A 71-year-old woman was struck and killed this afternoon by a snow plow a short distance from her Rogers Park home, authorities said.

The driver received two citations in connection with the accident.

The accident occurred at about 2:15 p.m. in the 1300 block of West Morse Avenue, ChicagoChicago reviews police said.

The victim was identified as Yuliya Polzikova of the 1200 block of West Morse Avenue, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

According to police, Polzikova was crossing the street on Morse when she was struck by a Chevrolet Silverado with an attached plow backing out from a private parking lot it was clearing.

Polzikova was rushed to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, where she was pronounced dead a short time later, a medical examiner’s spokesman said.

The driver, George Ivy Jr., 49, of the 1600 block of West Jonquil Terrace, was cited with failure to show due care with a pedestrian in the roadway and backing up without due caution, Sgt. Antoinette Ursitti said.

Authorities didn’t expect any additional charges or citations.

–William Lee

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DNA evidence helped authorities charge a South SideSouth Side reviews man in connection with an unsolved 25-year-old homicide.

Authorities identified the victim as Sheila Johnson, 24, who was found stabbed to death in her apartment on March 17, 1984, in the 5800 block of North Winthrop Avenue on ChicagoChicago reviews’s North Side. 

Authorities could not discuss the circumstances that led to the stabbing. But first-degree murder charges were lodged against 44-year-old Melvin Green of the 1500 block of West 87th Street, police said.

The Chicago Police Department’s cold case squad revisited the case in 2008 and were able to obtain evidence, which was submitted for DNA analysis. A DNA match led police to Green, who was subsequently taken into custody, police said.

Court information for Green was unavailable.

–Staff report

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A parole officer with the Illinois Department of Corrections has been accused to forcing a parolee under his supervision to perform a sex act on him, ChicagoChicago reviews police said this morning.

Robert Rowels, 45, was charged with a count of custodial sexual misconduct in connection with the incident, which occurred on Jan. 6, according to a Chicago police statement.

Authorities began investigating the allegations last month after the
parolee told police that Rowels drove her to a South SideSouth Side reviews alley after a
scheduled meeting, sources have said. He allegedly forced her to
perform a sex act by threatening to report that she had violated the
terms of her parole if she did not comply.

Police were notified after the woman immediately told a friend and went to a hospital. Evidence was allegedly recovered.

Custodial sexual misconduct is a Class 3 felony, which means Rowels, of the 17000 block of Everett Avenue in South Holland, could face two to five years in prison if convicted.

He is scheduled to make his first court appearance this morning.

– Staff report

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A woman whose husband was charged earlier this month in connection with her beating died this morning, officials said.

Sandra Viramontes, 30, of the 4500 block of South Hermitage Avenue, was pronounced dead at 3:43 a.m. at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

An autopsy scheduled for later today will determine the manner and cause of her death, the spokesman said.

Viramontes was hospitalized after a domestic fight with her husband on Jan. 10 in the 5700 block of South Rutherford Avenue said ChicagoChicago reviews Police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak. Viramontes suffered severe trauma to her face, head and body, officials said.

Her husband, Luis Viramontes, 31, of the Rutherford address, turned himself over to police on Jan. 13, Kubiak said.

He was charged with one count of aggravated domestic battery and one count of attempted murder, according to court records.

He appeared in bond court later that day and was denied bond, according to court records. A request to reduce bond was granted on Jan. 20, in the amount of $500,000. Court records indicate he posted bond.

– Deanese Williams-Harris and Carlos Sadovi

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Federal authorities have arrested and charged a Manteno man in connection with an armed robbery at a bank in Homer Glen Wednesday.

Brian Ellis, 40, whose last known address was in the 300 block of Lynn Street in Manteno, was charged with one count of felony robbery of the Palos Bank and Trust branch at 15801 S. Bell Rd.

Authorities say Ellis went into the bank just before 5 p.m. Wednesday and handed a teller note announcing a robbery and demanding money. He said he was armed with a handgun, but no gun was shown and no injuries were reported, according to the FBI.

