Graffiti sprawled on Marilyn Monroe statue’s leg

Poor Marilyn — even in death people just can’t leave her alone.

The 26-foot-tall statue of Marilyn Monroe on Michigan Avenue, which depicts the legendary actress in her iconic pose from the 1955 movie, “The Seven Year Itch,” was defaced sometime late Friday or early Saturday, police said.

The black markings on the right calf of the statue appear to contain the letters, “Pi$tola,” a picture of a heart and the word, “Ariel.”

Police weren’t notified of the graffiti until 2:40 p.m. Saturday, police said.

The statue went up this summer in Pioneer Court, on the 400 block of North Michigan, and is scheduled to remain there through spring of 2012. It has attracted the attention of passersby, residents and tourists alike, and many have stopped to gaze up at it or have their photos taken next to — or under — it.

As of Saturday evening no arrests had been made and it was not known if police were looking at any suspects in connection to the incident.

from the Sun-Times

Man throws molotov into grocery store

Bond was set at $2 million Monday for a Sleepy Hollow man accused of throwing a Molotov cocktail-style fire bomb inside a crowded grocery store in northwest suburban Algonquin.

The incident occurred at about 12:15 p.m. Sunday at the Joe Caputo & Sons store in the 100 block of South Randall Road.

According to Deputy Police Chief Steve Kuzynowski, 24-year-old Fabian J. Torres threw a burning “incendiary device fashioned out of a bottle filled with flammable liquid among a large group of people standing near the delicatessen in the rear of the store.”

Only one person was injured, and he was treated for minor burns at the scene, police said. A Crystal Lake man who was shopping followed Torres out of the store and, with the help of an off-duty Carpentersville police officer who happened to be in the parking lot, subdued the Sleepy Hollow man until police arrived, Kuzynowski said.

Torres was charged with aggravated arson and was taken to the McHenry County Jail after his bond was set Monday morning. Kuzynowski declined to say what may have motivated the attack.

Published reports say Torres is a former Caputo’s employee and that he told one witness he is a Native American who is upset about how the American land has been exploited. The store sustained some damage, but reopened for business Monday.

more from the Sun-Times

Conservative rag fears flash mobs will ignite new Chicago "fire"

[June 13]

Stories about violent "flash mobs" roaming Chicago's North Side neighborhoods have been in the news the past 2 weeks. People are worried about the impact these mobs will have on tourism and the city's economy. Some are asking why this social unrest is happening, now, so soon after Mayor Daley left office.

Kevin O'Neil writes in the CTA Tattler, "Chicago police and Streeterville universities are warning residents and passersby to be aware of traveling mobs of teenagers who use the CTA and cell phones to meet up in the Near North Side area and commit crimes..."

O'Neil continues, "Police arrested seven young men in their mid-to-late teen Saturday night on "mob action" charges after about two dozen men attacked a person parking his scooter in the 300 block of E. Chicago Avenue...according to a Tribune news report."

Other flash mob incidents this year include: "A group of 70 youths storming a McDonald's at Chicago and State and creating a disturbance that forced the restaurant to close for three hours."

There were also "'Flash mob offenders' exiting the Chicago/State Red Line station and shoplifting at area stores. This behavior prompted Loyola University to warn students and staff at its Water Tower campus."

more from the American Thinker

Chicago police brace for flash mob attacks

[June 9]

Police here are girding for another weekend of "flash mob" attacks after arresting 29 people in connection with a recent rash of assaults and robberies in and around the city's tony shopping and dining district.

Twelve crimes involving large groups of young men were reported last weekend, in addition to others earlier this spring. The incidents are some of the first major problems confronting newly appointed Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy.

The attacks have received wide attention in Chicago because they have occurred around the city's affluent north side, including near the "Magnificent Mile," a Michigan Avenue strip popular with tourists.

The latest attack occurred early Thursday morning. A spokesman for the Chicago Police Department said the attack involved "multiple" perpetrators near an elevated train platform. Described in the police report as a "strong arm robbery," the group of assailants took the victim's iPad and money and punched him in the face. No arrests have yet been made in that case.

more from the WSJ

Pro golfers clubs stolen at charity event

Pro golfer Ricky Barnes, in the Chicago area for a charity tournament, had his golf bag, clubs and an $8,000 watch swiped from his rental car this week, authorities said.

