CHICAGO (STMW) – Three youngsters, one of whom was armed with a BB gun, were arrested after allegedly stealing a pizza from a woman walking to her Uptown neighborhood home Saturday night.
The victim called police about 8:20 p.m. from the 1200 block of West Leland Avenue and told officers she was robbed at gunpoint and her pizza was taken.
The victim, who is in her 50s, told officers three “young juveniles’’ confronted her, including one who had what appeared to be a handgun at his side, according to a Belmont District police lieutenant.
“They said: ‘Give us your pizza,’’’ the lieutenant said. She complied and ran home and called police.
The victim gave a description of the three and police arrested them at 1007 W. Leland Ave. about 8:45 p.m.
They did not fire the BB gun and she was not harmed, the lieutenant said.
The BB gun was recovered.
Charges were not available as of Sunday afternoon.
CHICAGO (STMW) – A Northwest Side registered sex offender was ordered held on $25,000 bond Sunday after police found the so-called date rape drug GHB on him after he left the scene of a Saturday night accident.
On Sunday, Judge Israel Desierto ordered Abidin Redzeposki held on $25,000 bond, according to a Cook County Criminal Court clerk. Redzeposki is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing Dec. 14 at North Felony Court (Br. 42), according to the clerk.
Redzeposki, 31, of the 1900 block of Humboldt Avenue, was charged with possession of methamphetamine, manufacture/delivery of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, leaving the scene of an accident and driving on a suspended driver’s license, police said. He was also cited with no insurance, failure to keep in lanes and failure to reduce speed, police said.
Redzeposki, a registered sex offender, was arrested at 2958 N. Southport Ave. at 6:40 p.m. Saturday after he returned to the scene of a hit-and-run accident, according to a police report.
After he was arrested, police found a clear plastic straw in his left front pants pocket, and he told police that he had used the straw to snort cocaine the previous night, the report said.
The report said the vehicle he was driving was searched and police found several drug paraphernalia items, including a scale and empty zipper bags, a plastic straw, three plastic zipper bags containing a white crystalline substance suspected of being crystal methamphetamine, which had a street value of $1,056 and a clear plastic bottle containing two ounces of clear liquid suspected of being the so-called date rape drug GHB with a street value of $400.
He admitted he fled the scene because his license was suspended and he had no valid insurance, according to the police report. No one was injured in the hit-and-run.
NAPERVILLE, Ill. (STMW) – A man found traveling with law enforcement regalia, ammunition and marijuana has been arrested by west suburban Naperville police.
The formal police report concerning the arrest of Plainfield resident Rickey A. Jung remained incomplete Monday night. It could not be learned whether Jung was in custody or had been released.
Written police records indicated Jung, 46, was arrested about 5:55 p.m. Friday near Marathon Drive and Route 59 in Plainfield. That intersection is a few blocks south of 111th Street and Route 59 on Naperville’s far southwest side.
Jung was charged with driving a vehicle bearing indication of police authority, unlawful use of auxiliary lights, carrying or possessing a firearm, possession of between 2.5 and 10 grams of cannabis, possession of drug paraphernalia, driving with an unlawfully tinted license plate or registration, improper display or a license plate or permit and having a defective horn on his vehicle, police records showed.
Police Sgt. Gregg Bell said late Monday afternoon the formal report concerning Jung’s arrest had not been submitted.
Cmdr. James Montanari said Monday night Jung apparently had an undisclosed type and quantity of ammunition in his vehicle when he was arrested.
Montanari said members of the department’s special operations unit made the arrest. Sgt. John McAnally, who oversees the unit, did not return a telephone message left Monday night at his office.
Jung was not being held Monday night in Will County Jail in Joliet or DuPage County Jail in Wheaton. He apparently has no significant criminal record in either county, according to court records.
LOS ANGELES (CBS) – Former Cubs outfielder Milton Bradley was arrested Tuesday morning in Los Angeles after he allegedly threatened a woman.
CBSLosAngeles.com reported that Bradley, now of the Seattle Mariners, was arrested on charges of making terrorist threats, after a woman called the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Valley Station.
Officers went to Bradley’s home at 10:40 a.m. and arrested him, said Officer Gregory Baek.
Seven hours later, Bradley’s $50,000 bail was posted and he was released from custody, Baek said.
