Man dies after falling from building in Gold Coast

A man died this morning after falling from a building in the city's Gold Coast neighborhood.
The incident, which police were investigating as a suicide, happened about 10:10 a.m. on the 200 block of East Superior Street.
The man, who had fallen from an unknown height, has not been identified.
Police said they were investigating the fall as a suicide.

Man, 70, shot during Gold Coast robbery outside Archbishop's Residence

A  70-year-old man was shot in the foot during a robbery outside the Archbishop's Residence in the North Side's Gold Coast neighborhood Friday night.
The man was walking his dog in the 1500 block of North Astor Street, adjacent to the mansion where Cardinal Francis George lives, when someone wearing a mask grabbed him from behind and put a gun to his head about 7:30 p.m. Friday.
"Give me your [expletive] wallet," the robber said.
When the 70-year-old explained that he doesn't carry a wallet, the assailant fired a shot into his foot. The man threw his cell phone and a few bills from a front pocket onto the ground in front of him, and the robber grabbed them and fled.
Hearing a commotion, the doorman of a nearby residence came outside and began to pursue the fleeing assailant down the street. The suspect turned and fired shots in the direction of the doorman and 70-year-old, striking a garage but not hitting either man.
Police confirmed that a man was shot during the course of a robbery on the block. The man's condition was stabilized at Northwestern Memorial Hospital

Man falls to his death in Gold Coast neighborhood

Chicago police have opened a death investigation after a man fell to his death in the Gold Coast neighborhood this afternoon.
The incident was reported at about 3:30 p.m. after a man fell to his death in the 600 block of North St. Clair Street.
The man was in his 30s

Arrest in "massage service" attack, robbery at Gold Coast hotel

A West Englewood resident was arrested Tuesday morning at his home and charged with robbing a man in his luxury Gold Coast hotel room last summer after the man called a massage service.
Jherrell McMahan, 25, of the 6600 block of South Bishop Street, was brought to the Cook County Criminal Courthouse Thursday afternoon and ordered held on $150,000 bond.
The 70-year-old robbery victim was staying at the Whitehall Hotel, 105 E. Delaware Place, on Aug. 23 when he returned to his hotel room, called for a massage service and unlocked the door, prosecutors said. Instead of a masseur, McMahan came into the room with an unnamed co-offender and knocked the hotel guest to the ground.
McMahan and the second attacker beat the man, stole his iPad and ripped his pockets open to retrieve his wallet, credit cards and cash. They also threatened to hit him with a bottle of whiskey and a bike pump that were both in the hotel room before they fled in a getaway vehicle that was registered in McMahan's mother's name.
McMahan has previous misdemeanor convictions for theft and prostitution, according to court records.

Shootings in Chicago September 20, 2013

23-year-od man shot in Park Manor

About 2 a.m. Friday a 23-year-od man was shot in the side at 75^th Street and Michigan Avenue and taken in critical condition to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn

Male shot in Washington Park

At about 2 a.m. in the 6300 block of South Eberhart Avenue, a male was shot in the leg

 18 year old shot in Portage Park

In an attack in the Portage Park neighborhood, a man or boy was shot in the foot in the 3700 block of North Mobile Avenue about 1:52 p.m.

18-year-old man shot in West Pullman

In a shooting early this morning, an 18-year-old man was shot about 1:20 a.m. in the 12600 block of South Stewart Avenue in the West Pullman neighborhood on the Far South Side. The man, who was shot in both legs, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center.

30-year-old man shot in Lawndale

At about 1:20 a.m., a 30-year-old man was shot as he walked out of a vehicle in the 1200 block of South Kedvale Avenue in the Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side. The man was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital and listed in serious condition.

41-year-old man shot in Gold Coast

Later this morning, about 4 a.m., a 41-year-old man was shot in the 0-100 block of East Chestnut Street in the Gold Coast neighborhood on the Near North Side. The shooter fled in a white car, and the 41-year-old was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in serious condition. Police said the shooting happened during an argument over a parking space.

3 teens guilty in Oak Street cell phone thefts

Three teenagers accused of stealing cell phones from two 14-year-old girls on Oak Street near Michigan Avenue last month were found guilty of theft today.
The 14-year-olds had their phones stolen about 4:45 p.m. July 23 in the first block of East Oak Street.
Originally, two 16-year-old girls and a 15-year-old girl were cited in juvenile petitions with robbery and aggravated battery. Today, one 16-year-old pled guilty to a juvenile citation for theft, and the other two were found guilty of a juvenile citation for theft
One of the three attackers approached one of the girls and asked to use her cell phone. The girl complied and when the borrower walked away with the phone, the other two suspects confronted the victims and began to punch them and grabbed a second cell phone.
A witness saw the victims screaming and chased the suspects eastbound on Oak Street, police said. The three girls were taken into custody about 20 minutes after the robbery