On Monday, Barnes was the guest of honor at the Middle Market Open National Kidney Foundation golf tournament at Olympia Fields Country Club.

Barnes, who’s ranked 93rd in the world, put his golf bag in the trunk of his car and locked it around 4 p.m. When he returned about 25 minutes later and opened the trunk, his wallet, bag, clubs and watch were gone.

The 14 clubs are valued at $3,500. His chrome Breitling Bentley watch was worth about $8,000.

more from the Sun-Times

Wage-slashing funeral home targeted by vandalism

On July 10, three Chicago-area Alderwoods funeral homes were viciously vandalized. All were Dignity Memorial network facilities that had also been targeted for a strike by local Teamsters.

Teamsters Local 727, which represents 16 Alderwoods embalmers, drivers and funeral directors, had been negotiating with the company that owns the homes after their labor contract expired June 30. The union complained that the other side had bargained in bad faith and had "…proposed a three-year wage freeze and a company health care package that is more expensive and less comprehensive than the union's health and welfare benefits," reports the Chicago Sun-Times. And so the Teamsters targeted four funeral homes for strike.

more at the Baltimore Sun

Arson at Chicago Tea Patriots' Christmas Party

A Statement from Chicago Tea Patriots founder Catherina Wojtowicz concerning the events on the night of Friday, December 10, 2010:

12/16/10

“We were the target of an arson Friday at our Christmas Party.

At appromixmately 8 p.m. smoke began to fill the rooms of Dugan’s Irish Pub where we hosting our Christmas Party. The entire bar soon became engulfed with thick, heavy smoke and the bar was evacuated. Within moments the Chicago Fire and Police arrived and began to clear and secure the premises. We were detained outside while firemen cleared the bar. After waiting an hour outside, with other dozens of other bar patrons, we were allowed back in to gather our belongings. The bar was covered in soot and patrons had great difficulty in breathing. Bar management had to close the bar for the night, thus losing revenue during the busy Christmas season.

Tuesday I received a phone call from detectives from the Chicago Bomb and Arson Department who informed me that four devices, which appeared to be roadside flares, were taped together and left lit and smoldering in the trash can of the men’s bathroom. On the lid of the toliet seat, written in red, it read: F#CK THE CHICAGO TEA PARTY

Bomb and arson police have deemed this an arson and are now investigating. To those who came to Friday’s party — THANK YOU! To those who we missed because you came after the bar closed — THANK YOU AND I’M SORRY WE MISSED YOU!! To those who were unable to make the party, here’s your 2nd chance!!

Because the devices were left in the bathroom it will be difficult to deduce who is the offender from videos and because nobody was killed or harmed (thankfully), fingerprints will not be processed for anywhere from six months to a year. However, if an offender is found, they will be charged with a felony.

LET THE LIGHT SHINE!

Catherina Wojtowicz,

Chicago Tea Patriots
312-662-8666"

From Chicago Tea Patriots

Pro-Lifer Joe Scheidler’s Home Hit by Pro-Abortion Vandalism

Joe Scheidler is a name pro-life advocates know because he has been one of the leaders of the pro-life movement for decades. Scheidler has become a frequent target of pro-abortion activist and now his home has been vandalized.

His home was attacked in the middle of the night, at approximately 2:00 a.m., with an abortion advocate throwing bricks of asphalt through two front windows.

One of them contained a threatening note making it clear the source of the vandalism supports legalized abortions

“We are crazy feminist bitches who will destroy your sexist ideas,” a note, containing an anarchist sign and scrawled in a child-like writing, said.

“P.S. I’ve had an abortion and no laws could ever stop me,” the note continued. “You can’t make Queen Anne’s lace illegal, asshole.”

Troy Newman, the president of Operation Rescue, praised his longtime friend in an email to LifeNews.com as someone who has always has had the best interests of the pro-life movement at heart and who has been selfless in trying to protect women and unborn children.

“We denounce in the strongest terms the cowardly violence that shattered the peace of the Scheidler home last night,” Newman said after learning of the attack.

He urged the Obama administration to investigate the attack in the same way it has assertively looked into incidents at abortion facilities and the shooting death of late-term abortion practitioner George Tiller.