Jack Zduriencik, the Mariners executive vice president and general manager of baseball operations, confirmed that “Milton had been arrested and subsequently released in Los Angeles.
“While we do not yet have full details on what occurred, we are aware of the situation and take it very seriously,” Zduriencik said.
“We are in the process of determining the full circumstances of what occurred today. Until we have more information, we will not be able to comment further,” Zdurinecik continued.
Bradley played right field for Cubs in the 2009 season, and was considered a major disappointment on the North Side. He batted only .257 with 12 home runs and 40 RBI in 2009, a year after hitting .321 with 22 homers for Texas while leading the American League with a .436 on-base percentage.
He also angered fans with repeated lapses in right field and comments critical of the fans and the team.
He was suspended on Sept. 20, 2009, for the remainder of the season after criticizing the team in an interview with the media. A day earlier, Bradley had said in a newspaper interview that he saw why the Cubs’ organization hadn’t won in 100 years and that the team didn’t have a “positive environment.”
In August, Bradley called out Cubs fans, suggesting they are racially abusive and that he faced hatred on a daily basis. Bradley never cited any specific taunts, nor did he come outright and call Cubs fans racist.
Bradley apologized for his behavior three days after he was suspended, but it proved too little too late. Although signing Bradley was a top priority for the Cubs in the 2008-2009 offseason, trading him to another team was a top priority less than a year later.
In December 2009, they did just that. The Cubs acquired right-handed pitcher Carlos Silva, and off to Seattle Bradley went.
In March 2010, Bradley told the New York Times: “Two years ago, I played, and I was good. I go to Chicago, not good. I’ve been good my whole career. So, obviously, it was something with Chicago, not me.”
Meanwhile, Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry called signing Bradley to a three-year, $30 million contract before last season was “a mistake.”
“He just didn’t swing the bat,” Hendry said last year. “He didn’t get the job done. It’s really unfortunate that you … try to use the other areas for excuses.”
DIXMOOR, Ill. (STMW) – A Dixmoor village trustee charged with resisting arrest and driving without a license in the south suburb Saturday claims he was unfairly targeted and physically assaulted by the arresting officer.
Michael A. Smith believes he was stopped outside his grandmother’s house at 146th and Cooper because he has been investigating what he says are the mismanagement of village funds, and other incidents, including the repossession of a fire truck.
“It’s just retaliation and harassment,” Smith said of the misdemeanor charges Sunday.
But Dixmoor Police disagreed.
They said the 20-year-old refused to retreat to the vehicle he had been driving when he was questioned about his suspended license.
“I don’t believe it was retaliation. It was an officer doing his job. We are showing the public that even officials have to obey the law,’’ Dixmoor Police Chief Marcus Johnson said.
Smith said his was walking outside, bringing chicken to his grandmother when the officer approached and told him to return to the car.
Smith said he kept asking the officer why he was being arrested, but the officer wouldn’t tell him until he was in the back of the squad car.
“He slammed me up against the car. He said, ‘Get back into the vehicle,’’’ said Smith, who is free on $1,500 bail. Smith said the officer threatened to pepper spray him and put his forearm in his back when putting handcuff’s on him.
“I’m kind of scared now, I’m fearing for my life. If he did that to me, there’s no telling what’s next,” Smith said.
Smith said he went to Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey for his bruised and swollen back and arms.
However Johnson said Smith signed a medical refusal form when an emergency team came to treat Smith at the police station after he complained of back and chest pains.
Smith said he filed complaints against the arresting officer, who he claims searched his vehicle without a warrant and made “inappropriate sexual’’ comments about another village official.
Johnson said Smith was treated fairly.
“The entire time he was in our care, everyone respected him,’’ he said.
Smith is expected to appear at the Markham courthouse on May 10.
CHICAGO (CBS) – A candidate for alderman was arrested Tuesday afternoon at a South Side polling place and later charged with assault.
Hal Baskin was running against incumbent Ald. JoAnn Thompson in the 16th Ward. Thompson who was leading in the polls Tuesday evening, 57 percent to 43 percent, with 98 percent of precincts reporting.
Around 3:30 p.m., Baskin entered the Nicholson School at 6066 S. Peoria, pointed his finger at an election judge and started shouting, accusing the judge of talking trash about Baskin in the neighborhood, Chicago Board of Elections spokesman Jim Allen said.
