Crime News
Eviction papers have been delivered to residents of the designated gang house building at 3629 S. Wood St., the site of a City of Chicago inspection with forced-entry authority on Friday, May 11, said 12th Ward Chief of Staff Samie Martinez. Legal action from the 12th Ward compelled the inspection, which follows numerous problems reported at and near the house, and the initial lack of response of property owner Julio Zamudio.
Zamudio showed up to the inspection and allowed access to City of Chicago officials, who were accompanied by officers from the Chicago Police Department and representatives from the 12th Ward, including Martinez. In addition to serving eviction notices, Zamudio also agreed to secure access to the gangways alongside the building.
Read more: Evictions Planned After Forced Gang House Inspection
Nearly two dozen spent shell casings littered the 3600 block of South Wood Street following a shoot-out at around 9:10 p.m. on Tuesday, May 8, said Chicago Police Department Officer Jason Sollis at the Wednesday, May 9, meeting of the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) group for Beat 912.
No one was reported as being injured; Sollis said bullets shot through a car on the street and through the window of a nearby house. "There were bullets all over the place," he said, with police receiving reports of over 30 shots fired. No suspects were announced as being apprehended; Sollis noted reports of a white-colored SUV fleeing the scene.
Read more: CAPS Meeting Details Shoot-Out, Pending Actions Against Gang Houses
The 12th Ward office is preparing for forcible entry and inspection of a designated gang house at 3629 S. Wood St. after a court hearing on Thursday, April 26, resulted in another no-show of the property's owner, said 12th Ward Chief of Staff Samie Martinez. "I hope the owner will show up after they break down the doors, then we can talk," Martinez said in postings in the McKinley Park Neighborhood Watch group on Facebook.
On May 11, City of Chicago officials will enter the home to inspect it, with "break-in authority," Martinez said. Chicago Police Department officers from the 9th District will accompany them. This follows extensive unsuccessful efforts to contact the property owner, listed in public records as Julio Zamudio, who has failed to show up to court dates and has been unreachable and unresponsive, despite multiple contact attempts at several addresses, Martinez said.
The court-approved action follows a string of problems reported in and near the property, including drive-by shootings, gang graffiti and vandalism to street lights. The latter includes multiple incidents in the summer of 2017 when power was cut to the entire block of street lights by breaking into a street light pole across from the property.
Read more: Gangs Spotlighted in Data Release, Pending House Raid
At the April 11 meeting of the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) meeting for Beat 912, representatives from the Chicago Police Department announced the apprehension of a primary suspect in the March 20 robbery of Humberto's Pizza on Pershing Road. According to third watch CAPS officer Oscar Escalante, the man is also a suspect in a string of robberies in other districts of the city, and police are narrowing down the hunt for the suspect's associates in the robbery.
CAPS officers also updated the community on neighborhood crime statistics at the meeting, and Vernalynn De La Rosa of the McKinley Park Underage Drinking & Other Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition presented on her group's activities and campaign against teen drinking for Alcohol Awareness Month.
Read more: Cops Announce Robbery Suspect Nabbed, Crime Stats at April CAPS Meeting
The Chicago Police Department is asking the public's help in tracking down robbery suspects perpetrating crime in the McKinley Park neighborhood. At 9 p.m. on March 20, 2018, three individuals committed an armed robbery with a handgun in a restaurant on the 1800 block of West Pershing Road.
Video surveillance inside and outside the restaurant captured the scene, including the three suspects, with a clear view of one of their faces. According to police, the robbers entered, announced a robbery and instructed employees not to move. They then took $500 from the cash register and an employee's phone and car keys before exiting.
1 commentsRead more: Detectives Seek Three in Armed Robbery on Pershing Road