Man attacks woman in Gold Coast apartment man charged

Police are questioning a man suspected of breaking into a Gold Coast apartment and trying to sexually assault a 54-year-old woman.
The man broke into the apartment in the 1200 block of North Stone Street shortly before 3:20 a.m. and attacked her as she slept in her bedroom.  The woman awoke to find the man on top of her, choking her.
As the woman struggled to free herself, the woman's son awoke and went to her rescue.
The son chased the attacker, who was partially clothed, out of the apartment and called police. Officers found the man trying to get dressed when they arrived.
The attacker could face charges of attempted sexual assault, attempted murder and home invasion.
Deandre Minor, 28, of the 800 block of West 78th Street, was charged with attempted criminal sexual assault with bodily harm, robbery and home invasion/sex offense.
Minor had just been released from Cook County Jail on July 31 prior to being convicted in 2012 during a bench trial on a 2010 criminal sexual abuse charge. He was sentenced to three years in prison in August of 2012, but Minor appealed the ruling.

1 held after snatching purse from elderly woman on North Michigan Avenue

Two Good Samaritans, including a 35-year-old Canadian man, are being credited for running after and tackling a man accused of grabbing a purse from an elderly woman on North Michigan Avenue Tuesday afternoon.
Gregory Froggs, 49, of the 3500 block of South Rhodes Avenue, was charged about 9 p.m. Tuesday with felony robbery. .
It was about noon Tuesday when the elderly woman was waiting in a lobby for an elevator to take her to a doctor's office inside a building in the 300 block of North Michigan Avenue.
When the elevator door opened, Froggs emerged and he grabbed the woman’s purse and ran away northbound on Michigan Avenue.
Two witnesses – a 35-year-old Canadian man and a man working at the building -- saw it unfold and chased after Froggs.
The Canadian man “tackled” Froggs who ran down a stairwell at  Michigan Avenue leading to lower Wacker Drive  and, with the help of the building staffer, “dragged him back’’ to the building where it happened.
The woman was not injured, and her purse was returned to her with everything in it

Man found dead in Gold Coast apartment after fire

A man was found dead inside his Gold Coast apartment after the building's doorman called police to check on the man's well being Friday night.
The door on the unit, in the 1100 block of North Lake Shore Drive, was chained shut from inside, according to authorities. One of the building's maintenance workers cut the lock.
The doorman hadn't seen the resident in awhile and was concerned
Police were able to smell smoke and requested the Chicago Fire Department, and Richard Fagan was found dead next to a burnt mattress. Fagan, who lived there, was pronounced dead there at 11:35 p.m.
The walls of the apartment were also charred, according to police. It's not clear what caused the fire and nobody called 911 to report a fire

Police arrest 12 after large group converges on Gold Coast

Eleven juveniles and one adult were arrested last night after a large group converged near the Gold Coast and were blocking traffic.
The people were arrested and charges were pending.
The youths were part of a group that had caused a "minor disturbance" in the area, Ursitti said. She said the group members were not being violent and there were no reported injuries.

The group was made up of several dozen members who roamed from Michigan Avenue west on Chicago Avenue to LaSalle Street and witnesses said they were between the ages of 14 and 19 years old

Woman, 80, dies after apparently falling down trash chute

An 80-year-old woman has been found dead after apparently falling down a trash chute in the same Gold Coast building where a 16-year-old boy fell to his death, also down a trash chute.
A building engineer found Florence Banta at the bottom of the chute in the 1500 block of North Astor Street around 10:30 a.m. Monday.
Banta, who lived on the 17th floor, had been reported missing March 30. A police alert described her as "a fragile woman who may be suffering with anxiety and may be upset."
Police said they were investigating the circumstances of her death.

Man shot in Gold Coast

A man was wounded early this morning in a shooting in the Gold Coast neighborhood.
The shooting happened just before 5 a.m. as the man was stepping into a vehicle near the intersection of Rush Street and Chicago Avenue.
A gunman approached and opened fire, striking the man in the knee, according to police.
The man, who is about 20 years old, drove himself to the University of Chicago Hospital, where he was listed in good condition

Man charged with trying to kill officer in gold Coast attack

A man accused of trying to kill a Chicago police officer after a Gold Coast shoplifting was denied bail today.
Police say Michael D. Holmes, 20, was part of a group that stole clothes from American Apparel, 46 E. Walton St., in the Gold Coast neighborhood about 6:10 p.m. Nov. 18 and then almost killed an officer while making their escape.
When an officer tried to stop Holmes and the other suspects from fleeing in a car, the getaway vehicle sped toward the officer. The officer, who said he feared for his life, fired his gun but did not hit any of the suspected thieves. The officer wasn't injured.
Holmes' public defender told Judge Edward Harmening that Holmes was a passenger in the car.
Holmes, of the 8400 block of South Exchange Avenue, was arrested after a foot chase last Thursday, 10 days after the crime, prosecutors said. Harmening denied him bail on the count of attempted first-degree murder of a police officer. Holmes also faces charges of aggravated assault on an officer and felony theft.

