Bail set at $150K for man accused of fighting with police, paramedics

A 28-year-old Hobart, Ind. man has been charged in a disturbance that left himself, two paramedics, and a police officer hospitalized after he fought with them outside a River North club Wednesday night.
A judge set bail at $150,000 Wednesday for Joseph Zajac, of the 3800 block of Colbourne Street in Hobart, who was charged with three felony counts of aggravated battery to a police officer or protected employee and misdemeanor resisting a police officer.
The incident began about 7:15 p.m. Wednesday at Kinzie Street and LaSalle Drive as paramedics and police responded to a multiple 911 calls about a sick person.
Responding officers spoke to a doorman who was nearby working when he saw Zajac who appeared highly intoxicated. He was stumbling in the street, falling down, and hitting his head on the ground.
The doorman saw a passerby who told police he was a doctor, who helped steady Zajac and kept him from falling down again. The doorman told Zajac and several of his companions that he should calm down and sit, but Zajac began punching, kicking, head butting, and trying to bite the emergency responders who had gotten to the scene.
The doorman was “visibly shaken’’ and said of Zajac’s actions: “He was attacking them and they were only trying to help’’.
Someone on the scene overheard Zajac on a phone saying he’d been kicked out of a nearby tavern and he was “lost in Chicago and I’m on ‘shrooms’’ .
A police News Affairs statement on the incident said the "highly combative'' Zajac was hitting a paramedic in the face and punching and kicking a police officer. He caused a second paramedic to fall and hit her head on a railing, causing unconsciousness.
The male and female paramedic along with a male police officer were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The man who allegedly attacked the three was also hospitalized there. None of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening,

Shooting in Chicago in the rain November 16, 17, 2013

29-year-old man  shot in River North

A 29-year-old man was shot early this morning as he drove in the Fulton River District neighborhood.
About 4:15 a.m., the man was driving in the 500 block of West Grand Avenue when a second vehicle pulled alongside and someone opened fire.
Despite sustaining four gunshot wounds, the man continued driving to the 1300 block of West Lake Street, where he parked the vehicle. He was with at least two other people.
The man then drove himself or was driven to Rush University Medical Center, and he was transferred soon after to John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County.
Police said he sustained two gunshot wounds to the arm and one each to the chest and abdomen. The wounds were described as superficial, and the man was listed in good condition.

21-year-old man shot in Brighton Park

Early Saturday morning, a man was wounded in a shooting on the Southwest Side in the city's Brighton Park neighborhood. That shooting happened about 3:25 a.m. on the 4100 block of South Western Avenue.
The victim, a 21-year-old man, was walking on the sidewalk when he heard gunfire and soon after felt pain.
He was driven to Mount Sinai Hospital by a friend who was at the scene. The man suffered a wound to his left torso and was listed in serious condition

3 shot on Dan Ryan Expressway

Three people suffered what were believed to be non-life threatening injuries when they were shot this evening on the Dan Ryan Expressway.
The three were shot on Interstate 94 northbound near 59th Street about 8:53 p.m.
The three went to St. Bernard Hospital and Healthcare Center on their own, where they were being treated for what were believed to be non-life-threatening injuries

3 people shot in Chatham

Three people were shot about 1:15 a.m. as they walked down the sidewalk in the 7500 block of South Ingleside Avenue. Someone in a dark-colored sedan opened fire, striking the ankles of a 16-year-old girl, a 19-year-old man and a 21-year-old man.
The girl was brought by ambulance to University of Chicago Medical Center, and someone drove the men to Jackson Park Hospital, Police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro said. Their conditions were stabilized.

21-year-old man shot in Back of the Yards

At about 2:10 a.m. someone opened fire on a car in the 1600 block of West 44th Place.
A bullet shattered the rear window of the car and struck a 21-year-old man in the head. The man was taken in critical condition to John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, where he was brought into emergency surgery

2 men shot in Lawndale

Two men were shot about 4 a.m. near the intersection of West Douglas Boulevard and South St. Louis Avenue.