After taking more than $7,000 in cash, Ellis left the bank, authorities said. The bank security guard, an off-duty Elmwood Park police officer, saw that the teller was upset and learned that she had just been robbed. He chased after Ellis and caught up with him a few blocks away, authorities said.

There was a struggle, but the officer was able to handcuff Ellis, the FBI said.

If convicted, Ellis could face up to 20 years in prison.

–Staff report

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A ChicagoChicago reviews man wanted in connection with a 2008 slaying is in the custody of federal authorities after FBI agents found him in a public laundry in the Bronx, officials said.

David Bell, 20, whose last known address was 5814 S. Indiana Ave., became the subject of a nationwide manhunt after he fled the state when charged in Cook County with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Isiah Stroud, FBI officials said.

Bell and Jarvis allegedly got into an argument in the 1500 block of West Jarvis Avenue in December 2008, according to the criminal complaint against Bell.

Bell was charged in the incident a month later, but authorities were unable to find him.

Investigators from Chicago’s FBI Violent Crimes Task Force, which includes federal agents, Chicago police and the Cook County Sheriff’s Department, eventually tracked Bell down in New York. Special agents and New York police arrested Bell in the Bronx, where he was doing his laundry.

Bell is being held without bond in New York City at Manhattan Central Booking, pending extradition to Illinois, the FBI said.

–Serena Maria Daniels

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A 19-year-old man is accused of shooting and killing another man last weekend on the West SideWest Side reviews, ChicagoChicago reviews police said Monday night.

Kwmane Boyd, of the 700 block of North Trumbull Avenue, has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the Saturday night shooting death of 21-year-old Elzie Johnson.

Police said a flash message was sent out over the radio describing the shooter for responding officers. Boyd was eventually apprehended in the 3700 block of West Congress Parkway.

Police responded to a call of shots fired in the 900 block of North Hamlin Avenue at about 6:50 p.m., police said. When they arrived, they found Johnson shot in the back.

Johnson was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 8:59 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Boyd is scheduled to appear for a bond hearing Tuesday in Cook County Criminal Court.

–Staff report

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A 65-year-old ChicagoChicago reviews man was charged Sunday in connection with a fencing operation on the West SideWest Side reviews where thousands of dollars worth of stolen goods were found earlier this week.

Claude McKay Jr. of the 5400 block of West Crystal Street was
charged with three misdemeanor counts of theft and control of stolen
property, police said in a statement.

He also faces felony charges of possession of a controlled
substance and possession of a firearm without a valid fire arm owner’s
identification card.

Police said that at about 2 p.m. on Jan.
22, police searched McKay’s home and found two handguns, ammunition,
and what is believed to be heroin.

Police who were acting on a search warrant found stolen items including tools, bicycles and snow blowers worth $125,000.

The
search came after AustinAustin reviews District police broke up another fencing operation on the West Side that lead to the arrests of three people on January
17 and the recovery of more than $100,000 worth of items.

Police
today displayed the stolen items for people to claim their property from the
Crystal Avenue arrest in the Austin District police station’s community room, 5701 W. Madison Avenue. They plan to display them again  on Monday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Earlier police held a viewing for people who had items stolen and returned about $40,000 worth of property to their owners.

– Carlos Sadovi

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Three men, including two from ChicagoChicago reviews, have been charged in connection with the seizure of 1,500 pounds of marijuana valued at more than $1 million, authorities said.

Juan Torres, 25, of Hammond, and Samuel Garcia, 20, and Santiago Barbosa, 48, both of Chicago, were each charged with dealing marijuana in amounts over 10 pounds, according to Indiana State Police officials.

State police were tipped off earlier this week to suspicious activity at a residence in the 500 block of Detroit Street in Hammond. The investigation of the residence led authorities to make several traffic stops that resulted in the seizure of about 500 pounds of marijuana, police said.

Police then got a warrant to search the home and found another 1,000 pounds of the drug in the basement, police said. The suspects were taken to Lake County Jail in Crown Point.

