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.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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.

Belmont Area detectives are investigating.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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.

Smith was elected to office when he was 18.

© Sun-Times Media Wire Chicago Sun-Times 2011. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

Updated 04/05/11 – 10:36 p.m.

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.

As WBBM Newsradio 780’s Bob Roberts reports, this comes a day after six protesters were arrested at one of the plants. They were charged with trespassing after climbing atop a coal pile at one of the plants, Midwest Generation’s Crawford station at 3501 S. Pulaski Rd.

LISTEN: Newsradio 780′s Bob Roberts reports

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.

Mason was arrested the next day at his residence.

© Sun-Times Media Wire Chicago Sun-Times 2011. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

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.”

Court information was not immediately available.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2010. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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.

CBS Miami contributed to this report.

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.

Flodstrom was surfing 4-foot swells at the Oak Street Beach when he was arrested. He was charged with disorderly conduct and being at a closed beach.

UPDATED 04/24/12 8:44 a.m.

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.

But patients and advocates have said closing the clinic would cause such a disruption as to end up costing the city money in the long run.

“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.

The week before last, 23 people were arrested outside the clinic, after they barricaded themselves in front of the doors using steel gates, piping and quick-dry cement.

Police used a chainsaw to cut through the barricades and hauled the demonstrators away.

UPDATED 05/03/12 – 6:25 p.m.

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

St. Joseph County police Sgt. Bill Redman tells CBS affiliate WSBT-TV, South Bend, that Rees and Calabrese were booked into the St. Joseph County Jail, just after midnight Chicago time.

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.

(TM and © Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS Radio and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

CHICAGO (CBS) – A babysitter was arrested this week, after the couple who hired her came home and found her extremely drunk, police said.

WBBM Newsradio’s Bernie Tafoya reports police said the 23-year-old woman was babysitting a 13-month-old Monday afternoon, in the 500 block of West Huron Street, while the child’s parents went out for a few hours.

When the couple returned, they found the babysitter slumped against the kitchen counter.

An ambulance took the babysitter to the hospital. According to a police report, her blood alcohol level was 0.36 – more than four times the legal limit of 0.08 for driving.

The babysitter, Jessica M. Vaughan, was charged with misdemeanor endangering the life and health of a child.

The toddler she was hired to babysit was not harmed.

PORTAGE, Ind. (CBS) – A 19-year-old Portage man was arrested at 8:30 a.m. Thursday for felony intimidation after reportedly posting threats on Facebook.

The father of one of Eric Rizley’s friends contacted police at 7:41 a.m. after seeing Rizley had posted: “Watch out portage people might be dying soon,” at about 4 a.m.

Rizley’s mother and several other people had commented on the post. Rizley’s responses, according to the police report, included: “No seriously imma go on a rampage,” “bang bang” and “No this is it I’m bout to flip out.”

Three officers went to Rizley’s family home, in the 3000 block of Angelina, and persuaded the young man to let them inside, assuring him they knew from the smell that he had been smoking marijuana but they weren’t concerned about that.

Rizley told police he had no intention of carrying out his threats.

That’s exactly what Rizley’s grandmother, who lives next door, told CBS 2 off camera, saying her grandson would never act out with a weapon even though she admits he has issues with anger.

Still friends and neighbors, who heard about his online outburst, aren’t as convinced.

“Knowing what’s gone on in other parts of the country, you get concerned,” said neighbor Tom Aldrich.

“Hopefully this will be the beginning of him receiving help,” said Portage Assistant Police Chief Bill Mesich.

A visiting friend told police Rizley had “serious anger issues” and showed several holes he reportedly had punched in the wall the day before, while drunk. He also said he did not think the teen would actually hurt anyone.

The person who made the initial police report described the 2012 Portage High School graduate, who works as a dishwasher, as “a kid who was teased a lot in school, but not a bad kid.”

As of Friday night, hat robbery remains unsolved as Rizley now faces a charge of felony intimidation.

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.

Evan Rodriguez was arrested in Miami. (Credit: Miami police)

CHICAGO (CBS) — Chicago Bears tight end Evan Rodriguez has been arrested in Miami on disorderly intoxication charges.

Rodriguez, 24, was arrested around 5:30 a.m. Thursday by Miami police.

He was also charged with resisting a police officer during an altercation at 6th Street and Alton Road in Miami Beach.

The Bears released the following statement regarding Rodriguez’s arrest.

