Chicagoist Weekend Blotter

By Shannon in News on Feb 11, 2007 10:55PM

Another weekend, another chance to get into trouble:

• For the third week in a row on the Blotter, multiple teens died in a car crash this weekend. Nine young people, ages 14 through 23, packed themselves into a four-door sedan in Oswego early Sunday morning. The driver and only non-teen, 23-year-old Sandra Vasquez, slammed into a utility pole, killing four passengers and injuring the rest. Vasquez has been charged with driving under the influence. The accident also caused several power outages in the area.
• A water pipe burst in a condo at Belmont and Lake Shore Drive on Friday, necessitating the evacuation of 700 residents. The basement pipe flooded storage rooms and the boilers, knocking out the heat. Firefighters have found the work so difficult due to the amount of water and lack of heat that residents likely won't be able to return for a week. 42 of those residents have special needs.



• A 15-year-old boy was shot and killed by an undercover police officer in an attempted armed robbery Saturday night. The officer, working with South Side restaurants, was posing as a pizza delivery man in order to try to diffuse several robberies in the area. He was approached by three men, one of them armed, who told him to give them money and the pizza. In response, the cop opened fire on the armed offender and shot another in the foot; the third fled but was purportedly picked up by police later. The slain suspect was identified as Lazeric Wood of the 8100 block of South Homan.
• Finally, a 65-year-old man who runs a tutoring center in Beverly was found guilty of 15 counts of child pornography on Thursday. James Bradshaw set up multiple motion-detecting cameras inside the community center, at least one being in the bathroom, to record teens "in the act." Unsavory images were found on his computer, as well as several pages of notes containing names, dates and descriptions of captured sexual acts. Sentencing is scheduled for March 1.