– Serena Maria Daniels

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A Cook County judge acquitted a mother and a home health care nurse today of felony neglect charges in connection to the death of a severely disabled 13-year-old boy.

In the fifth day of a bench trial, Judge James B. Linn found Kesheia Phillips and nurse Loren Brown not guilty of criminal abuse or neglect of a child causing death in the 2008 death of Jaylen Brown, but did convict Phillips, the boy’s mother, of misdemeanor child neglect.

The women and a second nurse were all charged after Jaylen died two months after he was brought to La Rabida Children’s Hospital in ChicagoChicago reviews. Prosecutors alleged the boy was covered in bedsores under his filthy clothes and suffering from severe malnutrition and sepsis. One of the boy’s bedsore, according to prosecutors, went through to the bone.

The boy suffered severe mental retardation, cerebral palsy, scoliosis, eczema, a gastrointestinal disorder and asthma.

Prosecutors claimed Phillips, 31, a single mother of three, neglected to take Jaylen to regular doctors appointments and did nothing to prevent her son’s rapid deterioration, adding that neither nurse alerted authorities to the mother’s neglectful actions.

The second nurse, Morris Lee Brinkley, 75, pleaded guilty last summer to criminal neglect of a disabled person and failing to report neglect or abuse and was sentenced to 2 years of probation and 60 days of community service by Linn.

–Matthew Walberg

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Two men are accused of killing another man early Sunday in his Near West SideWest Side reviews apartment, ChicagoChicago reviews police said late Tuesday night.

Opter Johnson, 23, of the 11900 block of South Lowe Avenue and Darrius Winston, 22, of the 9600 block of South Luella Avenue were charged with first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of Antwan Peter.

Johnson was also issued several traffic citations, including running through a stop sign, driving without a license and operating a vehicle without insurance.

About 3 a.m. Sunday, officers responded to a 911 call of a person shot in the 1300 block of West 15th Street, a few blocks south of the University of Illinois at Chicago campus. Upon their arrival, the officers found Peter, 23, shot multiple times.

He was subsequently pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital.

On Tuesday night police could not specify the roles Johnson and Winston played in the slaying, but said the two are scheduled to appear for a bond hearing Wednesday in Cook County Criminal Court.

–Staff report

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A fifth teen has been charged in the beating death of Fenger High School student Derrion Albert, sources said tonight.

Lapoleon Colbert, 19, was charged today with first-degree murder in connection to the Sept. 24 death in front of a Roseland community center, according to Sally Daly, a spokeswoman for the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.

Colbert, who another law enforcement source said was of the 300 block of West 111th Street, is expected to appear for a bond hearing Wednesday at the Cook County Criminal Courts Building.

Footage of Albert’s death, captured on a camcorder, caused a firestorm after it was circulated over the Internet and to news outlets nationwide.

Daly said that Colbert’s image was captured on a videotape of the attack, but she could not say if he was seen on the widely publicized camcorder tape.

Albert’s death, part of a melee between neighborhood teens and those who lived in the Altgeld Gardens-area, prompted U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan to visit ChicagoChicago reviews last October to talk about what the Obama administration is doing to combat youth violence.

Already charged with murder in Albert’s death are Silvonus Shannon, 19, Eugene Riley, 18, Eric Carson, 16, and a 14-year-old boy charged as a juvenile.

– Staff report

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Three men face charges in connection with what police called a “Sears Roebuck of stolen goods” run out of a West SideWest Side reviews graystone.

The suspects were arrested after AustinAustin reviews District tactical officers executed a search warrant Sunday at a two-flat building where the three live in the 4300 block of West Congress Parkway,  police said.

There police said they found a truck and trailer holding approximately $100,000 worth of stolen items. Included were power tools, bicycles, construction equipment,
televisions and other audio-visual equipment.

They were taken during break-ins at construction sites, residences and vehicles, police said.

Jeremiah Dobynes, 38, has been charged with unlawful use of a weapon
by a felon and felony theft, said ChicagoChicago reviews Police News Affairs Officer
John Mirabelli. Also charged with felony theft is Curtis Ball, 54.
William Harrington, 56, another resident of the building, was charged
with misdemeanor theft, Mirabelli said. Prosecutors approved the felony
charges against Dobynes and Ball early this morning.