“We are aware of the reports regarding Evan Rodriguez,” a press release stated. “We are currently gathering information to learn more about the circumstances surrounding the situation.”

His bond was set at $1,500. No further information about his arrest was immediately available.

The 6-6, 240 pound Rodriguez, who is entering his second year, saw limited action for the Bears last season, with four receptions for 21 yards.

He was drafted by the Bears in the fourth round in 2012.

CHICAGO (STMW) – A male who is believed to have exchanged gunfire with police early Wednesday was taken into custody a short distance from where the firefight occurred, police said.

The male, whose identity has not been released because he has not yet been charged, was shot in the exchange, said police News Affairs Officer Ron Gaines. His injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, Gaines said.

About 12:30 a.m., officers heard shots fired near the intersection of West 91st Street and South Ashland Avenue, said Fraternal Order of Police Spokesman Pat Camden.

When they arrived at the scene, the officers saw three males running from the area, Camden said.

Police chased one of them through several back yards in the 9200 block of South Justine Street. During the chase, the suspect turned around and shot at the officers, who then returned fire, Camden said.

The pursuit continued through the alley to the street, where the suspect raised his gun at officers again. Before he could shoot, officers fired again, Camden said.

While the gunman was initially at-large, blood was discovered in the area and it was believed that the officers had shot him Camden said.

The gunman was found wounded nearby, said Gaines said, who could not give an exact location of where the arrest was made.

No officers were injured and a semi-automatic handgun was recovered at the scene, Camden said.

Camden initially said he believed the gunman was a male who reportedly walked into Jackson Park Hospital with a bullet wound to the head, but that initial account was inaccurate, according to Gaines.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

MELROSE PARK, Ill. (STMW) – A suspect was nabbed just minutes after the robbery of a west suburban bank branch Tuesday morning by a police officer who was having coffee at a Starbucks a few doors down.

According to a federal criminal complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago, the robber walked into the Fifth Third Bank branch at 2501 W. North Ave. in Melrose Park just after 10:30 a.m.

He approached a teller and inquired about purchasing a vehicle sticker, a statement from the FBI said. He then demanded cash and indicated he had a weapon, although no weapon was shown. The teller handed over about $8,000 that he placed in a red bank bag before running out.

According to the complaint, three witnesses who were at the Hooters restaurant next door to the bank, saw a man run into the parking lot and approach a gray 4-door Lexus. The man was clutching a red bag to his chest and they saw a puff of red mist coming from the bag. He threw something from the bag, then got into the Lexus and drove away.

At the same time, the complaint said, a Melrose Park police officer at a Starbucks in the same strip mall heard about the robbery on his police radio. He met the witnesses, who pointed out the Lexus, which was stopped at the red light at 25th and North.

The officer ran toward the Lexus and drew his weapon. As he approached, he yelled through the open car windows for the driver to raise his hands. The driver raised his hands, but at the same time accelerated into the intersection, colliding with another car.

After the crash, police apprehended 43-year-old Eric Murchinson of Chicago, according to the complaint. He was the only person in the Lexus, in which police found a red bank bag and cash on the floor, covered in red dye.

Murchinson was turned over to the FBI and charged with one count of bank robbery. He appeared late Tuesday before Magistrate Judge Michael T. Mason and was ordered held pending his next court appearance, the release said.

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

CHICAGO (CBS) – Illinois State Police said they believe alcohol was a factor in two incidents of wrong-way driving on Chicago expressways overnight.

WBBM Newsradio’s Bernie Tafoya reports, around 1 a.m. Tuesday, state troopers stopped a woman heading north in the southbound lanes of the Dan Ryan Expressway near Garfield Boulevard. She was arrested, and police believe alcohol was a factor in the case.

About a half hour earlier, troopers caught a man in his 20s who had been going north in the southbound lanes of the Dan Ryan, before heading west in the eastbound lanes of the Eisenhower Expressway.

That man crashed into a concrete barrier wall while trying to exit the interstate by using the on-ramp at Racine Avenue. He was taken to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, but his injuries were not considered life-threatening.

The driver and a passenger both were taken into custody. The driver was charged with DUI, although his name and exact age were not immediately available.

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.

Raul Martinez (Credit: Riverside Police)

RIVERSIDE, Ill. (STMW) – A Berwyn man was ordered held on $5,000 bond Monday for allegedly posting naked photos of his ex-girlfriend online — and threatening to post more if she didn’t come back to him.

