The Protesters start so lets see how many go to jail

A band of several dozen protesters marched up Halsted Street this evening from the South Side through Bridgeport, where some engaged in a shouting match with residents.
The marchers, some of whom covered their faces with hoods or bandanas, began their protest at about 51st Street and Halsted, chanting obscenities about police and police brutality.

About 20 bike-riding officers repeatedly rode to the front of the crowd of about 40 demonstrators and formed an angled line across Halsted Street to funnel them back onto the sidewalk. Then officers would walk their bikes next to the sidewalk to enforce the restriction. When protesters slipped in front again, the whole process would start over.

Some curious residents tagged along during the early part of the march, which was without incident until the marchers reached Chicago Police Deering District headquarters in the Bridgeport neighborhood.

There, angry local residents shouted at the protesters to leave, while police stood between them to prevent altercations. Some protesters repeatedly yelled "De-escalate" when things appeared to get tense.

After the confrontation, marchers continued up Halsted Street to Taylor Street, ending the march about 9:30 p.m. Police reported no arrests during the three-hour march.

It was at least the second small protest of the day as demonstrators gear up for this weekend's gathering of world leaders at the May 20-21 NATO summit.

Passenger file's against Metra after the train hit a truck in 2011

A passenger on a Metra Union Pacific Northwest Line train involved in a crash with a truck in Mount Prospect last May that injured three dozen people and killed the truck driver filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the railroad agency for his injuries.

The lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court says the commuter rail agency was negligent because it allegedly used a train with no lights, no horn, inadequate brakes and an excessive number of rail cars.

The train was traveling east on the tracks near the intersection of Northwest Highway and Mount Prospect Road when it hit a concrete-carrying truck heading northwest on the Northwest Highway that tried to turn left onto Mount Prospect Road.

The lawsuit says Rafael Ortiz, the plaintiff, suffered from a number of permanent and temporary injuries to his head, body, mind, limbs and nervous systems for which he has had to pay medical bills.

The truck driver, Kazimierz Karasek, was killed in the wreck.

Nato & Metra

Chicago (FOX Chicago News) -

The NATO summit will bring with it some road closures and major train delays or cancellations this weekend.

Another round of parking restrictions went into effect Tuesday at 6 a.m. and will remain until next Tuesday at 11 p.m. There is no parking on Calumet, Prairie, Indiana, King Drive roughly from 21-26th streets.

The South Shore Line Passenger Service will have travel restrictions on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

During NATO, all passengers should know there will be rigorous security checks at stations and on trains.

All westbound trains will be stopped at Hegewisch, where there will be individual screenings. Law enforcement will use the canine patrol.

Passengers can expect significant delays. Any serious threat means the train will be halted and sent back to its origin.

Like Metra announced last week, there will be bag restrictions. No boxes, bikes or backpacks are allowed. No food or liquids can be carried on the train.

The Northern Indiana commuter Transportation District said it would be a good idea to postpone travel during NATO.

The Museum Campus/11th Street train stop at Michigan Avenue will be closed Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Westbound train service will be canceled from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. on Monday.

Cook County Get's out of Burge suit

County pays $600,000 to get out of Burge torture case - City, Burge and Daley still defendants
Cook County commissioners agreed Monday to pay $600,000 to settle the county's portion of a lawsuit brought by a freed prison inmate whose allegations of police torture have shined a spotlight on former Mayor Richard Daley.

By voting to settle, commissioners removed county government as a defendant in the case brought by Michael Tillman, who alleges that detectives working for then-Chicago police Lt. Jon Burge tortured a confession out of him in a 1986 rape and murder case.

The allegations against the city, Burge, other officers and Daley remain in court. Daley, who has denied all allegations against him, is accused in the civil suit of conspiring to cover up torture both as state's attorney when Tillman was first convicted and later as mayor.

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Roselle Police are pulling a Tom "I can't carry a gun" Dart

Police in west suburban Roselle have launched an investigation into the death of a dog that was tasered last week after it bit and severely injured a 55-year-old woman inside her home, authorities said.