LISTEN: Newsradio 780′s Steve Miller Reports
Board of Elections Chairman Langdon Neal said that Baskin was arrested and was removed from the polling place.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s office said Baskin was charged with assault — allegedly for poking a police officer in the chest — and disregarding an election judge, both misdemeanors.
“I can’t understand it at all. Never said anything to anybody, never threatened anybody,” Baskin said after posting bail Tuesday night.
A spokesman for Baskin, Keith Harris, told WBBM Newsradio 780′s Steve Miller that Baskin was at the polling place when he saw an election judge help a senior citizen go inside the building.
“And while he was helping her in, he was telling her to vote for JoAnn Thompson, which is electioneering. The judge is not supposed to do that,” Harris said. “When he was challenged about electioneering by Mr. Baskin, (the judge) got irate and starting yelling and screaming and making a big scene out of it. And they called the police and the police arrested Hal.”
As CBS 2′s Kristyn Hartman reports, Baskin’s attorney, Lew Myers, denied that Baskin became angry or assaulted anyone over the alleged electioneering at the polling place.
“No he didn’t. What he did was the proper thing,” Myers said. “We called the election board. We called downtown to the county and asked that someone be sent out because there was a problem.”
Myers said he has seen Baskin since the arrest and talked to him about the altercation.
“Of course, Hal Baskin did not threaten anyone and I have no doubt that his concerns about electioneering at the polling place were very valid,” Myers said.
“My client was in the facility. At some point, he had a conversation with people about electioneering in the facility. Shortly thereafter, two Chicago police officers came up,” Myers added. “Baskin talked to the officers, they exchanged comments, none of which were threatening to the officers. Sometime subsequent to that, they put the handcuffs on him.”
A Baskin associate who tried to stop an officer from arresting Baskin was charged with obstruction of justice.
The Chicago Board of Elections says it’s very rare for a candidate to be arrested on election day. Allen said he doesn’t remember anything like this happening in at least 20 years.
(The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.)
CHICAGO (WBBM) – A Chicago City Council committee on Thursday will take up a proposed ordinance that would clamp new restrictions on emissions from two Southwest Side power plants, both of which are fired by coal.
The protest atop the 25-foot tall coal pile was one of many timed nationally to mark the first anniversary of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Abigail Singer of the environmental group Rising Tide-Chicago said the protesters scaled a 6-foot-high fence, climbed atop the coal pile outside of the generating station and unfurled a 7-foot-tall, 30-foot-long banner calling on owner Midwest Generation to shut down both the Crawford plant and the Fisk Generating Station, 1111 W. Cermak Rd.
The plants have been the targets of protests by environmental activists for years.
“A lot of people are reflecting on the massive amount of damage that was done to the Gulf during the oil spill last year, and a lot of these damages are still yet to be seen,” Singer said.
The protesters, three men and three women, stood atop the pile for about an hour until police arrived, arrested them, confiscated the banner and escorted them down.
Earlier Wednesday, members of the same group unfurled two smaller banners on expressway overpasses. The protesters claim that pollution from the two plants create $127 million a year in public health costs.
BOLINGBROOK, Ill. (STMW) — A man has been arrested after detectives in southwest suburban Bolingbrook reportedly linked him to four recent burglaries.
Maurice I. Mason, 51, was taken into custody Friday and booked into the county jail on three counts of residential burglary and one count of burglary, said Lt. Mike Rompa. Mason’s bond was set at $50,000.
“Due to the diligent efforts of detectives, several burglary cases (are closed),” Rompa said. “Investigators were able to obtain leads from witnesses and video surveillance, which led to Mason’s arrest. Proceeds were also recovered at his residence, 205 N. Schmidt Road, from multiple burglaries.”
Mason is accused of four burglaries:
A laptop, cell phone and purse were stolen April 29 from a car parked in a garage in the 600 block of Cochise Circle. A credit card from the purse later was used at a gas station, according to reports.
A woman woke up June 5 to find her garage door open and her purse and keys missing from the kitchen table of her home in the 100 block of Flagstaff.
A week later, the 600 block of Cochise Circle was hit again. Another woman awoke to find her purse missing from behind the front door. The credit cards inside were then used at a big-box store, police said.