The 21-year-old Riverside woman told police Sunday that her ex-boyfriend posted several naked pictures of her on his public Facebook account, Riverside police said in a release.

She also showed officers text messages from the man, in which he allegedly told her about the posts, and threatened to post more photos of her if she didn’t meet him in person to talk about repairing their relationship, police said.

The man continued text messaging the woman Sunday afternoon — even while she was at the police department as authorities investigated the case, the release said.

Investigators were able to obtain physical evidence that the photos were online and were available to the public, the release said.

Police found Raul Martinez, 24, at his last known address in the 2300 block of South Home Avenue in Berwyn and arrested him without incident at 5:15 p.m. Sunday, the release said.

Martinez is charged with one count of misdemeanor domestic harassment through electronic communication, authorities said.

On Monday, Judge Terrance McCarthy ordered Martinez held on $5,000 bond, said Cook County State’s Attorney’s office spokeswoman Lisa Gordon. He has since posted bond, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s office.

Martinez will be back in court Sept. 19.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (CBS) – Lake County prosecutors were reviewing possible charges against a suburban man arrested Monday for bringing a gun to the BMW Championship golf tournament in Lake Forest.

WBBM Newsradio’s Regine Schlesinger reports 48-year-old Mark Fedder, of Westmont, was taken into custody shortly after the gates opened at 7 a.m. Monday at the Conway Farms Golf Club, when he tried to bring a concealed firearm into the club.

Police said a search of Fedder’s car turned up two more guns in the trunk.

Prosecutors were considering possible felony charges against Fedder.

Though Illinois recently passed a concealed carry law, it has yet to take effect, and no one has been issued a concealed carry permit. Illinois State Police are still working on certifying instructors for the firearms training people must take to get a permit.

The state must have permit applications available by early January. Once any application is submitted, state police have 90 days to review it, and approve or reject the application.

WAUKEGAN, Ill. (STMW) – A 44-year-old man arrested for shooting his neighbor in Venetian Village made bail and was released, and was arrested again Tuesday, Sept. 18, for violating an order of protection filed by the family of the neighbor who was shot.

Frank Gue, 44, of the 36000 block of Alice Lane was arrested by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office on charges of aggravated discharge of a firearm and reckless conduct, felonies that mean he could face up to 15 years in prison, said Lake County Assistant States Attorney Stephen Scheller.

Gue was arrested Friday evening, Sept. 13, after he allegedly shot his neighbor, Jeff Johnson, while the two of them shared beers in Johnson’s garage and talk turned to guns.

Gue went and retrieved his gun and brought it back to the garage and handed it to Johnson. Johnson noticed it was loaded and he unloaded it.

“At some point, Gue put the magazine back in the gun, pointed it at his neighbor and fired,” said Schuller.

He said they asked for $50,000 bond, but the judge set it at $25,000, and Gue was able to bond out and return home. Gue said it was an accident. Schuller said the sheriff’s deputy said Gue was highly intoxicated at the scene.

Joan Johnson said her daughter-in-law and grandkids were frightened of Gue.

While the bullet went through her son, she said it hit his spleen and diaphragm, broke two ribs, and nicked his lung and intestines.

“He had emergency surgery that night,” she said.

She also said the two were not friends. “They would just be nice to him because he was a neighbor,” she said.

“People need to be made aware of this guy. He needs to be watched,” Joan said. The family got an order of protection against Gue that said he could not come within 750 feet of the family and a judge explained that to him Monday.

On Tuesday, he was still at home and a sheriff’s deputy arrested him for violating the order of protection. He was in Lake County Jail Wednesday night on $50,000 bond.

Joan said the doctor told her Jeff was lucky.

“The doctor said one inch more and it would have gone through his heart,” claiming that it was a hollow-point slug designed to do more damage when it enters a person or animal.

“This is a scary time for all of us,” she said. “This crime was not an accident,” she said.

Sgt. Sara Balmes, spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said it was not an accidental shooting. “It was a negligent act.

He did purposely pull the trigger,” she said after talking with the detective handling the case.

Johnson said her son is recovering.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

GARY, Ind. (STMW) – A 5-month-old baby is in critical condition and not expected to survive severe head trauma that police say was caused by abuse.

Siarra Morgan, 19, mother of Syrus Morgan, is in custody, as is her boyfriend, Melvin McNair, 27. Both were arrested at the Methodist Hospitals Northlake campus emergency room Tuesday night after police were notified of the baby’s injuries.

