Month: January 2016

A grand jury has returned a 14-count indictment against Ralph Banks, the 19-year-old parolee who is accused of taking part in a wild shootout in Wrigleyville last month that saw more than 70 shots fired by various participants. Banks (Il. Dept of Corrections) Banks’ original charge of reckless discharge of a firearm is the least

Two people were targeted in separate armed robberies in nearby Lakeview Wednesday evening. No one was injured and no suspects were detained. Most recently, a Lakeview woman was robbed of her purse by a man who brandished a knife near the Whole Foods store at Lincoln and School around 10PM. The victim told police that

Burglary reports continue to roll in around the area. Some of the cases have been incredibly bold. A couple of examples: Wrigleyville’s Goose Island Brewery has been closed for a couple of months. But one enterprising burglar still saw an opportunity. According to a police report filed last week, someone broke out a front pane

A Lakeview woman barricaded herself inside a locked bathroom as burglars broke into her home in the 3800 block of N. Wayne around 11:30 this morning. She was not injured. According to a source, the suspects rang the woman’s doorbell, knocked on her front door, and then broke into her home, believing that it was

A man who once held a volunteer position in the local Chicago police CAPS program is facing felony reckless conduct charges for allegedly sparking a powerful police response by reporting a false “officer in distress” call to 911 from a local bar, court records say. 44-year-old Patrick Elbrecht of Uptown was taken into custody around

Legal troubles have worsened for two men accused of serious wrongdoing along the Clark Street bar strip recently. Playoff Pistol Pierce (CPD) Hoytuan Pierce, the 31-year-old who is accused of firing a gun near the intersection of Clark and Cornelia as a Cubs playoff victory celebration wound down has been slapped with a number of additional

A neighborhood pest went a couple of steps too far and he’s now charged with robbing a Walgreens and a 7-Eleven near Clark and Diversey last week. Bensfield (Cook County Sheriff’s Office) Prosecutors say 40-year-old Raymond Bensfield walked into the 7-Eleven at 2619 N. Clark Street around 9:30 last Wednesday and claimed to have a

A 23-year-old South Side man has been sentenced to 23 years in prison after pleading guilty to robbing a Lincoln Park woman at gunpoint in September 2014. Jonathan Ben allegedly donned a ski mask and brandished a blue steel revolver when held the woman up near Wrightwood and Clark around 6:15AM on September 18, 2014.

One of three men now charged with attacking a 77-year-old woman during a Wrigleyville home invasion this weekend was arrested last month after a Lakeview woman told police that he and another man tried to break into her home at 4:30AM—just two blocks from Saturday’s tragic crime. Ruff That woman and her four children were