“We demand that Attorney General Eric Holder order the Justice Department to launch an immediate investigation into this violent hate crime and to provide the same protections to Joseph and Ann Scheidler as they have in the past for unthreatened abortionists,” he said.

Newman is concerned about the rising levels of violence against pro-life advocates, as this attack on Scheidlers’ home comes after multiple other incidents of vandalism and after pro-life protester Jim Pouillon was shot and killed outside a local high school in Owosso, Michigan because his killer Harlan Drake didn’t like him using graphic pictures of babies victimized by abortions.

Operation Rescue’s headquarters in Wichita, Kansas, has been repeatedly vandalized, and staff threatened in recent months. In Albuquerque, New Mexico, sidewalk counselors were threatened by a man at gunpoint and police later discovered a cache of weapons in the man’s vehicle, he indicated.

“Joe and Ann Scheidler are pioneers in the pro-life movement whose knowledge and experience has benefited everyone who has ever taken a stand for the lives of the pre-born,” said Newman. “Please join Operation Rescue in sending a special Christmas gift to the Scheidler’s today as a show of support and to help defray the cost of repairing the damage to their home.”

Cards and letters can be sent to: Joe and Ann Scheidler, Pro-Life Action League, 6160 N. Cicero Ave., Chicago, IL 60646.

source: LifeNews

Snitchin results in arrest in parking box theft

A suspect was charged early this morning in connection with the theft of several of the hefty pay-and-display parking boxes from city streets, police said.

Jeffery Kaput, 38, of the 5500 block of West Cortez Street, was charged with four felony theft counts related to the 200-pound LAZ boxes, according to police. He was also charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

Kaput was pulled over late Monday at 5518 W. Augusta Blvd. by an Area 5 robbery mission team after police had received a description from a witness of a car that had collided with one of the LAZ parking boxes, according to a police report.

Officers also had video evidence of the same vehicle being used by a suspect who dumped one of the meters, the report said.

The drug charge pertained to a crack pipe that police said Kaput admitted he had dropped as officers pulled him over about 11:45 p.m., according to the report.

Earlier this month, police said about 20 parking boxes have been stolen since Sept. 17, with only four recovered.

The thefts occurred citywide, with nearly half in Area 5 on the Northwest Side. It was not known how much money the boxes had held.

The deal that privatized the city's parking meters has been a political nightmare for Mayor Richard Daley and aldermen who granted lightning-fast approval of the the 75-year, $1.15 billion lease of the city's 36,000 meters.

The theft of the meters is still being investigated by Area 4 and Area 5 detectives.

Kaput is scheduled to appear in bond court later today.

from the Trib

Electronic pay machines stolen in continued sabotage of parking meters

Irate drivers may have found one way to deal with Chicago's new parking meters.

Twenty of the 200-pound electronic parking pay machines have been stolen throughout Chicago since Sept. 17, police department spokesman Roderick Drew said in an e-mail. It isn't known how much cash may have been taken from the stolen machines, he said.

Four of the pay machines have been recovered, Drew said.

Drivers who paid for parking with a credit card shouldn't be concerned about their information being stolen because the machines don't store credit card numbers, Drew said.

Although the thefts have been reported citywide, nearly half have occurred in the Grand Central Area on the Northwest Side, he said.

"Area 5 Detectives have been working with LAZ Parking to address this issue. Residents who witness vandalism or suspicious behavior should call police immediately," Drew said.

Police are still investigating, he said.

Nearly two years ago, the city signed a 75-year parking meter lease with Chicago Parking Meters LLC that led to soaring rates and initial troubles with jammed, broken and error-prone meters that angered many drivers.

Avis LaVelle, a spokeswoman for Chicago Parking Meters LLC, said in a statement she could not confirm the reports of thefts.

But she added, "Theft or destruction of pay boxes and meters is regarded as a very serious offense and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

If a driver comes across a parking spot with a missing pay box, he or she should find another nearby box, LaVelle said.

If there is no box, the driver can park, then should call the customer service line of meter operator LAZ Parking at ... to notify the company of the missing box. That call is used as "documentation of defense in the event of a possible citation," LaVelle said.

from the Trib

Tinley Park cop cruiser shattered

A landscaping brick was used Sept. 2 to shatter the windshield of a squad car and to damage a 2009 Chevrolet Impala in the 17300 block of Valley Drive.

from the Southtown Star

Bogus driver took bus for a spin

There was something not quite right about the CTA bus that pulled into the agency's 103rd Street garage last week.

