Tuesday, May 14, 2013
On Wednesday at 9:30 a.m., 10 Cook County Jail detainees will go head-to-head against Russian counterparts in a historic first-ever international chess game.
America and Russia are classic rivals. The space race, the Cold War and the Miracle on Ice all stand testament to that. Now, thanks to a new Cook County program, we can add prison chess tournaments to the list. On Wednesday morning, 10 Cook County Jail detainees will compete in an online chess match against Russian Federal Prison Service inmates in a first-ever event of its kind. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and Cook County Jail chess program head Dr. Mikhail Korenman will hold a press conference at 9 a.m. Wednesday with Russian officials via Skype. The games will then begin promptly at 9:30 a.m., inside Division 11 of the Cook County Jail. Patch published a preview of this concept last year. Here’s what some south suburbanites thought of…
Monday, May 13, 2013
The Oak Lawn Lions will honor the village's police officer and firefighter of the year at their annual Law and Order Dinner tonight (Tuesday) at the Hilton Oak Lawn. Ald. Ed Burke is the featured guest speaker.
Oak Lawn Fire Battalion Chief Norman Rick and Police Tactical Officer Michael McNeela have been named firefighter and police officer of the year. Both first responders will be honored the Oak Lawn Lions Club’s 42nd annual Law and Order Dinner at the Hilton Oak Lawn on Tuesday evening. Rick and McNeela were nominated by their colleagues, and chosen by an award recipient committee comprised of members from Oak Lawn's police and fire departments. Chicago Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th) is the featured the keynote speaker. The Chicago City Hall lifer has served as alderman for 43 years, under seven Chicago mayors. In addition to chairing the City Council’s finance committee and slating judicial candidates, Burke is the co-author of End of Watch: …
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Cause of fire at Hickory Hills banquets facility still under investigation, ABC-7 reports.
Fire ripped through a Hickory Hills banquet hall early Sunday morning causing significant damage and disrupting planned Mother's Day and First Communion parties. Several south suburban fire departments responded to a fire at Camelot Banquets, 8624 W. 95th St. in Hickory Hills, around 7:14 a.m. Sunday. ABC-7 News reported that the fire started in the kitchen. No guests had arrived at the Camelot and there were no injuries, thanks to a quick-thinking Hickory Hills police officer. Two sisters who are part of the family that owns the Camelot told ABC-7 they owe their lives to the police officer. Both were taking a quick nap inside the office after working through the night preparing the hall for Sunday's parties. Sign up for the Oak Lawn …
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Nothing up their sleeves, except for bottles of booze • Kids joy ride in park district golf cart • WD-40 can allegedly used to hide pot … This week's roundup of weird crime news in the Southland.
Some drivers stopped by police get right to the point when it comes to tests for sobriety: "I’m not gonna blow into anything.” Find out what happened during this and other incidents in this week's roundup of Southland DUI arrests.
NEW LENOX May 5: Thomas Cosgrove, 40, of the 1200 block of Shagbark Road, New Lenox, was charged with driving under the influence and speeding, according to a report. Police stopped at car for speeding at about 3:01 a.m. near the intersection of Laraway Road and Stonebridge Drive. Cosgrove was arrested after an investigation by police. He posted bond and was released. May 4: Jose Fuentes-Jimenez, 31, of the first block of Calle Regina Medina, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, was charged with driving under the influence, driving without insurance, disobeying a traffic control device and speeding, according to a report. Police spotted a car that driven through a traffic control device while speeding. Police stopped the car and, after conducting an …
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Police say a 50-year-old man phoned in a bomb threat to his ex-lover’s employer, according to a report.
A 50-year-old Chicago Ridge man who police say they found lying behind a fence is accused of calling in a bomb threat to a Palos Hills business, according to a report. Kenneth Drajin, 50, has been charged with felony disorderly conduct, Sun-Times Media reports. Authorities say he threatened his ex-girlfriend's workplace. Executive Mailing, located in the 7800 block of West 111th Street, was evacuated after receiving a threat on Monday, according to report. Investigators determined the call came from a pay phone at the Bridgeview Walmart. Security video from the Walmart location allegedly showed Drajin making a call. Police found him by a fence in the 10500 block of South Harlem.
Nothing up their sleeves, except for bottles of booze • Kids joy ride in park district golf cart • WD-40 can allegedly used to hide pot … This week's roundup of weird crime news in the Southland.
April 30: Diners at the restaurant known for being delightfully tacky decided to split without paying their checks when they finished enjoying the view. Oak Lawn police responded to a reported dine-and-dash at Hooters at 9159 S. Cicero Ave. around 10:21. A table of three women and one man finished eating their meal and were talking amongst themselves when they all got up and left without paying their $91.30 tab, police said. The second dine-and-dash incident occurred the evening of April 21 around 9:50 a.m., police said. An off-duty police officer advised that four adults had just fled the restaurant and were heading southbound on Keating Avenue from 92nd Street in a Chevy Tahoe. Eight people were hit with charges from the two incidents. …
The former Chicago Ridge deputy fire chief charged with trying to rape and kill a neighbor is tired of the cops always showing up at his parents' place.
When they let former Chicago Ridge Deputy Fire Chief Gary Swiercz out of jail, he wasn't allowed to return to the Tinley Park condo where he allegedly tried to rape and kill a neighbor. Since the woman still lives in his building, Swiercz moved into his parents' home in Worth. But that hasn't worked out so well. The high-priority electronic monitoring the county put Swiercz on requires the cops to make an in-person visit to the house once during each eight hour shift, and the repeated visits are wearing on Swiercz's elderly parents, Barbara and Stan. Swiercz's parents were they went to court and asked a judge to cut out the house checks between midnight and 8 a.m. Cook County Judge John Joseph Hynes denied the request, pointing out that …
Friday, May 10, 2013
Preliminary findings from an autopsy on a baby boy found dead at a recycling center show the infant was less than seven days old and born premature. Police are continuing to investigate where the child came from.
A baby boy found dead inside a cooler at a Chicago Ridge recycling center will be laid to rest next week. The Cook County medical examiner’s office is expected to release the body of the baby, who is being called Jeremiah Michael, to Glueckert Funeral Home in Arlington Heights on Monday. The funeral Mass is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Thursday at Our Lady of the Ridge Catholic Church, 10820 S. Oxford Ave., Chicago Ridge. Father Wayne Svida, pastor, and Father George Omwando, of St. Catherine of Siena in Oak Park, will be officiating. Burial is expected to follow the Mass at Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery, 6001 W. 111th St. Preliminary finding from an autopsy conducted on May 2 showed the baby had been born sometime during the last seven …
Thursday, May 9, 2013
The assistant attorney general prosecuting Fernando Gonzalez called the convicted sex offender a "threat."
A Cook County judge denied a convicted sex offender's bid to get his $1 million bond reduced in a new sex case. The lawyer for 35-year-old Fernando Gonzalez pointed out that his client has worked for Amway since 2004 and that he is married with three children. Assistant Attorney General Dan Nikolic countered that Gonzalez is already a registered sex offender for a 2001 offense, has also been convicted of armed robbery, and that the police found photos on his cell phone of the two Burbank girls he was charged with molesting. "We didn't want anything less than $1 million," Nikolic said of the Cicero man after the Thursday morning hearing before Judge Colleen Hyland at the Bridgeview courthouse. "He's a threat," Nikolic said. Nikolic said he …
Ryan Fitzpatrick
11:44 am on Wednesday, May 15, 2013
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