The attack that sent the woman into emergency surgery occurred just after 9 p.m. on May 8, but was only revealed by Roselle police in a news release on Monday.

Authorities said the American Staffordshire Terrier -- whom officers were familiar with because of a previous bite incident -- was tasered and put it in a holding cage after previous attempts to detain the animal using only a catch pole weren't successful.

The dog was taken to a local area hospital, where it later died.

Officers went to the home in the 500 block of Rodenburg Road for receiving a call of a woman being bitten by a dog.

Inside, police found the woman with severe bite wound to her left leg, police said. Authorities helped the woman to a waiting ambulance, that took her to Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village, authorities said. Her most recent condition wasn't immediately known.

Officers later found the woman's husband inside the kitchen, using a broom to hold the dog at bay, police said.

Kudos to C.P.D.

Chicago police officers arrested a suspect minutes after the man is believed to have held up an Old Town bank this afternoon.
The man is being questioned in the robbery of the Fifth Third Bank branch, 145 W. North Avenue, about 2:15 p.m. today, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Daniel O’Brien. The robber implied he had a gun and fled with cash from the bank.
The suspect was cornered by three Near North District tactical officers, including one who was among officers who arrested a suspect in a March bank robbery a mile south of today's heist.
Near North District Officer John McCarthy and his partner, Officer Lucas Wise, were patrolling in the area when they heard a description of the suspect broadcast on police radio, McCarthy said. Soon after, the officers spotted a man matching the robber’s description, wearing dark pants and a gray shirt, about three blocks from the bank in the 200 block of West Schiller Street, McCarthy said.
By the time McCarthy and Wise jumped out of their car, a third officer, Jim McGuire, also part of the Near North tactical team, had arrived and worked to arrest the man, McCarthy said. The man gave the officers no trouble, McCarthy said.
“He just complied,” when the officers told him he was being arrested.
Officers found cash, possibly from the robbery, on the man, and when the officers brought the man back to the bank he was identified as the robber, McCarthy said.
With a heavy police presence on Chicago streets this week because of the upcoming NATO Summit, the robber picked “a bad time” to rob a bank, McCarthy said.
“It was just poor planning on his part,” said McCarthy.
McCarthy was one of three officers who arrested Leroy Delphie, 42, in the robbery of a North Community Bank branch, 800 N. State St., on March 2, just five days after Delphie was released on parole from Shawnee Correctional Center.
McCarthy, Officer Luis Novalez and Officer Anthony Odeshoo arrested Delphie after Novalez spotted Delphie with red dye on his pants, apparently from a dye pack that had been hidden in a stack of money from the North Community Bank robbery.
Charges are not expected against the man arrested today until Tuesday, FBI spokesman Ross Rice said.

 

Indian Head Park is now going to get Justice

John L. Wilson Jr. is fit to stand trial in the October stabbing death of an Indian Head Parkteenager who walked in on a burglary in progress at her home, a judge ruled today.

Cook County Judge John Hynes found Wilson fit after reviewing psychiatric reports and evaluations, according to Cook County State’s Attorney Spokesman Andy Conklin.

Wilson, 38, is charged with the stabbing death of Kelli O'Laughlin in October as she arrived home from high school, then using her cell phone to send taunting text messages to her mother.

He was arrested about a week later after authorities tracked the cell phone. Wilson’s older brother, Shun Dantzler, told the Chicago Tribune soon after the incident that Wilson “had problems, psychiatric problems.”

According to Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, Wilson grabbed an 8-inch carving knife from a butcher's block and stabbed Kelli in the neck, back and chest. He then dragged her body from the family room into the kitchen.

Alvarez said Wilson ransacked the home and fled with a bowl of coins, an iPod Touch and Kelli's phone. The knife was found in the family room.

Prosecutors said that Wilson is a habitual criminal who had been in prison for 17 of the last 20 years.

Wilson was last paroled Nov. 16, 2010 after serving part of an 11-year prison term for a robbery in which he snatched a woman’s purse in Chicago in August 2002.

Conklin said the next court hearing for Wilson is set for May 30