Three men are in custody after a CBS2 reporting team was threatened and their news van was damaged near the Adler Planetarium on Monday afternoon, officials said. The men are also suspected of threatening other people with a rifle in other neighborhoods before and after the lakefront incident, according to an officer familiar with the investigation.
Shortly before 4 p.m., a man reported to Chicago police that four Hispanic men in a white pickup truck-style tow truck threatened him and his girlfriend as they loaded jet skis into the water at the Daley Park boat ramp, 3150 South Western Avenue, the source said. The couple chose not to file a police report.
About 30 minutes later, police believe the same truck pulled in front of the news van, which was parked on the lakefront as a reporter and photographer prepared to go live for the 4:30 p.m. newscast, according to the station.
Three men got out of the truck, the station reported. One of them allegedly tried to get a dog to attack the station’s news photographer, who is Black, while shouting racial slurs. The dog did not attack, but the other two men engaged the news crew, with one breaking the station’s news camera and the other smashing the news van’s windshield with a traffic cone, the station said. No physical injuries were reported.
Officers who responded to the scene spoke with witnesses and the news crew and radioed descriptions of three men, all of whom were said to be White.
About 20 minutes later, a 911 caller in Brighton Park reported that someone in a white pickup truck threatened them with a rifle near the 4200 block of South Western Avenue. Police quickly located a white pickup truck-style tow truck driving erratically, crossing the median, speeding, and running red lights, and tried to pull it over near 42nd Street and Campbell Avenue.
The driver brake-checked the pursuing squad car, causing it to rear-end the truck, but the pursuit continued until at least three men bailed out of the vehicle and ran. Cops continued the chase on foot and quickly arrested two men, both of whom are Hispanic, according to a source. Ald. Julia Ramirez (12th) said police ultimately arrested three suspects. Officers also recovered a rifle at the scene. Charges were pending on Tuesday morning.
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