Syrus, born May 5, was flown to University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital in Chicago. Emergency room physicians in Gary told police the baby suffered multiple skull fractures, had blood on the brain and broken ribs.

A spokeswoman at Comer said she could not release information on the infant’s condition.

Investigators said they conferred with medical personnel and the multiple injuries appear to be from physical abuse.

The baby’s mother told police she went to the store about 5 p.m., and while she was out, McNair called her and said there was something wrong with Syrus. She returned home and saw the baby’s lips were purple and he was not responding, so she called an ambulance.Medics took Syrus from the couple’s home at 4701 E. 10th Ave., in Aetna, to the hospital, where medical personnel determined the fractures could be caused by an assault. Patrolman Emilio Guajardo gathered information for a police report.

Detectives Cpl. Edward Gonzalez, Cpl. James Nielsen and Daryl Gordon are investigating.

Police said Morgan has lived in the area for about one year.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

CHICAGO (STMW) – Freed last month after being locked up more than a decade on a wrongful rape conviction, Carl Chatman was getting ready for a cup of coffee and church Sunday morning when Berwyn police officers arrived at his door, handcuffed him and took him into custody — still in his pajamas — on the grounds he had failed to register as a sex offender.

Though he was released within two hours of being placed in a cell, the arrest left him and his family feeling victimized again by a criminal justice system that has already robbed the 58-year-old of almost a fifth of his life.

“He’s a free man,” said his niece, Monica Lofton, 24, who witnessed the arrest. “Let him live his life.”

“When is it going to be over?” asked his sister, Theresa Chatman, who worked more than 11 years to get him out of jail.

Reached Sunday after Chatman’s release, Berwyn Mayor Robert J. Lovero and Police Cmdr. Joe Santangelo said it appeared his detention was caused by a records snafu.

“I never want to see anybody brought in to a police station or arrested if there’s not some type of probable cause,” Lovero said.

Sex offenders have to register with the state after being released from prison. But in Chatman’s case, his conviction was “vacated,” which means the charges were dropped. Before the rape conviction, he had no prior record to speak of, except for minor offenses associated with being homeless and mentally ill, said Sally Daly, press secretary for Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez.

Chatman has a low IQ, bipolar disorder and paranoid schizophrenia. He takes medication and speaks slowly and choppily. But he sounded deliberate Sunday when he said he knows what he’s going to do in the future.

“I don’t go for walks no more,” he said. “I think it’s a wise choice.”

Two relatives present during Sunday’s arrest said his jailing could have been avoided if the officers had been willing to read documents kept in a neat file in their home, proving he was cleared of the crime.

Instead, “As soon as I opened the door, they just bust in in their uniforms,” said Theresa Chatman. She said she counted seven officers.

“I thought it was SWAT.” When she asked for a warrant, “They even told me they would arrest me.”

“I said, ‘How are you a registered sex offender when you have a piece of paper [issued in September] from the state of Illinois saying that he should be released immediately and his sentence should be vacated ?’ ” Lofton said. An officer “immediately brushed me off and told me to shut up.”

Chatman’s attorney, Russell Ainsworth, went to the Berwyn Police Department Sunday to get him out of jail. “The seven police officers that rushed their way into Theresa’s apartment refused to look at that documentation,” he said.

Santangelo said his officers discovered Chatman was found to be unregistered while they were conducting regular quarterly checks to ensure documentation of local sex offenders.

Officers aren’t able to sort out details on the spot, Santangelo said. “Once we can verify through reviewing the paperwork and comparing it with what the computer was telling us….he was released immediately, but we cannot do that on the street.”

“I have asked the Berwyn police commander to direct all his officers that Carl Chatman is not a registered sex offender and they have promised to follow up with the Illinois state police,” Ainsworth said.

“If the paperwork states that he’s not in violation, then he definitely is a free man,” Santangelo said. “There’ll be no problems with the Berwyn Police Department.”

A woman accused Chatman of raping her at the Daley Center in 2002. In 1979, the woman alleged another man had sexually assaulted her in another downtown office building. She filed civil lawsuits seeking money in both cases, and Alvarez has questioned her credibility.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

By Jason Keidel
» More Columns

Even by the pro athlete’s subterranean standards, the Ray Rice video was shocking.