The final burglary occurred around 8:15 p.m. Friday in the 100 block of North Lancaster Drive. A purse was taken from the center console of a minivan parked in a driveway.
“The purse contained a diamond ring, driver’s license, credit cards and $2. The offender attempted to use the credit cards to purchase gas at Speedway and for items at Meijer,” Rompa said.
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — New York Rangers star Sean Avery was arrested Friday morning for allegedly shoving a police officer at his Los Angeles home.
TMZ reports Avery was having a party at his home in the Hollywood Hills when a neighbor complained about the noise. When police came at 1 a.m. local time, police say Avery answered the door, shoved the police officer, and slammed the door shut, TMZ reported.
Police knocked a second time and Avery let the officer in, TMZ reported.
He cooperated as he was arrested on charges of battery on a peace officer, and is being held on $20,000 bail, TMZ reported.
RIVERSIDE, Ill. (STMW) — A Chicago man was arrested for the 99th time Wednesday and charged with drug possession after allegedly using his 3-year-old child as a ruse to beg for money in west suburban Riverside.
At about 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Riverside police received a call of a suspicious man stopping people on the street to ask for money and begging door-to-door in the 7200 block of West Ogden, a release from police said.
Officers located 37-year-old Alberto Luis Alvarez pushing a stroller with a small child inside, and when they questioned him, he refused to take his hands from his pockets, the release said. He then threw several clear plastic bags on the ground and tried to run away.
Police quickly caught him an arrested him after a brief struggle, and found more heroin in his pockets, the release said.
While being booked, it was discovered that Alvarez had 98 prior arrests and 23 convictions, ranging from burglary, robbery and larceny to assault, drugs and smuggling, the release said. He was also found to have 10 dates of birth, nine names and five Social Security numbers used as aliases.
Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel called it “simply mind-boggling.”
Investigators learned that Alvarez had been using his 3-year-old as a ruse to try and get money from residents by claiming to be injured, the release said. The child was turned over to a family member and the Department of Children and Family Services was notified.
Alvarez, of 2500 block of North Harding Avenue in Chicago, was charged with possession of a controlled substance, obstruction of a police officer (for destroying evidence), resisting arrest and child endangerment, the release said.
The chief called it “simply deplorable” that Alvarez was “looking for crimes of opportunity, purchasing drugs and looking for new victims to con by using a 3-year-old as a ruse.”
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (CBS) — Former World Series MVP Manny Ramirez was arrested in a domestic incident near his home in South Florida Monday night.
Ramirez, 39, was charged with one count of battery, stemming from a domestic violence offense at his home in the suburban community of Weston, Fla., CBS Miami reported.
A police report said Ramirez’s wife, Juliana, called authorities stating that her husband hit her with an open hand on the left side of her face, causing her hit her head on the headboard of the bed.
Ramirez allegedly admitted to responding officers that he and his wife had an argument, but said he grabbed her by the shoulders and when he shrugged her, she hit her head.
Juliana Ramirez reportedly refused medical attention at the scene, CBS Miami reported.
Ramirez began his career with the Cleveland Indians in 1993, followed by the Boston Red Sox from 2001 to 2008 and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2010.
He then joined the White Sox in late August of last year on a waiver, playing only 24 games before moving on to the Tampa Bay Rays this season.
In his career, Ramirez made 12 All-Star appearances, hit more than 500 career home runs, and was named the 2004 World Series MVP while with the Red Sox.
But he retired from baseball in April following a failed drug test, which would have rendered a 100 game suspension.
CHICAGO (CBS) – A North Side man arrested last month for illegally surfing off Oak Street Beach will have the charges against him dropped if he completes 20 hours of community service, but he maintained he did nothing wrong.
Rex Flodstrom, 40, appeared in court on Thursday on a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct and citations for violating three Chicago Park District ordinances by surfing at a no-surfing beach. Prosecutors told the judge they would drop charges if he completes 20 hours of community service by March 19.
Flodstrom agreed to community service rather than taking his case to trial, although he maintained he did nothing wrong.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Mike Krauser reports
“I would probably win, but there was a possibility of getting a misdemeanor on my record, which I know my mom would be upset about,” he said after court. “Surfing’s not a crime and all beaches and all waves should be accessible to all people.”
