Results tagged “arrest”

Ismail Alqawasmi, 36, was arrested at O'Hare last night in connection with terror threats made in Minnesota; there was a warrant for his arrest. According to the Sun-Times:

In a haunting story detailing the backlog of DNA evidence overwhelming the Chicago Police Department, the Tribune reports police had DNA evidence to arrest an alleged serial rapist a year before he was finally apprehended.

Joseph Hubbard, assistant chief of the Newport Township Fire Department, was arrested today and charged with possession of child pornography. Per the Tribune:

A relative of Hubbard's notified authorities there were pornographic images of children on Hubbard's home computer, said Mary Stanton, chief of the Lake County state's attorney's cyber crimes unit.

Continue reading "Lake Co. Fire Official Arrested For Child Porn"

        

Six men were arrested at the Daley Center last night after they ripped down an Olympic banner from the Picasso and tried to burn it in the "eternal flame." The group got into a "physical confrontation" with police officers who responded and all six were taken into custody. Authorities have said they believe that the six jackasses men were not part of the organized anti-Olympics rally that was held earlier in the evening - we'll have more on that later. We'd like to think that these jerkstores were just upset over Pele's dissing of Michael Jordan, but...no. They just seem like trouble-making douchebags making things harder on those that protested earlier without relegating themselves to destruction of city property.

An Antioch man - 24-year-old John Thomas - was arrested Wednesday after police raided his home he shares with his father. Police were then looking for drugs but they also found what amounted to a small army's arsenal: "two dozen guns, TNT, a detonator cord, blasting caps and a military-issue AT-4 anti-tank launcher and rocket," according to a Sun-Times report. Cocaine and marijuana were also found. So why was Thomas released to begin with? The S-T explains:

Finally. The moment we've all been waiting for: to hear from the brother of disgraced former governor Rod Blagojevich. Older brother Rob spoke to the Sun-Times' Natasha Korecki and talked about growing up with Rod, working for his campaign, and that fateful December 2008 morning.

• The Chicago Park District has made the controversial decision to rename the site of "The Ft. Dearborn Massacre" (located at at 18th Street and Calumet Ave.) to "Battle of Ft. Dearborn Park."
• Will County Judge Stephen White today delayed a change of venue hearing on Drew Peterson's case until October 2nd and began preparing the jury pool.
• The Spire is looking even less likely than before.

While police released a suspect in last week's Lincoln Park attacks, they've arrested a fourth teen connected to a trio of attacks that happened late Sunday night into early Monday morning. The Sun-Times reports 17-year-old Courtney Andrews has been charged with two counts of vehicular hijacking and two counts of armed robbery. She's charged, along with three teenage boys, in a carjacking in Rogers Park late Sunday night and a pair of violent mugging attacks in Roscoe Village several hours later. The Trib talked to one of the Roscoe Village mugging victims yesterday, who said, "I can't forgive them. Only God can forgive them."

As the fallout from Blackhawks star Patrick Kane's arrest continues, his lawyer is now claiming there was no crime committed. Paul Cambria, Kane's attorney, spoke to ESPN 1000 today and said, among other things:

Police have made several arrests in connection with a string of recent muggings in several North Side neighborhoods. First, police have a suspect in custody they believe is connected to last week's string of violent muggings in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. A member of the public recognized the suspect from a police sketch released last week and one mugging victim positively identified the suspect in a police lineup, according to the Sun-Times. No charges have been filed yet, but they could come later today. So far, police suspect the same group of perpetrating four muggings in the Lincoln Park neighborhood; three similar attacks also occurred in the LP and Lakeview neighborhoods that police have yet to connect to the other four.

A sit-in protest by Centro Communitario Juan Diego on the South Side this morning - protesting the installation of new parking meter pay boxes - led to a pair of arrests. Two women plopped themselves right on top of the site where LAZ Parking was trying to install the box and earned themselves each a pair of cuffs. The Parking Ticket Geek has the details and pictures.

In a sit-down described as "cordial and productive," President Obama sat down with Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Sgt. James Crowley, the Cambridge Police officer who arrested Gates a few weeks ago as Gates tried to enter his own locked house. The furor over the incident intensified last week when President Obama said that the police had "acted stupidly" in the manner in which they arrested Gates. A Pew Research Center poll found 41 percent of those polled disapproved of Obama's handling of the situation, 29 percent approved, and 30 percent fell into the "don't know" category. Afterward, Crowley indicated he and Gates planned to meet again. Whether the sit-down will cool tensions over this incident - which has seen things as wild as FOX News host Glenn Beck saying Obama, "has a deep-seeded hatred for white people," - remains to be seen and the President now moves on to other issues such as the economy (is it really rebounding?) and health care (still facing much opposition). In the meantime, Slate also breaks out a great list of cinematic sit-downs over beer. Hard to beat #1.

Authorities arrested a recently paroled ex-con with connections to the three inmates who escaped from a Michigan City, Ind. prison, according to the Tribune.

• CPS officials are boasting about higher test scores, but are they misleading?
• Police caught a man accused of a rape in Logan Square.
• An Amtrak train bound for Chicago crashed into a sedan today, killing all five people in the car.

• The Chicago Public Schools are holding hearings this week on a potential new set of schools, including a pair of live-in schools.
• The number of state worker layoffs coming from Gov. Quinn's budget cuts? 2,600.
• Weird Science story of the day: using Facebook to crack Social Security Numbers.

