Note: The complete police reports, as issued by the Chicago Police Department are on our Google Drive: Click Here. The highlighting was made by a third party.
On at least two occasions last year, the Broadway Youth Center (BYC) actively obstructed Chicago Police Department efforts to identify and capture individuals wanted for violent beatings inside of and near their former location at Belmont and Broadway.
That is the sobering story revealed in two Chicago Police Department reports provided to Crime in Wrigleyville and Boystown by Citizens for a Safer Lakeview.
Incident 1
On July 13, 2012, one report says, “following a verbal altercation [offender] struck the victim in the face and head multiple times.” The victim was transported to a hospital by ambulance.
According to the report, officers “were informed by several bystanders that the offender was being hidden inside the Broadway Youth Center (3179 N. Broadway) by the center’s staff. [Two BYC] staff members. . . refused to cooperate…in any way and repeatedly cited [Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act] regulations as giving them the right to refuse to assist the police.”
Incident #2
Then, on October 15, 2012, police responded to 3179 N. Broadway again. This time, the battery took place inside the BYC facility.
According to the police report, a man had taken a baby stroller way from a woman and her girlfriend. When the man was confronted, the police report says, the offender punched the victim “in the face causing a small cut inside of her mouth and also her nose began to bleed. Offender then fled the scene, possibly in the direction of ‘The Center on Halsted’.”
Then, the obstruction begins: The officers “interviewed the center’s staff who stated that they knew who the offender was and had his information but that they would not give it to” the officers. The officers “informed the staff that this action is in direct conflict with [their] investigation and their failure to cooperate was an obstruction to justice.”
The BYC staff told the police officers to get a search warrant to get information that the staff already knew about an offender who beat a woman inside their shelter.
A PDF containing both police reports is available here. The redactions were made by the Chicago Police Department to protect the identities of victims, witnesses, and suspects. This is standard practice when providing reports responsive to Freedom of Information Act inquiries. The highlighting was made prior to the documents’ coming into CWB’s possession.