Flodstrom’s high-profile attorney, Ed Genson, who is next-door neighbors with Flodstrom’s parents and has known Rex since he was born, said there was no indication at Oak Street Beach last month that Flodstrom shouldn’t have been surfing.
“There were no signs on that beach, there was no prohibition for him to be surfing on that beach. He did nothing wrong,” Genson said. “There should be no reason why he shouldn’t be able to go to that beach. If they don’t want him there, it’s a simple matter to … put up a sign. There was no sign there.”
But he also applauded the Chicago police officers in the case, saying they thought Flodstrom might have been drowning, so they went into the water to save him.
“The Chicago police officers went to extraordinary lengths to, quite frankly, try to, what they thought was, to save him. … They even put on a wetsuit, because they thought he was in some sort of jeopardy,” Genson added.
Genson is one of the city’s most well-known attorneys; he defended former Gov. George Ryan, helped singer R. Kelly win an acquittal of child porn charges, and represented Rod Blagojevich at the impeachment trial that ended with his removal as governor in 2009.
Genson said Flodstrom would serve his community service by cleaning up Montrose Beach, where about a half dozen fellow surfers went into the water to show their support Thursday afternoon.
After Flodstrom’s court appearance at a West Side courthouse, about a half dozen surfers hit Montrose Beach, which is open to surfers in winter, and went paddling on their surfboards on the calm lake to support Flodstrom.
Flodstrom initially said he was thinking of joining his fellow surfers in going out on the lake Thursday, but changed his mind.
“Some people look at it and call it an addiction, or an obsession, and to some extent it could be; because we just love to do it, we love to be outside, we love to be active, we love to be with like-minded people and contribute to the community,” said fellow surfer Mike Killion, of Buffalo Grove.
The surfers said they hope to convince the Chicago Park District to ease its restrictions on surfing. He was dressed in a dark suit and dress shoes for court and said he didn’t want to get his shoes dirty.
Laguna Beach resident James Pribram said he came out from California, even though he’d never met Flodstrom before, because “I was just blown away that another surfer was arrested here, so I wanted to come out here and show my support for him.”
He said that three years ago he worked with Chicago area surfers to get several Chicago beaches opened to surfing.
“We all think that surfing should be legal and … maybe get a ticket and slap on the wrist at worst,” Pribram said.
CHICAGO (CBS) — Ten protesters were arrested Monday night after another protest at the Woodlawn Mental Health Clinic, which is set to close next week.
Police began arresting demonstrators from the Mental Health Movement who were camped out across from the clinic, after warning the protesters that arrests would begin if they did not leave by 11 p.m.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Mike Krauser reports
As WBBM Newsradio’s Mike Krauser reports, this is the third time the protesters have been arrested, and it probably won’t be the last.
Police showed up at their tent encampment around 10:30 p.m. Monday and ordered them to leave or be arrested on charges of criminal trespass on city-owned land.
Ten opted for arrest, and for the second time, police also took their tents.
The clinic, at 6337 S. Woodlawn Ave., is set to close April 30, along with three other similar facilities as part of a plan by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to consolidate the city’s 12 mental health clinics into six. Two other clinics have already closed.
The protesters have been occupying the vacant lot across from the clinic for more than a week, protesting the planned closure of the Woodlawn clinic and five other city-owned clinics.
Some protesters also say the city does not actually own the vacant lot where they are camping out.
The activists also have been successful at disrupting Mayor Emanuel several times at public events, trying to get him to keep clinics open.
The plan to close and consolidate clinics would save some $3 million, according to the city.
“If these centers close… people who go to these centers describe it as being like a death sentence. So many people rely on their therapists, and closing centers means laying off a number of therapists, caseworkers, and people who get disconnected from the lifesaving treatment that they give,” Toussaint Losier of the Mental Health Movement said last week.
He added that the $3 million in savings will not be realized when the fallout of closing the clinics is taken into account.
“It’s actually going to end up costing the city, the county, the folks here more money to close these clinics, because folks who rely on these services are going to end up slipping through the cracks,” Losier said on April 17.
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (CBS) — Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees has been charged with four misdemeanors, following a confrontation with police early Thursday morning.
Rees allegedly raised his knee and knocked the wind out of a police officer following an off-campus house party early Thursday.