Dobynes is on parole for a conviction of felony damage to school
property, and has served time in prison in previous theft, aggravated
battery and robbery charges, according to the Illinois Department of
Corrections.

In a press conference Monday, Austin District police described the fencing operation as a stolen goods emporium.

“We have almost like a Sears Roebuck of stolen goods,” said Austin District Tactical Lt. Michael Stevens. “We have flat-screen TVs, we have stereos, VCRS, compressors … basically anything you could steal out of a car or a garage.”

Police scheduled a public viewing of the items from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday at the Austin District Police Station, 5701 W. Madison Street. Anyone claiming the stolen goods should bring receipts or serial numbers for missing items, to prove ownership, police said.

Dobynes and Ball were scheduled to appear in Cook County Central Bond Court today; Harrington likely will be released on his own recognizance and is scheduled to appear in Branch 23 of Cook County Criminal Court on March 18, according to police.

For a WGN-TV video on this story, click HERE.

– Liam Ford, WGN-TV

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A 17-year-old boy is accused of sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl at his South SideSouth Side reviews home over the weekend, ChicagoChicago reviews police said this morning.

The boy, whom authorities declined to immediately identify this morning, was charged with predatory criminal sexual assault this morning in connection with the attack in the boy’s home in the 8600 block of South Morgan Street on Sunday.

Police could not specify the relationship between the boy and his victim.

The boy is scheduled to appear for a bond hearing this afternoon in Cook County Criminal Court.

– Staff report

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A resident of a Rogers Park apartment building where a man died in a suspicious fire last week had been charged with murder and arson in connection with the blaze, police said.

Mahad Ali Hassan, 26, of 6720 N. Sheridan Road, was charged late Saturday night with first-degree murder, aggravated arson and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, said ChicagoChicago reviews Police News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli.

Hassan was arrested Friday at a North Side location other than the apartment building, following Belmont Area and Bomb and Arson detectives’ interviews with witnesses and other leads, Mirabelli said. He was in possession of a loaded handgun at the time of his arrest.

The fire, which began just before 12:15 p.m. Thursday, killed one man and injured five other people, including two firefighters and a man who jumped from his apartment on the fifth floor of the building, where the fire started in a hallway.

The fire was determined to be an arson, and the person who died of inhalation of smoke and soot was determined to have died in a homicide, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

The person who died has not yet been identified, pending notification of family.

The Red Cross also helped set up a shelter for many of the 25 people diplaced by the fire, which spread from the fifth floor to the fourth and caused heavy smoke damage, although the fire itself spread only into the apartment from which the man jumped, officials said.

Hassan was expected to appear in Cook County Central Bond Court today, Mirabelli said.

For an earlier story about the fire, go HERE.

– Liam Ford, staff

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One man was in custody and two others were being sought in connection with a shooting in a cellular telephone store in the West Humboldt Park neighborhood Friday, police said.

Officials said the man was in his late 20s and was taken to Stroger Hospital in serious condition with two gunshot wounds to a leg and one wound to his groin.

The shooting happened on the 1100 block of North Pulaski Road at about 3:50 p.m., said ChicagoChicago reviews Police News Affairs Sgt. Antoinette Ursitti.

The man had been involved in an argument earlier in the day with an acquaintance of the man who later shot him, Ursitti said. The victim was in a cellular telephone store when the shooter entered with two other men and opened fire, striking him, police said. The men then fled in a black Lincoln Navigator SUV.

Police saw the vehicle and managed to stop it, but the suspects then fled on foot. One man was in custody after police were able to chase him down and arrest him.

–Carlos Sadovi

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A ChicagoChicago reviews police officer shot a man early this morning who authorities said pointed a gun at the officer as he was chasing the suspect in connection with a nearby shooting.

No officers were hurt during the police-involved shooting, which happened about 12:45 a.m. in the 1900 block of North Karlov Avenue on the Northwest Side.