It hit another bus as it entered, and when a CTA worker went to confront the driver, who was wearing a bus driver's uniform, the man took off on foot, according to video from the bus' security cameras.

Turns out, the driver was not a CTA employee. Authorities believe he stole a uniform from an acquaintance last month and used it to pass himself off as a bus driver. He is now the subject of a search by the CTA and Chicago police.

The driver knew what he was doing, CTA President Richard Rodriguez said Thursday.

Video shows that he was able to log in and start the bus. He used the bus between about 8 p.m. and midnight Sept. 9. The bus traveled between the garage and 95th Street, according to the GPS on the bus, Rodriguez said.

The man, whose identity has not been released by police, even picked up passengers and stopped the vehicle a few times.

"This person was in uniform, so the person looked like a legitimate CTA employee. So every indication, anyone off the street would have said that this was an employee," Rodriguez said.

The CTA employee whose uniform was stolen is cooperating with police and is not considered to be involved in the theft. CTA officials are now re-evaluating check-in procedures.

from the Trib

Woman charged with her third attack on jail guard

A Chicago woman who is already facing prison time for attacking a jail guard is apparently at it again, charged with her third assault on an officer in just over a year.

Sabrina Streeter, 27, who was sentenced to prison last week for assaulting a Cook County Jail correctional officer, was charged with assaulting yet another officer just days before she was to leave the jail for prison, according to a release from the Cook County Sheriff's office.

Streeter first came to the jail in August 2009 after being charged with prostitution in Burbank, the release said. She was assigned to the women’s general population while awaiting trial, and in March 2010, was charged with assaulting a correctional officer.

She was convicted of that charge and sentenced to spend 364 days in the ail. But in June, she was again charged with aggravated battery to another officer, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in prison, the release said.

On Aug. 22, a first-year correctional officer went to Streeter’s cell to let her out for recreation. When the officer opened the cell door, Streeter stepped out and punched the female officer in the face, the release said.

Because of her record of violence against officers, all of Streeter’s movements are videotaped, and other officers were quickly able to detain Streeter and arrest her again.

Just 10 days later, she was transported to the Dwight Correctional Center to begin her three-year sentence. She will be transported back to Cook County Jail for hearings on the latest charge.

from the Sun-Times

Rock hits cop car in rock-throwing probe

A state trooper sent to catch whoever was throwing rocks at cars from an Edens Expy. overpass had his squad car windshield cracked by a rock-thrower, authorities said.

The rocks were being heaved from the railroad overpass near Peterson Avenue about 12:15 a.m. Friday. A driver in a passing car called police, initially fearing his car had been hit by a gunshot.

No one was hurt by the rocks. But when troopers reached the scene, the windshield of a squad car was cracked when it was hit by a rock, state Trooper Ivan Bukaczyk said.

Police arrested an 18-year-old man at the scene, and charged him with trespassing on railroad property. The teen -- Kevin D. Houlihan -- was also charged with underage drinking, state Trooper Clare Pfotenhauer said.

At least two others were seen fleeing the scene but were not in custody, authorities said.

from the Sun-Times

Man brought gun to foreclosure hearing

A Chicago man was charged Monday with unlawful use of a weapon, accused of trying to bring a loaded handgun to a court hearing where he was set to be evicted from his home, authorities said today.

According to the Cook County Sheriff's office, the home of Thomas Pridgeon, 48, in the 7300 block of South Laflin Street had already been in foreclosure when he arrived Monday morning at Daley Center.

When he got to the security checkpoint, Pridgeon put his briefcase on a belt passing through an X-ray machine as he passed through the metal detector. The courthouse deputy monitoring the X-ray machine spotted the outline of a gun in the case, the sheriff's office said in a statement.

Pridgeon told police he forgot to remove the .45-caliber handgun, which had one round in the chamber and seven more in the clip. He was immediately arrested.

