Morning Crime Round-Up
- An early morning drive-by shooting has killed one man and left another wounded. Police found the victims in their car, a 2000 Lincoln sedan, near the intersection of Wrightwood and Kostner on the city's Northwest side around 5:30 a.m. this morning. Witnesses reported seeing shots fired from a dark minivan into the sedan; both men suffered gunshot wounds to the chest. One was dead while the other was in critical condition at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. Larry Ligas, chairman of Logan Square Concerned Citizens, speculates the rise in the area's violence is due to in-fighting amongst gangs who have been pushed out of Logan Square by police efforts and are setting up shop in the surrounding neighborhoods. [Trib, S-T]
- A 79-year old man was critically hurt when an SUV hit the man just after midnight this morning in the Little Village neighborhood. The incident occurred at 4138 W. 31st St. After hitting the man, the SUV fled the scene only to crash into a traffic-control box. The driver then fled the scene on foot and has not yet been apprehended. The victim is in critical condition at Mount Sinai Hospital. [Trib, S-T]
- Also in the Little Village neighborhood, investigators are looking into a Sunday morning fire that killed one man and injured the victim's brother as a possible arson. Ramon Rolon, 42, was killed in the fire in the 2400 block of South Hamlin. Rolon's older brother, Anibal, was in critical condition at Loyola University Medical Center at last report. Their mother, Maria, had been scheduled to testify against local gang members for vandalism to the house. She had previously complained about the gang members breaking the windows on her house. At her family's urging, she hadn't appeared at Friday's scheduled hearing. Both brothers suffered from mental illnesses that required special attention. During the fire, Maria helped Anibal out of the house first because his problems required more assistance; by the time she returned to the house to retrieve Ramon, the fire was too widespread for her to reach him. [Trib, S-T]