While getting my civil libertarian on, burping bromides about the presumption of innocence, my wonderful woman pointed out the frigid disregard with which Rice handled his fiancee’s limp body in that Atlantic City casino a few days ago.

Rice dragged – not carried – her from that elevator, then lifted, yanked, and plopped her limbs on the floor, just barely into the hallway. Then, realizing her feet were still in the doorway, he hoisted her lifeless legs, twisted them just enough to let the door close, then dropped them back onto the carpet.

He made no effort to heal or cradle or care for his unconscious fiancee. He regarded her with the chilling apathy of a stranger, as though her sprawling frame were a hurdle between himself and a vital date with the blackjack table.

Of all the places in America to (allegedly) abuse a woman, a casino is the absolutely worst place to keep it clandestine. Casinos have more cameras than a bank vault. Now we hear reports that police have even more damning video, perhaps of Rice actually striking his fiancee.

But the Rice incident is just the latest in a line of disturbing reports, from Atlantic City to Miami to Los Angeles, where the NFL doesn’t even have a franchise. And at some point the league must meditate on the problem to see if they somehow either enable or encourage this conduct.

The NFL is always stretching the human dichotomy, asking them to be beasts during the day, then ambassadors of the shield at night, beer in hand, at the strip club or street corner, where the demons dance.

So it’s no surprise the NFL has a violence problem. Maybe it was always so. Perhaps the players of our youth were similarly predisposed to vulgar, violent behavior. Maybe the only difference is the proliferation of social media, a 24-hour endeavor that keeps the curtain lifted on the lives of all our celebrities.

Mix the perilous behavior with prehistoric impulses and you have the Miami Dolphins, who have been under America’s microscope ever since Jonathan Martin said Enough. Enough to Richie Incognito, the rest of his line, his team, his coaches, and the entire apparatus that allows for bigotry and bullying.

Somehow the scorched earth policy across Miami vaporized everyone but the man in charge, head coach Joe Philbin. NFL coaches are so quick to assert their authority, until it’s inconvenient to do so. The buck stopped with Philbin, but the reckless bucks on his offensive line crossed the line with alarming indifference to decency.

So the offensive line coach and head trainer, casualties in the Martin/Incognito saga, are culpable, but not the boss. If you watched “Hard Knocks” you saw that Philbin always had a Mr. Magoo quality to him, aloof to the core and the chore of leading the Dolphins, who are just a hot mess right now.

So if you’re wondering why Philbin was at the combine yesterday, you’re not the only one. You can’t lead with your mouth, which is what Philbin did at the dais, spewing his scripted platitudes about responsibility and a new world order in Miami. That was his task when he arrived a few years ago, to remold a moribund franchise that has floundered ever since Dan Marino and Don Shula ended their bejeweled careers.

You can’t be a part-time leader. Not in the NFL. No sport takes on the head coach’s hard-hat ethos more than football. No sport lives or dies on the decisions of its coach like football does. Teams can pivot on one personnel move, one whistle blown, on one player cut, on a coach fired. And it’s time Philbin joins his fallen colleagues.

The Miami makeover isn’t complete without coach Philbin paying his share of the tax. Particularly after listening to his presser yesterday, during which he laid out the conflicting assertions that he was entirely responsible for the work environment yet had no idea that said climes were so tattered last year.

And the NFL is paying a surging surcharge on the duality it demands from its players, and its impact spans the social and racial landscape. Ray Rice. Richie Incognito. Rae Carruth. Jovan Belcher. Aaron Hernandez. Mike Vick.

And if the Rice video weren’t disturbing enough, former NFL star Darren Sharper has been charged with galling crimes this week. Police in Los Angeles arrested Sharper for allegedly drugging and raping several women.

The LAPD claims that Sharper, an analyst for NFL Network (for about ten more minutes) used a cocktail that included morphine to sedate the women before he assaulted them in various hotel rooms. According to the Los Angeles Times, Sharper has been ordered to surrender his passport and stay within city limits, which isn’t something you hear when law enforcement is uncertain about your guilt.

Sharper isn’t the first, any more than Aaron Hernandez was the last. And yet we have no assurances from the league that it’s addressing it’s expanding blotter.

For decades, the NFL has deflected all manner of miscreants, somehow plopping them into a distant pile, from which the splash of sin has yet to reach the logo.