48-year-old man shot during robbery in South Shore

About 3:30 a.m., a 48-year-old man was shot during a robbery in the 7800 block of South Burnham Avenue. The man was shot in the shoulder and taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where his condition was stabilized.

3 men shot in Austin

Three men were shot about in the 5100 block of West Maypole Avenue shortly before 2:30 a.m. A 33-year-old man was struck in the foot and lower back and taken in serious condition to Mount Sinai Hospital, a 25-year-old man was shot in the back and taken in serious condition to Stroger, and a 36-year-old man was shot in the leg and buttocks and taken to Loretto Hospital, where his condition was stabilized.

Man shot in Rogers Park

About 1:30 a.m., a man arrived at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston after being shot in the left leg near the intersection of West Jarvis Avenue and North Campbell Avenue. Further

29-year-old man shot in Austin

A masked gunman approached a 29-year-old man and opened fire about 9:50 p.m. in the 5200 block of West Congress Parkway, Alfaro said. The 29-year old was struck in the elbow and both thighs and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital. His condition was stabilized.

Two stores robbed in Lincoln Park, River North neighborhoods

One man may have robbed two stores in the Lincoln Park and River North neighborhoods overnight.
Authorities aren't yet linking the two but released a single identical description of the robber in both incidents, which happened in the same Near North Side police district about an hour apart from each other.
In the first, a Hispanic man in his 30s wearing dark clothing walked into a 7-Eleven at 2201 N. Lincoln Avenue, displayed a handgun and demanded cash, which he received. That happened about 2 a.m.
At 3:10 a.m., someone matching that description walked into a Dunkin Donuts at 309 W. Chicago Avenue, displayed a handgun and demanded cash. The clerk complied.

Man shot in River North

A man was hospitalized this afternoon after being shot twice in the River North neighborhood.
The man was wounded near the intersection of Chicago and Hudson avenues at about 1:10 p.m..
The man was shot in the head and in the back.
He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in serious-to-critical condition

Man threatened to blow up CTA bus in 'jihad' Police: No hate crime charges against black jihadist

A man threatened to blow up a CTA bus and told police he was "jihad against the white devil" this week, causing evening rush hour passengers to flee in fear for their lives.
A judge set bail at $90,000 Tuesday for Caleb Russell, 23, of the 4700 block of South Woodlawn Avenue, who was charged with making a bomb threat, a felony.
 Russell was aboard a CTA bus that was westbound on Chicago Avenue at Orleans Street in the River North neighborhood Monday about 6:20 p.m. when officers on patrol saw the bus stop in the middle of the intersection.
 Several passengers told police that Russell made derogatory and racial remarks and threatened to “blow this motherfucker up,’’.
 Russell also began yelling racial slurs at responding officers and said he was “jihad against the white devil,’’.
 After the driver pushed the panic button, numerous passengers who “feared for their lives’’ exited from the rear and front of the bus

Police issue alert after burglaries in River North

Police are warning businesses in the River North neighborhood after two dry cleaners and a drug store were broken into this month.
The burglars smashed the glass front doors of the business and took cash after breaking into cash registers.
The burglaries occurred at a drug store in the 100 block of West Kinzie Street on Nov. 23, a dry cleaners in the 600 block of North Dearborn Street on Nov. 20, and another dry cleaners in the 0-100 block of West Huron Street on Nov. 5

Man ran down 2 who laughed at his female companion

A Melrose Park man has been charged with running down two men outside of a nightclub last weekend, leaving two men critically injured after they laughed at a woman he was with.
Alejandro Escobar, 37, was arrested Friday at his home in the 1800 block of North 19 th Avenue in the west suburb and charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder. Both victims were critically injured.
The driver of a 2009 red Honda Accord crashed into the men, 28 and 23, outside a club in the 100 block of West Ontario Street where a fight broke out at 4:49 a.m. Sunday.
According to a preliminary police report, the driver was angry at the two men for "laughing" at his female companion and accelerated, striking and running over both men with the Honda outside the club.
Witnesses pulled one of the men out from under the car, but the motorist then "backed up" and ran over the other man three to four times while the bystanders tried to open the car door and screamed at the man to stop, the report said.
The car fled east – the wrong way – on Ontario Street with a female passenger, while the parking lot was left stained with blood, the report said.
The motorist had a shaved head and was between the ages of 35 and 38, and authorities reviewed surveillance outside the club to see if it captured footage of the incident