A man accused of two rapes in the Bucktown neighborhood has been arrested. Damario McNeil, 31, of Lawndale, was arrested and charged with one count of attempt first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated criminal assault and two counts of aggravated kidnapping and one count of armed robbery. The first rape occurred in February in the 2300 block of W. Moffat, very close to the Western/Milwaukee Blue Line stop. The second assault happened just a few weeks ago, a bit further from the same Blue Line stop but still in the vicinity, in the 2000 block of W. Charleston. Police think McNeil could be linked to at least two other assaults, another in February close to the Western/Milwaukee Blue Line stop and one last September close to the Damen/North Blue Line stop. [Chicago Breaking News]

Maybe Saturday morning started out wet and gloomy, but the sun came out by afternoon and stayed out all weekend. So we couldn't blame you if you were outside enjoying the summer weather instead of inside reading us. Here's a look back at some of the stuff you might have missed.

A man carrying, among other things, a loaded gun and a fake security badge was arrested yesterday by police at the Central/Lake Green line stop. The badge had a fake business and phone number listed on it. Police made the discovery after conducting an interview with the man and asking for proper identification that would allow him to carry the loaded weapon at the train stop. From NBC 5:

Yesterday afternoon, Chicago Police arrested two men in connection with the Monday shooting death of police officer Alejandro "Alex" Valadez and charged each with one count of first-degree murder of a peace officer, one count of first-degree murder, and one count of attempted murder.

A Chicago activist was arrested along with a large group of other protesters in Moscow on Saturday during a gay rights demonstration near Moscow State University. “If...the right to assemble is taken away from lesbian and gay people here in Russia, then other Russians have to fear for their own freedom,” said Andy Thayer, co-founder of the Gay Liberation Network here in Chicago, before police detained him according to a Tribune report. A spokesman for the Moscow police said 40 people were seized, but media reports put the number at 80.

Media outlets all over the city are reporting that State Police have taken Drew Peterson into custody. Reports say state police arrested Peterson at his home around 5:30 p.m. this afternoon. CBS 2 reports that it's in connection with the death of Wife #3 Kathleen Savio.

Well, crap. Remember the teen who made headlines and caused headaches for impersonating a Chicago Police officer a few months back? At the time, it seemed almost funny (if a little scary) and we were intrigued by a kid who, as relatives attested, just really wanted to be a police officer. Right on this very website, I said:

Cook County prosecutors have dropped DUI charges against Raymond L. Bell after viewing a video that they say proves arresting officer Joe D. Parker fabricated information in defending his decision to arrest Bell. Parker claimed in his report that after pulling over Bell on the evening of July 7, 2008, Bell "staggered" and was "unsteady" yet the video (below) shows a different story. Parker had previously won praise for being one of the leading DUI-enforcers in the state but in light of this incident, dozens of his prior arrests are now being reviewed and criminal charges could be pending against Parker; two other officers are also having their DUI arrests reviewed. Prosecutors refused to comment further on the case but Bell's attorney, Gregory Reeder, said, "If we didn't have the videotape, he could have gotten a conviction and lost his license. This was a blatant falsehood. They [prosecutors] definitely did the right thing." [Sun-Times]

Chicago Police have made an arrest in connection with Friday's gang-related triple homicide on the Southeast Side. Asst. Police Supt. James Jackson wouldn't confirm much other than that they've taken into custody a "young adult" over the age of 18 who's also a gang member they believe may be the shooter. Jackson also refused to officially call the killings gang-related, saying only, "There are several different theories. The investigation is still going forward, this is by no means over. At this point we don't want to put too much out.''

There have been no charges filed and police won't confirm who it is, but someone has been arrested in connection with the killings of Nova Henry and her infant daughter Ava. Nova and Ava were found murdered in Nova's apartment in January; Nova is the former girlfriend of former Bull and current New York Knick Eddy Curry. Nova and Curry's three-year-old son, Noah, was with his mother and sister when they were killed but was left unharmed and later told family members, "Fred did it," assumed to be Nova's former boyfriend Frederick Goings. Goings had been questioned by police after the murders but was eventually released. Police have not commented on whether Goings was the man arrested, but he had previously abused Nova and was reported to have had an argument with Nova on the day of her killing.

With the economy in the tank, Lord knows we could all use a little extra money these days. We're always looking for a way to supplement our salaries, whether it's selling back old clothes to thrift stores or selling our plasma. One Grand Rapids sports writer, however, thought he had found a better way to supplement his income: selling weed. David Mayo (right), sports writer for the Grand Rapids Press, was charged with manufacture of more than 20 but less than 200 plants, a seven-year felony, and maintaining a drug house at his home. a two-year, high-court misdemeanor. We knew print media was having a hard time of it these days, but this bad? [via Awful Announcing]

• Roland Burris will be sworn in as Illinois' junior senator Thursday afternoon at 1 p.m. (Chicago time) by Vice President Dick Cheney.
• Chicago's "Debonair Bandit", suspected of up to five area bank robberies, was arrested earlier today in Atlanta.
• Work on the city's Michigan Ave. Bridge began yesterday and will interrupt pedestrian traffic likely until June.

Vicente Garcia, the man alleged to be the Chicago Latin Kings' supreme regional officer was arrested in late December in the town of Tamazula, Mexico. Garcia was originally charged with federal drug and firearms offenses last fall as a result of Operation Pesadilla but had succeeded in side-stepping authorities. Four others remain at large. According to the Trib, the FBI alleged Garcia oversaw "the distribution of cocaine and firearms throughout the Chicago area."

Actor Sam Shepard has been arrested for speeding and drunk driving in Normal. According to the AP, he was stopped about 2 a.m. this morning, for going 46 in a 30 MPH zone. According to reports, when he was pulled over, he drove up on the curb.

Today we're wrapping up our look at the top 8 local stories that captivated us in 2008.