The St. Joseph County Prosecutor’s Office says the 19-year-old Rees was charged with one count of battery, two counts of resisting law enforcement and one count of illegal consumption of alcohol by a minor. Police had filed a preliminary charge of felony battery on a police officer, which would have required him to stay in jail until being arraigned before a judge.
Rees was released on a $250 cash bond.
Prosecutors said they were still reviewing a preliminary misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct against linebacker Carlo Calabrese.
Rees and Calabrese were arrested following a confrontation with St. Joseph County, Ind., police officers early Thursday morning.
LISTEN: South Bend police Capt. Phil Trent breaks down the details
They were arrested by South Bend police at a home in the 700 block of North Notre Dame Avenue in South Bend, South Bend police Capt. Phil Trent told WBBM Newsradio’s Josh Liss.
“There was apparently a large, loud party going out in the back yard. When we get there, our officers approached the backyard area, at which point they hear the fence behind the house cracking, as if somebody was jumping the fence and trying to break through it to flee,” Trent said.
The officers found five young men standing in the back of the home, but they all ran off. The officers chased them, and soon caught up with the group, whom Rees was among.
“They apprehend him in the middle of the street. He actively resisted our officers; tried to pull himself away, threw up a knee. He hit one of the officers in the midsection with his knee, and then they both went down to the ground. The officer received some minor abrasions to his arm,” Trent said.
At that point, Rees was pepper-sprayed and arrested. But he continued to resist until he was finally arrested.
He was found to have a blood alcohol content of 0.11, above the legal limit.
As Rees was being arrested, Calabrese attempted to intervene, “walked into the street, confronted one of the officers, made a threat to one of the officers,” Trent said. After being pulled back into a group of students and breaking free, he made another threat and was also arrested, Trent said.
Rees, 19, a native of the North Shore suburb of Lake Forest, could faces charges of public intoxication, resisting law enforcement, minor consumption of alcohol, and felony battery to law enforcement, WSBT reported.
Calabrese was charged with disorderly conduct and released on $150 bond, but Rees remained in custody.
Rees started in 12 of 13 games for the Fighting Irish last season. He is one of four Notre Dame quarterbacks competing for a starting position this year.
Notre Dame said in the statement to WSBT that it was aware of the incident and “is confident that it will be handled in a prompt and professional manner through the criminal justice system.” Any possible disciplinary measures from the university will be handled privately, Notre Dame tells WSBT.
CHICAGO (CBS) – Seven of the eight protesters who were arrested outside President Barack Obama’s campaign headquarters on Monday were released from jail Tuesday.
Those seven have agreed to plead guilty to trespassing, and will get six months of court supervision.
CBS 2’s Mike Puccinelli reports only one of the arrested protesters pleaded not guilty, it’s clear none of these people believe they committed a real crime.
Although they may have violated the letter of the law, they don’t believe they violated the spirit of the law when they refused to leave the Prudential Building on Monday after trying to take their anti-NATO protest directly to Obama campaign headquarters.
The seven protesters who were released from jail Tuesday were cheered by members of the Catholic Worker Movement, which organized Monday’s protest rally.
They’d been held since they were arrested for refusing to leave the Prudential building when police arrived at the scene, after the protesters sneaked past security.
In all, eight people were busted. Seven have been released, except for Chicagoan Chris Spicer, who refused to plead guilty as a matter of conscience.
“In this country, if you plead innocent, you’re likely to do more jail time than if you plead guilty, and only those who have been through this system know what I’m talking about,” said protester Frank Cordaro, who was among those who pleaded guilty to trespassing.
Friar Louis Vitale said he knows that better than just about anyone. Although he wasn’t arrested Monday, the Franciscan priest has spent about two of his 80 years behind bars, after being arrested hundreds of times during more than 50 years of non-violent protest.
“I’m free in prison, too. I’m free because I follow my conscience,” he said.
The young Catholic Workers who staged Monday’s protest are following in his footsteps. They knew they might be arrested when they tried to deliver an invitation to their alternative summit to the president, but they did it anyway.
“Delivering that invitation was a tremendous and important goal,” Ross Martinie-Eiler said. “I’m glad that we got as far as we got.”
And they said what they did wasn’t civil disobedience, but obedience to their higher power.