And this makes no mention of the concussion lawsuit – which still isn’t resolved – nor of poor souls like Andre Waters, Dave Duerson, and Junior Seau, who took their own lives, perhaps specifically because of the head trauma they suffered as NFL players.

The NFL shield has remained remarkably clean while many of its marquee names have been historically dirty. Money and power can buy plenty of good publicity, and it’s no coincidence that the NFL was essentially branded and launched by a brilliant ad executive named Pete Rozelle.

But at some point it’s less important to remain clean than it is to come clean. Roger Goodell needs to know that even a league as muscular as the NFL could use a little humility, and realize that admitting an illness is not a weakness.

Twitter: @JasonKeidel

Jason writes a weekly column for CBS Local Sports. He is a native New Yorker, sans the elitist sensibilities, and believes there’s a world west of the Hudson River. A Yankees devotee and Steelers groupie, he has been scouring the forest of fertile NYC sports sections since the 1970s. He has written over 500 columns for WFAN/CBS NY, and also worked as a freelance writer for Sports Illustrated and Newsday subsidiary amNew York. He made his bones as a boxing writer, occasionally covering fights in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, but mostly inside Madison Square Garden.

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CHICAGO (STMW) – Federal authorities gave long-time government mole John Thomas a Good Friday surprise, arresting him at his home early Friday morning, the Sun-Times is reporting.

Thomas, who was a major player in the investigation into political fundraiser Tony Rezko as well as former Ald. Ike Carothers — including wearing a wire to record conversations — allegedly stole $370,000 from the Village of Riverdale in tax increment financing funds connected to the development of Riverdale Marina.

A three-count indictment unsealed Friday alleges the real estate developer, 51, used the stolen taxpayers’ money to repay personal loans and debts, legal fees, rent and other personal expenses.

The money was meant to be used to renovate the Riverdale Marina, where Thomas’s business, Nosmo Kings LLC, kept an office.

But in 2012, Thomas created fake invoices for non-existent companies and for companies that never performed work at the marina in order to fraudulently obtain reimbursement from the village, it’s alleged.

Each of the three counts of wire fraud Thomas faces carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

He is expected to appear in federal court later Friday.

In 2010, Thomas escaped prison time and instead received three years’ probation in Chicago’s federal court for his role in a scheme tied to his days in New York.

In a 2008 interview with the Sun-Times, Thomas said his life had become “frantic” as he amassed hundreds of hours of recorded conversations for federal investigators while trying to maintain the real estate business he had built over time.

For a time, Thomas helped investigators build a record of repeat visits to the old offices of Rezko and former business partner Daniel Mahru’s Rezmar Corp., at 853 N. Elston, by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

He worked to rebuild his reputation in the years that followed, though several high-profile deals he was involved with fell through.

In 2008, he told the Sun-Times he was was glad he was getting a second chance in Chicago, telling a reporter, the city “is a wonderful place to do this kind of business. It is the most forgiving.”

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

(CBS) – National Guard troops are starting to pull out of Ferguson, Mo., but the protests continue – and so do the arrests.

CBS 2’s Dorothy Tucker talked to a Chicago man who spent more than five hours behind bars in the St. Louis-area community, which has been racked by unrest since a white police officer fatally shot an unarmed black man.

Max Suchan spent five days in with the protesters, working for the National Lawyers Guild’s Legal Observer program, documenting police misconduct.

He got a real up-close look Tuesday night, Suchan says, when he ended up face-down on the ground — arrested.

“I’ve seen them treat people like animals,” he says.

“I’m a legal observer. I was clearly marked,” Suchan adds. “I think that’s evidence of how out of control the police are in Ferguson right now.”

Ferguson city leaders accuse outside agitators of inciting the crowds. At times, police have responded with tear gas, prompting a fundraiser on gofundme, raising more than $11,000 to buy protection gear for protesters.

Organizer Kristiana Colon says although protesters are preparing for the worst, they are hoping for peaceful protests.

“I think people are tired of feeling like black lives don’t matter,” she says. “This has become a galvanizing point.”

CHICAGO (CBS) — A man was arrested and charged Friday in connection to the robbery and shooting of a 71-year-old Chicago Lawn man.

Antoine J. Davis, 30, of the 6800 block of South Washtenaw Avenue was arrested Friday night at approximately 4:15 p.m. outside his residence, according to Chicago Police.

Antoine Davis (Credit: Chicago Police)

Davis was charged after being identified as the armed male offender. Surveillance video from a neighbor’s house showed the whole attack from start to finish.

