Chicagoist Weekend Blotter
By Shannon in News on Dec 17, 2006 10:30PM
What happened with the down and dirty this weekend? Let's see:
- Update: We reported in last weekend's blotter about a minivan that curtailed railroad barriers and was struck by a Metra train in Elgin, killing two women and an infant. On Friday the driver of the vehicle, 25-year-old Epifania Alvarez-Navarette, was charged with three counts of reckless homicide in the death of her two sisters and 1-year-old nephew. Alvarez-Navarette was also charged for not having a license and not having insurance.
- Elias Diaz, 37, was charged Thursday in connection with the decade-old murder of six-year-old Nicholas "Nico" Contreras. On Nov. 10, 1996, Contreras was shot and killed as he slept in his grandmother's house in Aurora. Diaz was allegedly the driver in the incident and not the actual killer; he is still being charged with first-degree homicide. Family members have speculated the crime may have been gang-related.
- A 32-year-old DeKalb man has been charged with sexual assault of developmentally disabled adults. Allen Goodson allegedly sexually assaulted and/or abused three people at Opportunity House, a care facility in rural DeKalb. Charges say the adults involved could not give consent or understand the incidents. Goodson was not on staff nor employed at the facility in any way.
- Finally, Chadwick Barner, 36, was convicted of robbing a bank in the mid-state city of Danvers while dressed as a woman. Barner wore women's clothing, makeup and a wig to carry out his robbery. No word on whether the getup worked for or against him. When the verdict came down on Thursday, Barner was already in jail for a drug possession charge; he robbed the bank while on probation for two other drug-related charges. Special thanks to ABC News for reminding us how to pronounce methamphetamine.