A Grand Central District officer was on patrol in the area of Armitage Avenue and Pulaski Road when he heard gunfire, police said in a statement this morning.

The officer saw a vehicle enter a nearby alley at a high rate of speed and tried to pull it over, police said.

That vehicle stopped, two men got out and ran, police said.The officer gave chase. During the pursuit, one of the suspects turned and pointed a gun in the officer’s direction, police said, and the officer shot him. The suspect was taken to an area hospital. His condition was not immediately available.

His gun was also confiscated.

The suspects were fleeing a shooting that left two people wounded at a gas station at Armitage and Pulaski, not long before their encounter with the officer, police said. Their conditions were not available either. No charges have been filed.

It’s unclear whether the second man reported running from the officer was also arrested. 

The Independent Police Review Authority, which probes shootings involving Chicago police officers, was investigating the incident.

–Staff report

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A ChicagoChicago reviews man charged with drunk driving in connection with a 2007 accident in which he allegedly hit a motorcyclist who died last week had his bail raised to $100,000 today in Cook County bond court.

Charges against Ali Hosseini, 54, were upgraded Friday to reckless homicide and aggravated DUI after the victim in the accident, Chicago architect Keith Kreinik, died Jan. 2. Kreinik spent more than two years in treatment for injuries suffered in the Sept. 2, 2007, accident on the Northwest Side.

Prosecutors said in court today that Kreinik had more than 20 surgeries since the accident.

Hosseini had been free on bond since 2007 but was taken back into custody after a Friday hearing at the Skokie courthouse.

The Cook County state’s attorney’s office said Hosseini, who has no felony record, was allegedly under the influence of alcohol, morphine, heroin and codeine at the time of the collision.

– Staff report

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The boy was originally reported in good condition Wednesday night after being shot in the upper portion of his right leg and taken to Children’s Memorial Hospital.

Technorati Tags: 3200 North Long Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, Avenues, Belmont, Boy, chicago, Chicago Fire, Chicago Fire Department, Chicago Police, Children, condition, connection, crime, Detectives, Dispute, Driven, father, Fire, Fire Department Spokesman, Fire One, gang related, gunman, handgun, leg, Long, memorial, memorial hospital, morning, Nbsp, News, night, night chicago, Northwest Side, Police, portion, rear window, shooting, shot, Staff Report, upper portion, vehicle, Wednesday, Wednesday Night

Two men were wounded, one of them seriously, in an apparent gang-related shooting Thursday night in the South SideSouth Side reviews’s Park Manor neighborhood, ChicagoChicago reviews police said early this morning.

Four other men were taken into custody in connection with the shooting.

The victims and a third individual were heading north in a vehicle on the 6900 block of South St. Lawrence Avenue about 11:10 p.m. when a gold minivan pulled up alongside, police said.

At least one occupant from that minivan opened fire, hitting the two victims, both in their 20s. The third person in the victims’ vehicle was not hurt.

The victims and their assailants were members of rival gangs, police said.

In an effort apparently to get away from the gunfire, the victims sped off before their vehicle crashed near East 69th Street and South Chicago Avenue, police said.

The driver of that vehicle was shot up to six times and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was in serious condition, police said. The other victim was shot in his elbow and knee, and was in good condition at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Meanwhile, the gold minivan was pulled over shortly after the shooting by a unit from the police targeted response team, and its four occupants were arrested. Police could not say which of the four fired the shots, but said what they believe to be the gun used in the shooting was taken from the men.

Calumet Area detectives continued to investigate the shooting early this morning. No charges have been filed.

–Staff report

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An off-duty Lockport police officer whose blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit when he allegedly caused a fatal accident has been released from jail after posting $750,000 bond, authorities said.

On the night of the accident, Stapinski was off-duty and was driving his private vehicle after having drinks in a West LoopA Loop reviews bar, officials said. Blood tests showed Stapinski’s blood-alcohol level was 0.223, or about three times the legal limit, officials said.

