Tag: drug | WLS-AM 890

19-year-old man dies of suspected overdose outside Spring Awakening

Jun 15, 2015 | WLSAM Staff

(CHICAGO) A 19-year-old North Side man died after he was discovered outside the Spring Awakening electronic music festival at Soldier Field late Saturday.

Photo Credit: J. DeSalvo (2012) — Photo Credit: J. DeSalvo

Steve Vongkoth was discovered at 11:05 p.m. Saturday near Soldier Field in the 1400 block of North Museum Campus Drive, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Vongkoth, of the 6200 block of North Keystone, was taken to Mercy Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 9:52 a.m. Sunday, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Police said the death is thought to be drug-related. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday.

React Presents, the company that runs Spring Awakening, did not respond to multiple requests for comment Sunday.

Alvarez plans treatment over prosecution for misdemeanor marijuana possession

Apr 20, 2015 | WLSAM Staff

(CHICAGO) People busted repeatedly with minor amounts of marijuana could face treatment rather than prosecution under a set of “sweeping” reforms Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez is set to announce on Monday.

The county’s top prosecutor will announce the “first of its kind alternative prosecution program” during a press conference at her office Monday morning, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

The program is designed for nonviolent individuals charged with Class 4 felony drug possession and intends to link repeat offenders with social service agencies “for treatment rather than pursuing criminal penalties,” according to the release. Its goal is to begin addressing chronic drug use as a public health issue.

Chicago Police Department spokesman Martin Maloney said Alvarez’s plan is a “welcome step.”

“Mayor [Rahm] Emanuel has long believed that reducing penalties for nonviolent, low-level drug offenses saves taxpayer dollars and, more importantly, keeps nonviolent offenders from a lifetime in the criminal justice system,” Maloney said.

Alvarez spokeswoman Sally Daly said the state’s attorney intends, in most cases, not to prosecute misdemeanor marijuana charges brought against people with no significant history of violence. Individuals with three or more arrests or citations for misdemeanor marijuana possession will instead be referred to drug school, she added.

Class 4 felony drug possession cases made up 25 percent of Cook County’s felony cases in 2014, according to Alvarez’s office. That’s in addition to 15,000 misdemeanor cases for possession of small amounts of marijuana.

Man charged with running drug operation at Oak Park home

Feb 16, 2015 |

(OAK PARK) Three people are facing charges after police traced a west suburban drug operation back to an Oak Park home on Friday.

Two Oak Park residents and a Chicago man were arrested at 6 a.m. at a home in the 1100 block of South Euclid Avenue in Oak Park, according to a statement from Riverside police, who assisted the West Suburban Enhanced Drug and Gang Enforcement Task Force in the investigation. Oak Park police were also on scene.

Edward P. Creedon, who lived at the home, had allegedly been running a drug operation out of the residence and had been seen selling to people from different west suburbs, including Riverside, police said.

“Police observed numerous drug transactions in which the“customer” would drive to the home and purchase narcotics at the front door or by going inside the home and then quickly leave after the purchase,” Riverside police Chief Tom Weitzel said in the statement.

Officers executed a search warrant and found marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and tools for preparing and cutting drugs for resale.

Creedon was charged with possession of and intent to deliver methamphetamine and cocaine, police said. He also faces misdemeanor counts of possessing drug paraphernalia and unlawful use of a weapon with two metal knuckles, police said.

Police also arrested two renters who were illegally renting space at Creedon’s home, police said. Matthew A. Cooley, 35, of Chicago was charged with possession of cocaine, while Oak Park resident Danielle A. Dipego, 30, faces a misdemeanor charge of possessing drug paraphernalia.