inquire about their immigration status. Such profiling is prohibited by a 2006 city ordinance. "This is a very serious issue," said County Commissioner Roberto Maldonado.