At his bond hearing last week, prosecutors said Stapinski declined a Breathalyzer test at the scene of the crash, but he had “bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and a strong smell of alcohol.” His blood was drawn and analyzed when he was hospitalized shortly after the accident.

Wong, 29, was driving from his second job at a southwest suburban restaurant when the accident occurred on the Stevenson near Cicero Avenue.

As a condition of his bond, Stapinski is forbidden from driving a vehicle and has to surrender his passport and all firearms in his possession. He is also required to hand over his firearm identification card.

If convicted, Stapinski could face 3 to 14 years in prison, officials said.

– Lolly Bowean

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Bolingbrook Police said today they have arrested a Bolingbrook couple in connection with the fatal stabbing early Saturday of a Romeoville man.

The man who was killed was identified today as Roberto Cortez, 30. He along with the two people charged in the case were all invited to a Christmas party on the 100 block of Campbell Drive where a verbal altercation precipitated the slaying, Bolingbrook Police Lt. Mike Rompa said.

Cortez was found in the 100 block of Campbell Drive about 7:10 a.m. Saturday, police said.

Bolingbrook detectives and members of the community’s tactical unit arrested Marco Rodriguez, 32, of the 400 block of Providence Court, at a hotel in Des Plaines. The Will County State’s Attorney’s office approved first-degree murder charges against Rodriguez, police said.

Rodriguez was also charged with failing to appear in court for unrelated crimes after police discovered that he had four outstanding arrest warrants lodged against him.

Authorities also charged Rodriguez’s girlfriend, Yajaira Ruiz-Ramirez, 29, of the same address, with obstructing justice and destroying evidence along with concealing and aiding a fugitive, police said. They said Rodriguez was a cook while Ruiz-Ramirez was unemployed.

Officials said Ruiz-Ramirez accompanied Rodriguez to the party on Campbell Drive where the slaying occurred. She was with Rodriguez at the time of his arrest in DesPlaines.

The couple is being held in the Will County Adult Detention Facility and is expected to appear in bond court on Monday, police said.

– Carlos Sadovi

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A 16-year-old boy has been charged as an adult in connection with a botched robbery this week that left one of his alleged accomplices shot to death.

Police this morning declined to release the teen’s name because he is a juvenile. He was charged Thursday with first-degree murder and armed robbery, ChicagoChicago reviews Police Officer Ronald Gaines said.

The teen may make his first appearance in court this afternoon.

The victim of the attempted robbery, a 31-year-old South SideSouth Side reviews man, told the Tribune in its Wednesday edition, that the incident happened just after 11 p.m. Tuesday near 47th Street and King Drive in the Bronzeville neighborhood.

Several people ordered the victim into a car at gunpoint. After circling a few blocks, they went to Maggie’s Gyros, 349 E. 47th St., where two of robbers went in with his wallet, ATM card and PIN, he said.

Meanwhile the driver of the car was giving the gun to Barbara McComb, 21, who was sitting in the back seat when the weapon went off accidentally and shot McComb in the finger, the victim said. The victim struggled with McComb and the driver, got the gun and ran from the car.

He said McComb chased him, and he fired a “warning shot” at her, hitting her. She later died.

– Staff report

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A ChicagoChicago reviews man awaiting trial on charges of rape, attempted murder and kidnapping for allegedly abducting and attacking two women and two teenage girls in May appeared in court Wednesday on charges that he raped one of the victims months earlier.

Jimmie Smith, 34, of the 7100 block of South Hermitage, was denied bond by Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas in connection with the September 2008 attack. Prosecutors said the victim is a relative of Smith’s girlfriend, and he allegedly entered her bedroom and sexually assaulted her. When the woman tried to escape, Smith beat her in an alley and then took her back to the home, where he assaulted her a second time.

But prosecutors said in court that while police arrested him at the time, the state’s attorney’s office did not approve charges then.

The following May, Smith allegedly subjected the victim and the three other women and girls to a 36-hour ordeal in which he allegedly tied them up, sexually assaulted them, and eventually took them to a garage in HarveyHarvey reviews, where he abandoned them.