Man shot in River North

Just after 3 a.m. a man was shot just south of Chicago Avenue on Franklin Street in the River North neighborhood. .
Police said the shooting may have stemmed from a robbery or attempted robbery but police had a hard time communicating with the man shot because he spoke Polish. He was shot in the leg and taken to Stroger hospital

Argument leads to man's stabbing death in River North

A man was stabbed to death on LaSalle Street in the River North neighborhood just before 4 a.m. Saturday.
He was attacked by a group of people after exchanging words with them at a nearby BP gas station at the corner of Ontario Street and LaSalle Boulevard.
He and another man were stabbed at about 3:45 a.m. in the 600 block of North LaSalle Boulevard.
The man killed suffered "several stab wounds to the chest". A 17-year-old boy who was wounded has been released from the hospital.
The 20-year-old victim, whose name was not being released immediately because his identity has not been verified, was pronounced dead of apparent stab wounds at 4:18 a.m. at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The man who died was with a group of people in a silver minivan that tried to leave the gas station after an argument with three people on Ontario Street.
The group of three swelled to more than ten people, who chased the van after it pulled away.
The crowd grew to between ten and fifteen people and they were rushing the car.Two of the people being attacked didn't make it in the car.
The van went north on LaSalle before doing a U-turn to double back and apparently get the two people who didn't make it in the van. Meanwhile, the larger group was trying to hit people in the car, throwing bottles at it, and someone in the van was swinging a club at the group.
The group got ahold of the man who was stabbed to death and found on the sidewalk in front of the south-facing minivan by responding police.
A witness at the scene stated" They were stomping him. I thought he was shot because the puncture wounds were so deep.He was soaked in blood. It looked like they hit him in the head, it looked like they stomped him in the face."

Cops: Man punched stranger because she 'looked at him funny'

A judge set bail at $25,000 today for a man who police said repeatedly punched a woman he did not know Monday afternoon on a River North street all because she “looked at him funny.’’
Bryant McClinton, 24, was charged with one count of battery in a public place and was booked into Cook County Jail Tuesday.
The 23-year-old North Side woman wasn't badly hurt in the apparently random attack and had been treated and released as of Tuesday night from Northwestern Memorial Hospital for head and face injuries
The woman had been walking south on Orleans Street as McClinton was walking north. As they were about to cross paths just after 1 p.m., McClinton punched the woman with his left hand, knocking the woman and her purse to the ground.
While hovering over her, McClinton punched her several more times but then fled on foot after people began noticing what was going on. Officers responded to several 911 calls.
Two witnesses –- one of whom was driving -- began chasing McClinton. Police joined the chase and McClinton was arrested about 1:20 p.m. in the 600 block of West Chicago Avenue.
Police also found that the entire beating had been captured on video surveillance. McClinton was brought into the Near North District police station where he told officers that he punched the victim “because she looked at him funny.''

22-year-old man killed at River North neighborhood Walgreens

A 22-year-old man died after someone walked into the Walgreens on Chicago Avenue near Franklin Street in the River North neighborhood and opened fire about 10 p.m. Friday.
The victim, who was shot in the head and body, was a security guard at the store. He was identified this afternoon as Troy Cameron, of the 500 block of North Avers Avenue, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
Police said the shooter, believed to be a former store employee, fled on foot. Nobody is in custody. The victim's identity was not being released publicly, pending notification of next of kin, but the Cook County medical examiner's office said the man was 22 and apparently died of multiple gunshot wounds.
Dante Simmons, who lived in the 1600 block of Juneway Terrace in Rogers Park, was considered a suspect in the slaying, according to the Evanston Police Department, which said that Simmons was found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot in an Evanston alley this morning. Police said Simmons was also considered a suspect in another killing Friday in Rogers Park.
Police found the body on the ground outside the Walgreens next to a garbage can.