(CHICAGO) A garage fire spread to “several” other structures early Monday in the Logan Square neighborhood on the Northwest Side, police said.
Emergency crews responded to the fire about 1:35 a.m. in a residential garage in the 3800 block of West Wrightwood, according to Chicago Police.
The garage, which had a vehicle parked inside, sustained severe damage and “several adjacent structures” were also damaged by the flames, police said.
The cause of the blaze was under investigation early Monday.
Dan Mihalopolous wrote an article for Sun-Times about the rise of the Logan Square neighborhood.
(CHICAGO) Police are searching for two people who allegedly tried luring a boy into a vehicle Wednesday afternoon in the Logan Square neighborhood.
The boy, described only as a juvenile, was in the 2800 block of West Belden when two males in a white pickup truck drove up, according to a community alert from Area North detectives. The driver said to the boy, “My mom is having a heart attack. Can you get in the back?”
When the boy said he was calling the police, the vehicle drove off east on Belden, then south on Milwaukee, police said.
The driver is described as a clean-shaven white man between 30 and 35 years old. He spoke with an accent — possibly Polish, police said.
Police described the second male as Hispanic with unkempt facial hair, wearing a white or gray shirt. An age range wasn’t provided for him.
The pickup is thought to be a two-door, white Chevrolet with a yellow or orange light on the roof, indicating that it might be a construction vehicle.
Any one with information is asked to call Area North detectives at (312) 744-8200.
(CHICAGO) It was a memorable first kiss.
Jessica Martinez, 29, had just had tacos and drinks and was walking down Milwaukee Avenue in Logan Square when the guy she was with got up his nerve and leaned in for a kiss.
As they slowly leaned against the front window of a vacant store, it collapsed.
The man fell through the glass into the store, somehow escaping injury.
Martinez fell on top of him, suffering a long, deep gash on her left arm.
The man took off his button-up shirt and used it as a tourniquet before an ambulance arrived shortly after 4 a.m.
“It was unreal how fast it unfolded,” said Martinez, while recounting the September incident during an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times. “One minute I’m excited, feeling butterflies and the next minute I’m bleeding all over the street.”
The next day a woman was opening a deli a few feet away when she saw the broken glass and a mess of blood on the sidewalk.
“I thought someone had been shot or stabbed,” the woman said.
Martinez has since filed a lawsuit against M. Fishman and Co., the owner of the building, at 2645 N. Milwaukee Ave., claiming the company was negligent. The suit alleges the windows were cracked and had not been replaced during a 2011 renovation. The suit also names a property management company listed at the same address as M. Fishman. M. Fishman did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
“There is a reasonable expectation of safety in our daily lives that windows and buildings will be secure, or that chairs will be sturdy,” said Martinez’s attorney, Lisa Ciharan. “The owner of this property failed in his responsibility to ensure safety to the pedestrians in this Chicago neighborhood.”
Martinez said the kiss was a “gentle, soft kiss,” not one in which she was passionately thrown against the window. She added that she weighs about 120 pounds, and the man she was with — a comedy writer in his late 20s — weighs about the same.
Martinez at the time was visiting from Dallas, where she works in customer service at a small startup company. She said the long scar on her arm has made her self-conscious.
“I live in Texas. It’s warm, I just started wearing short sleeves two weeks ago,” Martinez said. “It’s been a lot of emotional and psychological stress. How I was going to cover it? What I was going to say to people asking questions and staring and seeing that large scar every day?”
Martinez said the incident has not soured her relationship with the young man, whom she describes as a friend.
“We keep in touch and discuss the scar, how it’s looking, exchange pictures of what it looks like.”
Apart from the scar, the incident will have another lasting impact on Martinez.
“I lean against buildings and windows all the time and I never thought twice about them being unsafe until this incident,” she said.
From now on, she said, she will.
~ Chicago Sun-Times
(CHICAGO) A Logan Square man already charged with attacking three women on the CTA last year has been arrested again in connection with a similar incident that occurred in 2007, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.
Investigators were able to link Noor Jalil’s semen from the eight-year-old case by matching evidence taken from one of the victims in 2014, Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Jennifer Keating said Thursday.
Based on his nearly decade-long pattern, 54-year-old Jalil is a “predator, victimizing women,” Keating said.
In the oldest incident, Jalil allegedly boarded a crowded train at the Clark and Lake stop and pressed his groin up against the woman, who was 24 at the time.
The woman felt something wet on the back of her leg and skirt and then saw Jalil get off the train at the next stop, Keating said.
The woman immediately made a police report and her clothing was sent to the Illinois State Police crime lab where it was matched to Jalil’s DNA taken from an attack in September 2014, Keating said.
Jalil allegedly rubbed his penis up against two CTA commuters last year, including a woman who was seven months pregnant.
A few months earlier on July 1, 2014, he also pressed his body up against another woman on the train, keeping her from moving, according to prosecutors.
Last fall, Judge Donald Panarse Jr. ordered Jalil held in lieu of $100,000 bail for aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated battery charges for the three 2014 incidents.