A spokeswoman for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office said that prosecutors initially declined to approve charges in the 2008 case because of a lack of evidence.

“At that time, we didn’t have sufficient evidence to bring it forward,” spokeswoman Sally Daly said.

Daly would not say what evidence was lacking, but said “there were issues about whether the interaction was consensual or not.”

– Matthew Walberg

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A 30-year-old ChicagoChicago reviews man has been charged with murder and DUI in connection with the hit-and-run crash that killed a woman and critically injured her 6-year-old son in Rogers Park Monday evening, police said.

Ralph Eubanks, whose last known address was in the 1400 block of North Sedgwick Street, was charged with first-degree murder, aggravated driving under the influence and leaving the scene of a fatal accident in connection with the crash that killed 49-year-old Maria Worthon and injured her son, Jeremia.

Eubanks is scheduled to appear in Cook County bond court Thursday, said Tandra Simonton, a spokeswoman for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office.

About 9 p.m. Monday in the 7000 block of North Greenview Avenue, a Pontiac Grand Prix smashed into Worthon and Jeremia as they were crossing the narrow, car-lined street. 

Minutes before, sources said, police had stopped Eubanks on a traffic violation. He pulled away before the officers could complete the stop, but there was no chase, sources said.

Eubanks was driving with at least one headlight out, the sources said.

Worthon’s husband, Felix Worthon, had taken his son to meet his wife at a nearby bus stop as she was coming home from work. He was walking with them and looked on helplessly as the driver, alleged to be Eubanks, struck them and sped off without stopping.

The impact sent Maria Worthon about half a block down the street, according to a family friend who witnessed the crash.

Maria, a Fiji native, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Jeremia was rushed to a hospital in critical condition.

Chicago police began searching the area for the Grand Prix immediately after the crash. After spotting the car on a nearby street, police said. Eubanks struck some parked vehicles, jumped out and attempted to flee, police said.

Eubanks was taken into custody in the 6400 block of North Newgard Avenue, a little more than a half a mile south of the crash site, police said.

Jeremia was still at Children’s Memorial Hospital Tuesday evening. An updated condition for Jeremia was unavailable today.

His family, who had been at the hospital Tuesday, said that he had a broken leg and was breathing with the assistance of a respirator. At times, his family said, he appeared to react to an aunt’s voice by squeezing her hand.

Records show that Eubanks pleaded guilty to gun charges in 2004 and was sentenced to 30 months in prison. Earlier, in 1998, he was convicted of receiving stolen car parts and was sentenced to a seven-year term. He also has a 1996 conviction on drug charges.

– Annie Sweeney and Matthew Walberg

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Two men charged in August with robbing marijuana from an Aurora man shortly before he was shot to death now stand accused of murdering him.

Antonio Clark, 20, of the 1100 block of Brockton Court, Aurora, and Michael Costner, 22, of the 9300 block of South Burnside Avenue, ChicagoChicago reviews, were indicted by the DuPage County Grand Jury on Tuesday in connection with the Aug. 26 murder of Gregory Riley, 24, of the 0-99 block of South Stolp Avenue in Aurora.

Both men appeared this morning in court and pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder charges.

Clark and Costner have been in the DuPage County Jail since being arrested in August for allegedly robbing Riley of more than three pounds of marijuana.

Aurora police found Riley lying in the road outside of his car in
the 1100 block of Brunswick Lane with multiple gunshot wounds. He was
pronounced dead at the scene. Clark’s brother, Ivory Clark, also was
charged in that incident.

Assistant State’s Atty. Joseph Ruggiero
said that the murder charges were sought after initial DNA evidence
showed the involvement of Clark and Costner.

Ruggiero also told
Judge Blanche Hill Fawell that prosecutors believe that both men are
eligible for the death penalty but that no determination had been made
to seek that penalty. Bail in the murder case has been set at $750,000
for Clark and at $1 million for Costner.

The defendants were
picked up by Aurora police for several traffic violations near the
crime scene. Marijuana was found under the hood of their vehicle,
police said.

– Art Barnum

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