“If Jesus were here today, he would be inside this building, under arrest, for not leaving that building yesterday,” Sam Yergler said outside the Chicago Police lockup on Belmont Avenue.
Most of the protesters said they plan to continue to march all week against NATO, which they believe is a tool used to wage wars that benefit the richest one percent, at the expense of the rest of the world.
OAK CREEK, Wis. (CBS) — Published reports say the girlfriend of the gunman who killed six people at a Sikh temple outside Milwaukee has now been arrested.
As WBBM Newsradio’s Bob Conway reports, a Chicago Tribune report Tuesday said Misty Cook, 31, a who is said to be the former girlfriend of Oak Creek, Wis., Sikh gurdwara gunman Wade Michael Page, is under suspicion of being a felon in possession of a gun.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Bob Conway reports
The weapon was found during an FBI search of the apartment the two had shared with Cook’s 5-year-old autistic son, the Tribune reported.
Criminal charges are being sought against Cook, who was arrested in South Milwaukee, Wis., the Tribune reported.
Cook is a waitress and nursing student with ties to white supremacist groups. She and Page reportedly lived together until Page moved out a few weeks ago, the Tribune reported.
The Anti-Defamation League is quoted by the Tribune as saying that Cook was active in at least two neo-Nazi groups. She appears in a photo with the Tribune story wearing a T-shirt advertising Volksfront, a white supremacist group that seeks to set up an autonomous, whites-only living space in the Pacific Northwest.
Cook’s landlord, Terry Page, is quoted by the newspaper as saying Cook told him she hadn’t been in touch with Wade Page for six weeks, and had no idea of what he had been involved in. Terry Page is not related to Wade Page.
This past Sunday, Wade Page opened fire on worshipers at the gurdwara with a 9mm handgun, without saying a word.
Six of his victims died, and three others were critically wounded, including a police officer who responded to the shooting.
Wade Page also had connections to white supremacist groups. He headed what’s being called a white-power band called “End Apathy,” and, in 2005, Page gave an interview to the white supremacist record company Label56, in which he described his band as being inspired by “trying to figure out what it would take to actually accomplish positive results in society and what is holding us back.”
CHICAGO (CBS) — A man impersonating a dentist may have performed hundreds of procedures on patients before being arrested on Thursday, police said on Friday.
Cook County Sheriff’s police, acting on a tip, learned that Alberto Nunez was allegedly operating a dental practice out of a home at 2057 N. Emerson St in unincorporated Cook County.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Nancy Harty Reports
Nunez, of the 7800 block of S. Kenton Avenue in Chicago, is charged with a felony count of practicing dentistry without a license and a misdemeanor charge for unlawful possession of hypodermic syringes.
Cook County officials photographed the dentist chair where they say Alberto Nunez was operating a bogus practice.
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart says patients should have skeptical.
“You’re talking about a dentist’s office in the back of someone’s house,” he says. “There should be a couple of flags flying here.”
According to police, Nunez claimed he went to dental school in Mexico City and may have been practicing for about two years.
Nunez was arrested after an undercover officer made an appointment to see Nunez on Thursday. The officer had to wait for the appointment because of Nunez’s busy schedule, according to Nunez’s receptionist, police said.
While the officer was waiting for her appointment, a patient who left Nunez’s office was stopped by police and told them he had a root canal completed.
Officers then entered the dental office and found a dental chair, lights, plates, tools, syringes, and an x-ray machine and much more.
Investigators concluded that he was performing all sorts of dental procedures such as root canals, bite impressions, cleanings, x-rays, surgical dental procedures and even braces.
Medical equipment inside the office of Alberto Nunez. (Credit: Cook County Sheriff)
CHICAGO (CBS) — A 44-year-old woman was grabbed from behind, choked, thrown to the sidewalk, kicked and robbed Friday morning. But thanks to two heroic witnesses, a suspect is in custody.
The suspect is identified as 31-year-old parolee Richard D. Mendoza. Police say he committed the crime only a block and a half from Chicago’s Magnificent Mile shopping district.
CBS 2’s Mike Parker spoke with the two heroes and Chicago police.
Kris Frieden of Carmel, Ind. and Chicago resident Michael Hochhauser saw the woman being attacked and robbed outside an apartment complex at 55 E. Erie.
“I screamed, ‘Hey! What are you doing?’ The guy looked up at me, grabbed the purse and took off,” Hochhauser says.