According to the sheriff's statement, the purpose of Monday's hearing was to approve the sale of the Laflin property to a lender in North Carolina, which purchased it at a tax sale. Pridgeon would have had 30 days to vacate the property and turn the home over to the new owners.

from the Sun-Times

iWant

RETAIL THEFT Joshua Long, 22, of Chicago, was charged with retail theft July 25 after stealing two iPods from Target, 4120 W. 95th St., Oak Lawn, where he worked, police said.

from the Southtown Star

Police suggest car explosion at Lockport bank was intentional

One person is in custody after apparently driving a vehicle up to the PNC Bank on Ninth Street in southwest suburban Lockport Friday evening and intentionally triggering an explosion, officials said.

Fire crews were initially called to the bank at the intersection of East 9th Street and Read Street about 8:30 p.m. to reports of a car on fire, Lockport Fire Department Batallion Chief John Kure said.

Some type of device in the car exploded, causing minor damage to the bank by blowing out the building’s doors and windows, Kure said. The explosion seemed to be intentional, he said.

The Cook County Bomb Squad and the Joliet Fire Department's hazardous materials team were called also to the incident.

Officials on the scene said the driver of the vehicle was caught a short distance from the blast and he told authorities there was another bomb in the car.

The person in custody, thought to be the car’s driver, refused medical treatment and was taken into police custody, Kure said.

The Lockport Police Department, Cook County Bomb Squad and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are investigating the incident, Kure said.

Roads were blocked off in the bank area Friday night and the investigation was continuing.

from the Herald-News

Jail guard helped prisoners escape

A former correctional officer at Cook County Jail was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison Thursday for helping six inmates escape in 2006.

Darin Gater, 41, was convicted of six counts of official misconduct in May after a bench trial before Circuit Judge James Obbish.

Gater turned over his uniform and keys to inmates and handcuffed himself in a cell to make it appear he had been overpowered, according to prosecutors. An inmate wore Gater's uniform and tricked another guard into opening a door.

All six escapees were recaptured in a little more than 24 hours. Prosecutors said Gater hoped the scheme would embarrass then-Sheriff Michael Sheahan and his chief of staff, Tom Dart, who was running against a candidate favored by Gater and is now the sheriff.

from the Trib

Anti-cop graffiti found in South Loop

An alderman was notified after graffiti that reportedly said "we kill police" was found on a building in the South Loop Monday, police said.

Someone apparently complained and Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd) was notified when the graffiti was found Monday on the building at 1234 S. Michigan Ave., according to a Central District police lieutenant.

The writing, which reportedly said “we kill police’’ looked faded, and the word ‘police’ was barely visible, according to the lieutenant.

The writing was going to be removed, according to the lieutenant who said the writings did not appear to be recent.

The alderman was not immediately available early Tuesday.

from the Sun-Times

Vandals target patio flowers at Chicago restaurants

Chicago's outdoor-cafe ordinance mandates that 50% of the fencing around a patio be furnished with live plants. But some shop owners are having a hard time keeping the greenery safe from vandals this year.

Al Rose arrived at his coffee shop, Kopi A Traveler's Café in Andersonville, one morning in June to discover plants yanked out and thrown against a wall, leaving dirt and flower parts strewn on the sidewalk.

Vandalism isn't a surprise — experience has taught him to use inexpensive flowers — "but it's rarely been this early in the year, and they've not been this violently destroyed before," he says.

The patio at Letizia's Natural Bakery, along with a handful of other businesses on Division Street in Wicker Park, was hit in June. Fabio Sorano, whose mother, Letizia, opened the bakery 12 years ago, once used thorny plants to discourage tampering but switched to petunias when the vandalism stopped several years ago.

"This year, somebody's doing it, and I don't know why," Mr. Sorano says.

The Chicago Police Department does not separate indoor and outdoor reports of criminal damage to property, so it's difficult to count reports. But Randi Kowal has taken steps to protect the greenery outside Little Threads, her children's clothing store in Roscoe Village. In past years, thieves made off with smaller planters; now she uses heavy, four-foot-tall ones.

Still, passersby stub out cigarettes or deposit beer bottles in the planters.

"I don't know whether it's juveniles or drunks rolling out of restaurants at the late hours, but it's unacceptable," says Mary Markarian, executive director of the Roscoe Village Chamber of Commerce. "Them and the graffiti guys — please, get a job."

from Chicago Business