At the time Panarese didn’t know Jalil, who has since been out on bond, had been victimizing women for a span of several years, Keating told Judge Laura Sullivan Thursday, urging her to set a higher bail.
Sullivan ordered Jalil, of the 2400 block of North Kedzie Avenue, held in lieu of $500,000 bail.
Assistant public defender Sandra Bennewitz said Jalil, who turned himself in to police Wednesday, has an undergraduate degree in marketing and a master’s degree in finance.
(CHICAGO) After enjoying food and drink at a nearby establishment, a woman and her “friend” leaned in for a kiss against an empty storefront window at 2645 N. Milwaukee in Logan Square last September.
Under pressure from the two of them, the window shattered. Shards of plate glass cut her, including “a deep and long laceration to her left arm.”
According to a lawsuit filed Monday in Cook County Circuit Court, the building’s owner and management are liable for Jessica Martinez’s injuries.
Martinez alleges that during a renovation of the building in 2011, the building’s cracked, 50-year-old windows were not replaced.
M. Fishman & Co., a real estate rental agency that manages the property, and 2645 N. Milwaukee LLC, which owns it, were both named as defendants. While named separately in the suit, both businesses have the same registered address.
Both defendants were negligent in failing to provide foot traffic with “a reasonably safe area to walk which would not cause injury in the event a pedestrian made contact with” the windows, the suit stated.
A representative from M. Fishman & Co. could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening.
The two-count suit alleges negligence and seeks an undisclosed amount in damages.
Authorities investigate after a Logan Square drive-by shooting late Thursday. | Network Video Productions
(CHICAGO) A man was killed in a Logan Square neighborhood drive-by shooting on the North Side late Thursday, police said.
About 11:40 p.m., the 31-year-old was sitting in an SUV parked in the 2000 block of West Fullerton when a gray pickup truck pulled up and someone inside fired shots, police said.
The man was shot in the left side of the head and taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, where he later died, police said. The Cook County medical examiner’s office could not immediately confirm the death.
A man standing outside a home three houses down from the scene early Thursday said he was watching T.V. when he heard four gunshots. He walked over to the window and saw people running around, he said. Police arrived a couple minutes later.
A police source said the man shot has documented gang ties.
© Copyright 2015 Sun-Times Media, LLC
(Chicago) Police are warning about two recent strong-arm robberies in the Northwest Side Logan Square neighborhood.
In both cases, men approach victims from behind, knock them over and take their belongings, Area North detectives said in a community alert.
The first robbery happened about 4 a.m. Jan. 22 in the 2400 block of North Milwaukee, police said. Another robbery happened about 3:20 a.m. Jan. 25 in the 3000 block of North Belden.
The suspects are described as Hispanic men between 20 and 30 years old, between 5-foot-6 and 5-foot-8, one of whom wore a blue jacket, police said.
Two other suspects are described as black men between 35 and 40, between 5-foot-6 and 5-foot-10, one of whom wore a checkered shirt and blue jeans, police said.
Anyone with information should call detectives at (312) 744-8263.
© Copyright 2015 Sun-Times Media, LLC
(CHICAGO) Two suspects have been charged with robbing delivery drivers in the Northwest Side Logan Square neighborhood.
Armando Colon, 19; and a 16-year-old boy are each charged with two felony counts of armed robbery with a firearm, according to Chicago Police. The 16-year-old was not identified because he is a juvenile.
The first robbery happened about 9:35 p.m. on Jan. 14 in the 3500 block of West Dickens, the block where Colon lives, police said. The suspects stole money and delivery items from a 34-year-old victim.
The second robbery happened about 9 p.m. on Jan. 18 in the 3500 block of West Shakespeare, police said. The duo struck a 52-year-old delivery driver in the face before stealing cash and delivery items.
Both Colon and the teenager are scheduled to appear in bond court Thursday.
© Copyright 2015 Sun-Times Media, LLC
(CHICAGO) Police are warning about robbers targeting food delivery drivers and other residents in the Northwest Side Logan Square neighborhood.
The suspects targeted the two delivery drivers as they walked to or from residences, Area North detectives said in an alert. Those robberies happened about 9:15 p.m. Saturday in the 2000 block of North Drake, and at 9 p.m. Sunday in the 3500 block of West Shakespeare, the alert said.
The same people are suspected of robbing two residents on the street — one at 3:33 p.m. Jan. 11 in the 3500 block of West McLean, and again at 9:35 p.m. Wednesday in the 3500 block of West Dickens, the alert said.
They are described as three Hispanic males between 5-foot-3 and 5-foot-10 who are between 16 and 20 years old and a black male between 5-foot-7 and 6-feet thought to be between 16 and 25 years old, police said. All four wore all-black clothing, including hoodies and skull caps.
Authorities are cautioning residents to park in well-lit areas, and report any suspicious people loitering in the area to police.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Area North detectives at (312) 744-8263.
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