Month: November 2015

It took two months, but Boystown resident Ted Rosinus has finally received a response to a letter he sent to local alderman Tom Tunney on September 10th. The respectful letter asked questions about the alderman’s handling of crime and policing issues in the 44th ward. After not receiving an answer to his first letter, Rosinus

Several people lost their homes last night after a fire, one of the most serious in a month-long string of arsons, ripped through a 3-flat in the 1900 block of W. Diversey. No injuries were reported in the blaze, which broke out at 6:40PM. “Dogs inside could be heard…I doubt anything in any of the

At last week’s community policing (CAPS) meeting for Wrigleyville and Boystown, the local CAPS sergeant announced that, effective immediately, our 19th district is halving the number of times the public will meet with local officers. Rather than monthly meetings, CAPS Sgt. Jason Clark said, meetings will be held every other month. And the department will

UPDATED 10:30AM NOV 10: • Color-coded incident map. • Updated total fire count to 20, based on new information. —————– A series of at least 12 suspicious fires this weekend has residents in west Lakeview and North Center on high alert and has arson investigators wondering if they’re dealing with a long-sought arsonist and, now, copycats.

A 60-year-old Uptown man is charged with the September 26 robbery of a Citibank branch in nearby Lincoln Park, federal court records show. One count of bank robbery by force or violence has been filed against Maurice Hudson whose most recent address is in the 4500 block of N. Hazel. At the time of the

Two convicted felons—one  who’s been sentenced to a combined 60 years in prison since 1982 and the other who is on parole after serving 10 years for armed robbery in Wisconsin—are facing burglary charges for separate incidents in our neighborhood this week, court records show. In the first case, a resident reported seeing a man

Eleven Chicago cops have received one-day suspensions and disciplinary action for accessing the police report that documents the robbery of mayor Rahm Emanuel’s son last December, the Sun-Times reports today. Police reports are public records that virtually anyone can review, given a few modest redactions. In fact, we’ve decided to publish the Emanuel robbery report right

A woman was robbed at gunpoint of her mink coat by two men in Boystown late last night, police said. No one was injured and no one is in custody. The victim was near Broadway and Buckingham around 11:15PM when two men approached her and one produced a black semi-automatic handgun. Both men fled southbound

Last night, local alderman Tom Tunney stood up and walked out in the middle of our neighborhood’s monthly community policing meeting, declaring its 45-minute length to be “a long one” as he headed toward the exit. Earlier in the meeting, 19th district community policing (CAPS) Sgt. Jason Clark announced changes to the community meeting format.

Criminal sexual assaults, aggravated assaults, and motor vehicle thefts have shown the greatest year-over-year increases in Lakeview as well as the 44th ward according to analysis of city crime data by CWB Chicago editors. In fact, more criminal sexual assaults were reported here through October 15 than in any other year in the public database,

Motor vehicle thefts, which are up 20% over last year in our neighborhood, went up a little bit more Tuesday after a resident and his girlfriend had their cars stolen by a group of men. One of the cars was quickly ditched in a West Lakeview yard. The other vehicle remained missing this morning. Police

The living has been interesting in the 3400 block of N. Janssen this week. It started with three people getting robbed at gunpoint and one getting pistol-whipped early Sunday. Then on Monday, a woman who lives just a few doors down from the robbery scene returned home from work to find her apartment burglarized. “iPad

Three occupants of a Lakeview coach house were robbed at gunpoint late on Halloween night by four or five offenders who brandished at least one firearm. One of the victims was pistol-whipped, police said. According to statements by a witness, up to five men entered the coach house in the 3400 block of N. Janssen