The suspect sprinted toward Michigan Avenue with the two Good Samaritans hot on his trail. Another witness called 9-1-1 on her cell phone.
“He was going pretty good,” Hochhauser says. “I thought I would be fast enough to catch him, but he was a lot faster than I suspected.”
Minutes later, the suspect made it to Michigan Avenue.
“He was able to flag a taxi down and jumped in the taxi and tried to proceed to get away,” Frieden said.
But the two witnesses surrounded the taxi, blocked the doors and convinced the driver to wait for police. Within a minute, officers arrived and arrested Mendoza, who had been wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet on his ankle.
One of the arresting officers says the actions of the two men were “above and beyond.”
Mendoza’s rap sheet includes convictions for armed robbery, strong armed robbery and burglary.
The victim, at last report, was in stable condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where she was treated for bruising and swelling.
“We came up to holiday shop and to see some things just around the city. We did — more than we bargained for,” Frieden said.
Mendoza was expected to appear in court Saturday, Chicago police said.
(STMW) — Eight men have been charged Saturday after authorities broke up a dog fight at an industrial park in south suburban Dolton.
The men were all charged with a felony count of attending or patronizing a dog fight and were being held on bail Sunday, according to a release from the Cook County Sheriff’s office. They are all expected to appear back in court on Tuesday.
Sheriff’s police helped bust the dog fight Wednesday night in the 1500 block of 142nd Street in Dolton. Authorities were tipped off about the fight when a resident called police about 7 p.m., said Dolton spokeswoman spokeswoman TaQuoya Kennedy.
Two people were immediately arrested and six others were cuffed later when found hiding in the rafters of the building, said sheriff’s spokesman Frank Bilecki.
At least 10 pit bulls were found and have received medical treatment at the South Suburban Humane Society.
Those arrested and charged were:
- Reginald Bailey, 26, of Dolton, who was being held in lieu of $20,000.
- Rolando Davidson, 43, of Harvey, who was being held in lieu of $15,000.
- Michael Dubose, 56, of Country Club Hills, who was being held in lieu of $15,000.
- Anthony Fugate, 27, of Beecher, who was being held in lieu of $10,000.
- Donald Hudgins, 45, of Chicago, who was being held in lieu of $25,000.
- Willie McCray, 26, of Calumet City, who was denied bond because of a prior arrest warrant for murder.
- Shaquille Middleton, 18, of Country Club Hills, who was being held in lieu of $10,000.
- Arnulfo Salgado-Sanchez, 35, of Harvey, who was being held in lieu of $15,000.
CHICAGO (STMW) – The city’s crackdown on violence at gang funerals continued Wednesday when officers nabbed a parolee with a gun on the West Side, officials said.
The parolee, David Freeman, was wounded and his girlfriend Shemara Fitzpatrick was killed Dec. 1 in a gang-related shooting in the 4800 block of West Fulton Street, police said.
Police said they feared Freeman might try to kill rival gang members responsible for the shootings. They also worried his rivals might try to kill Freeman at his girlfriend’s funeral Thursday in the 5700 block of West Madison Street.
Austin District police Cmdr. Barbara West said her officers developed a security plan for the funeral. Such planning is part of a crackdown on gang funerals that police Supt. Garry McCarthy ordered after a gang member was killed outside a South Side church Nov. 26.
Officers in the Austin District and in the gang enforcement division gathered information that Freeman allegedly had a gun and was planning to retaliate against his rivals in the 100 block of North Laporte Avenue.
Police contacted the Illinois Department of Corrections and they conducted an “emergency parolee check” on Freeman’s home Wednesday morning. He was arrested on a charge of unlawful use of a weapon after officers found a handgun, police said.
“We probably saved his life — and there’s no doubt in my mind that we prevented a retaliatory shooting,” said Kevin Ryan, commander of the gang enforcement division.
Freeman is a member of the Cicero Insane Vice Lords, who’ve been battling the Mafia Insane Vice Lords, police said.
West said she’ll have officers outside Fitzpatrick’s funeral Thursday to make sure no more gang violence erupts.
As part of McCarthy’s crackdown, officers also arrested a 17-year-old Saturday after he was caught bringing a handgun to a slain gang member’s funeral, police said.