Woman falls nine stories in Gold Coast

A  young woman plunged nine floors from a parking garage in the Gold Coast neighborhood and was taken to a hospital in extremely critical condition.
At 4:21 p.m. paramedics were called to the intersection of Rush and Walton streets for a woman in her teens or early 20s who fell nine floors from a parking garage.
She was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in extremely critical condition.
Witnesses told officials on the scene that her backpack had been located on the upper floor

$350K bail for man charged with forcing ATM withdrawal at knifepoint

Bail was set at $350,000 today for a Northwest Side man who is accused of robbing a man by making him withdraw $100 from a Gold Coast ATM this week.
Patrick J. Palumbo, 47, of 2800 block of West Diversey Avenue, was charged late Friday night with one count of armed robbery.
Palumbo was ordered held today in lieu of $350,000 bail.
Palumbo forced a 49-year-old man to withdraw $100 from an ATM at knifepoint Thursday night at a Walgreens in the 900 block of North State Street. In court today, prosecutors said that Palumbo had a knife in a jacket pocket which he showed the victim.
The victim gave the money to Palumbo but authorities apprehended him near the Walgreens and he was taken into custody about 8:25 p.m. Thursday.

41-year-old man shot in the Gold Coast

A hooded gunman shot and wounded a man on the Gold Coast this morning.
The 41-year-old man was shot in the right thigh near State and Chestnut streets about 5 a.m..
The man was taken to nearby Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
The victim told police he was leaving the restaurant with three young women when the offender approached and said, "Don't move."
The man said the offender then opened fire, striking him twice in the right buttocks. The offender then fled on foot south on State Street.
The victim was at a nightclub before ending up at the restaurant to eat breakfast.
Neither he nor the women could identify the person who is described as black with light complexion, between 5-foot-9 to 5-foot-10 inches tall, about 30 years old and was wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt.

Parolee charged with first-degree murder in Gold Coast hotel murder

A parolee has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with last month’s fatal shooting of an alleged prostitute at a Gold Coast hotel.
Lamarcus Washington, 28, of Chicago had already been in custody for violating his parole on a 2008 drug conviction, since being questioned about the Aug. 13 slaying of 22-year-old Brianna Gardner.
She was found fatally shot in the head about 10 a.m. in a seventh-floor room of the Whitehall Hotel, 105 E. Delaware Pl., just off the Magnificent Mile near the John Hancock Center. At least one guest staying near her room heard what sounded like a gunshot about 3:30 a.m. that day, but police were not notified until hours later when a cleaning crew discovered her body.
Although police could not find the murder weapon, Washington’s cell phone was found in the room when Gardner’s body was discovered.
Gardner was arrested a week earlier in Chicago on a misdemeanor prostitution charge and had prostitution arrests in the past year in Houston and Washington, D.C., according to court records.
Police said Washington was a customer of Gardner's when she was slain.

More than 20 black youth Wilding- Flashmobing arrested on Gold Coast

More than 20 youngsters were arrested for causing a disturbance along the Magnificent Mile Saturday afternoon.
No injuries were reported though scores of police officers criss-crossed the city's Gold Coast, responding to numerous calls regarding rowdy teens pushing aside pedestrians and darting into traffic along North Michigan Avenue near Chicago Avenue, according to witnesses and police.
In the end, officers took nearly two-dozen youth into custody, charging them as juveniles with reckless conduct

Woman found shot dead in Gold Coast hotel

Police are investigating the homicide of a woman found shot to death in a hotel room on the Gold Coast.
Police responded at about 10 a.m. to the Whitehall Hotel in the 100 block of East Delaware Place and found the woman in one of the rooms.
At least one guest staying near the victim's seventh-floor hotel room heard what sounded like a gunshot about 3:30 a.m..
Hours later, a cleaning crew arrived to the victim's room and found her dead. The crew mentioned the discovery to hotel management, who in turn called the police.
The victim, who is in her 20s and is from Texas, was shot in the head and her death is being investigated as a homicide

Police warn of smash-and-grab burglaries and robberieson North Side

Chicago police have issued alerts for thieves who have smashed through doors and windows of businesses along the Gold Coast and Lincoln Park area.

Most of the burglaries have occurred early in the morning. In one string of thefts, two to three burglars broke windows and helped themselves to designer handbags from display racks at four Gold Coast stores between April 28 and June 18.
In other burglaries, thieves entered stores and emptied cash registers.
Authorities also warned of an armed robber who held up people in the 2000 block of North Burling Street and in the 500 block of West Eugenie Street. In both instances, the robber pulled a handgun and announced a robbery.
Police only had vague descriptions for the business thefts, but described the street robber as an black man, between 18 and 25, 5-foot-9 to 6-foot-2, with a medium to dark complexion
Anyone with information on these incidents are asked to contact Area Central detectives at (312) 747-8380.