Davis and another man approached 71-year-old Fred LaGuardia, Tuesday, Sept. 6 while he was watering his neighbor’s lawn on the 7000 block of South California Avenue. The suspects demanded LaGuardia’s wallet; after he refused Davis shot LaGuardia in the stomach, robbed him and fled the scene on bicycle.

LaGuardia has been released from the hospital and is recovering.

The Marquette Park community announced Thursday a $10,000 reward for information, in hopes someone would come forward after watching the video.

Davis faces robbery and aggravated battery with firearm charges.

Davis was scheduled to appear Saturday in Cook County Bond Court. He was held without bond.

There was no immediate information on whether the second man involved in the incident has been caught.

There is no further information at this time.

(CBS) — A Kansas man attempting to insert his penis into the tailpipe of a car had to be subdued with a stun gun after refusing to listen to police.

“We were called to the 1200 block of East Broadway to a report of a naked male underneath a car,” said Lt. Scott Powell of the Newton (Kansas) Police Department. “.. He was attempting to stick his penis into the tailpipe of the vehicle.”

The suspect did not respond to officer commands and officers used a stun gun to subdue him, the Newton Kansan reported.

Powell said the man was intoxicated to the point of being incoherent.

Police submitted a report to city prosecutors recommending a misdemeanor charge of lewd and lascivious behavior, the Associated Press reported.

OAK LAWN, Ill. (CBS) — If you’re going to present a fake COVID vaccination card, you might want to make sure it’s spelled right.

A woman from the southwest suburbs is in a Honolulu jail after being caught with a counterfeit vaccine card. Chloe Mrozak of Oak Lawn arrived Monday, Aug. 23 after uploading the fake vaccine card to avoid Hawaii’s mandatory 10-day quarantine, authorities said.

(Credit: CBS)

State investigators arrested Mrozak, 24, when she went to the airport Saturday for her flight home. Investigators were able to identify Mrozak based on a distinctive tattoo on her hip, which authorities found on her Facebook profile.

She had ignored attempts by authorities to contact her about her suspect COVID card during her six-day stay.  A screener at the airport had raised concerns about the authenticity of Mrozak’s vaccine record, but she was allowed to leave the airport. An administrator later contacted Special Agent Wilson Lau with the state attorney general’s office with suspicion that Mrozak’s card was fraudulent.

Chloe Mrozak (Facebook)

In an affidavit, Lau said he attempted to contact Mrozak by phone and email she provided on the form that travelers fill out when entering the state. He also found that Mrozak did not have a reservation at the hotel she put on the travel form.

The one big mistake: Moderna is spelled wrong on the card, as “Maderna.” It also said she got the shot in Delaware, but Lau said the state had no record of her vaccination.

In an interview with CBS 2’s Marissa Parra, Lau said: “That’s one contributing factor, the others were how evasive the information was on our Safe Travel Hawaii program [form], such as her failure to indicate her hotel reservation as well as her departure flight information. That led to further inquiries that launched the investigation.”

(Credit: CBS)

Lau said she also gave false information about her return flight, stating she was returning on American Airlines when, in fact, she had purchased a round-trip ticket on Southwest. She was arrested at the Southwest gate, with a boarding pass.

Mrozak is being held on $2,000 bail. At last check, she remained in custody “pending trial for prohibited acts emergency management.”

A woman answered the door to the address listed as Mrozak’s home, but declined to comment.

In Hawaii, using falsified proof of testing or vaccination documents for travel into the state is a misdemeanor that carries a fine of up to $5,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year for each count.

‘We take falsified vaccinations and falsified PCR tests very seriously,” Lau said.

“Being caught with false documents outweigh the costs of just a simple PCR test and it’s not worth it,” he said.

If you receive a vaccination from somewhere in U.S. territories, you can enjoy Hawaii without getting a test or quarantining – but travel must be 15 days after your final shot.

Otherwise, you must have provide a negative COVID-19 PCR test, which must come from a provider on a list of “trusted partners with Safe Travel Program” and must be taken within 72 hours before your flight to Hawaii.

If you do not have a vaccination card or you do not provide a negative PCR COVID test, you must self-quarantine for 10 days.

We are told this was the seventh arrest Hawaiian authorities have made against U.S. travelers faking vaccine documents.

In the last two months, they have arrested two travelers from California, two from Florida, two from Georgia, and Mrozak from Illinois.