Editor’s note: A third story that previously appeared in this report was removed on February 16, 2023, after the accused person had the matter expunged from their record.
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| Alejandro Alvarez | CPD |
• A Lower West Side man caused grave injuries to his girlfriend’s poodle when he struck the year-old dog in the head with a sandal, prosecutors said.
Alejandro Alvarez, 34, was arrested after police were called to an animal hospital in the 3100 block of North Clybourn where the dog was being treated last Saturday morning.
Police said their body cameras were rolling as Alvarez admitted to twice hitting the poodle mix named ChaCha because it wouldn’t stop barking. The strikes “caused severe head trauma, internal bleeding, and a cervical contusion leaving the dog in a coma-like state,” police wrote in Alvarez’s arrest report.
A veterinarian told police that ChaCha was not responding to treatment and would have to be put to sleep, the officers said. Alvarez was charged with misdemeanor cruelty to animals and released on a recognizance bond.
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| Tyshawn Ferguson is accused of damaging three Lincoln Park buildings, including the one at right. | CPD; Google |
Prosecutors say a man armed with nothing more than rocks caused more than $28,000 worth of damage to three high-rise buildings near Clark and Fullerton last week.
A witness flagged down police after reportedly seeing 30-year-old Tyshawn Ferguson throw rocks through three eight-foot-square windows at a condo building on the corner of Fullerton and Lakeview Avenues around 3:30 p.m. on July 16th. Damage estimate: $15,000
Another man reported that Ferguson threw rocks through two sets of glass doors at another building and then entered the lobby to throw a rock at the front desk attendant. The rock struck the desk, causing a large piece of granite to fall to the floor, the man said. Damage estimate: $13,000.
An engineer from a third apartment building also approached police to report that Ferguson threw a rock through a front door at his complex. Damage there was estimated to be just $354, police said.
Ferguson is charged with two counts of felony criminal damage to property, misdemeanor criminal damage to property, and misdemeanor aggravated assault of a private security officer. He was ordered held without bail.
At the time of his arrest, Ferguson was AWOL after skipping bail in a criminal damage case on the Northwest Side. He was also wanted for skipping bail in a case that accuses him of trespassing and resisting Metra police.
