Another Wreck?

Anyone hear about a wreck in 016 early New Years morning?  Couldn't find any media coverage, but an e-mailer said a parked Tahoe got totaled by a drunk and two cops had to be cut out of the vehicle somewhere on Foster.

If true, best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Bad Crash

Nothing about this looked good:

• A police officer responding to a burglary call was injured in a traffic crash in the Logan Square neighborhood this afternoon, authorities said. The officer, whose age and sex were not released by police, was in a squad car that collided with another vehicle near Sacramento Avenue and George Street about 1:15 p.m., said Chicago Police Department News Affairs

Prayers and well wishes to the Officer only in this thread please.

Cop Beaten

An ugly scene:

• A South Side police officer had his head smashed against the pavement and briefly lost consciousness after he and his partner tried to stop someone fleeing an area where police were investigating a shots fired call Friday night.
  
  Tony Williams, 43, of the 2700 block of East 77th Street in Chicago, was charged with aggravated battery to a police officer and felony resisting arrest.
  
  Police said Williams slammed one officer's face into the ground several times after he and both officers fell to the ground about 7:06 p.m. Friday, with Williams landing on top of the officer whose face he is accused of smashing.

Cop should be ok.

Remember, this is normal behavior in this neighborhood. It's expected even. Any word on a "reverend" sponsored march in support of the Police that are the victims of this behavior day in and day out?

Shooter Charged

Supposedly a latin queen:

• Police said a 27-year-old gang member has been charged with shooting a Chicago police officer earlier this week during an attempted robbery.
  
  Mario Froylan was charged at 9:30 p.m. Friday with attempted first degree murder, attempted robbery with a firearm and aggravated battery, Chicago Police Department News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak said.
  
  The charges stem from an attempted robbery early Monday morning in the 6300 block of South Nashville Avenue in the Clearing West neighborhood on the Southwest Side. Police said he demanded the officer's wallet and shot him.

No word on when we start "obliteration" proceedings against these assholes.

Shooting Arrest?

Word from south side that the shooter in the failed carjacking/robbery may be in custody.

And the officer did get some lead into him.

Stay tuned.

Injured Cop At Home, Resting

Good news:

• A decorated Chicago Police officer was released from the hospital Monday afternoon after a robber shot him while he was taking his young son out of a car on the Southwest Side.
  The 34-year-old officer was shot in the arm and the chest. He suffered a broken wrist, but the bullets missed vital organs, a police spokeswoman said. He was treated at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.
  The officer, who is married with two children, received the Superintendent’s Award of Valor in November after he shot and killed a man who was holding a knife to a child.

The wrist injury is going to be the difficult one to come back from.  

No word on leads on the shooter.

Off-Duty Shot

Robbery attempt near 63rd and Nashville:

• An off-duty Chicago Police officer who was shot three times early Monday during an attempted robbery on the Southwest Side is now convalescing at an area hospital with his family by his side.
  
  The 34-year-old officer was shot twice in the chest and also suffered a broken wrist after a bullet struck him in the arm during an exchange of gunfire with the would-be robber, police said.
  
  Despite getting shot in the chest, the bullets missed his vital organs and the officer is “doing well,” resting with his wife and family, police department spokeswoman Melissa Stratton said in an email.
  
  Police say the ten-year veteran was getting out of his vehicle when a man with a handgun walked up and attempted to rob him just after midnight, near West 63rd Street and South Nashville Avenue.
  
  The officer fired his gun at the robber and told investigators that he believes he shot the man, though no one was in custody Monday morning and police cannot confirm the robber was shot.

Lot of coppers live around there.  Report says a silver car with three occupants.

Best wishes to the wounded officer and hopefully, the one offender is slowly bleeding out in his mother's basement.

Three CPD Injured

Rollover accident:

• Three Chicago police officers were injured when their car flipped over while swerving to avoid a stopped car on the South Side this morning, officials said.
  
  The crash happened shortly before 11:30 a.m. near the 7000 block of South Stony Island Avenue, police said.
  
  Three tactical officers were responding to a call when their car lost control while trying to avoid a car and it flipped over, according to Police Supt. Garry McCarthy.

All injuries were described as "non-life threatening," but that can be misleading. Hopefully, all recover in short order.

Aldercreature Reads SCC

From the comment section:

• James Cappleman said...I was at the scene of the fire at 11:50am because I heard the sirens a half block from my home. I asked a police officer if anyone was hurt, and was told no. A resident at the scene confirmed this. I did a quick text because I had to quickly leave for an event where I was serving as a volunteer. From there, I left town for a Thanksgiving dinner with family..... with no contact with the press to learn later that a police officer had to go to the hospital.
  
  Any police officer who has interacted with me has come away knowing that I have the utmost respect for them and their line of work.

It appears to be a legit profile and may actually be the aldercreature we lambasted the other day for praising firefighters for doing their jobs while a police officer who went to the hospital went unrecognized.  In light of the aldercreature's comment, we will withdraw the slur we wrote in disgust.

However, we will note that he still hasn't wished the injured officer any sort of "get well" message despite the officer being injured while serving Cappleman's constituency.  Respect is nice.  A "thank you" would be nicer.  And advocate for Rahm to stop screwing with First Responders would be nicest of all, but we won't hold our breath on that count.

Cop Hurt in Fire

Minor injury, smoke inhalation:

• A Chicago police officer and a resident of an Uptown apartment building were hospitalized Thursday from a fire in the building.
  
  The fire occurred just before noon in a fifth floor apartment at the Lawrence House, a high-rise apartment building at 1020 W. Lawrence Ave., according to Fire Media Affairs.
  
  The small fire was quickly extinguished, but a police officer and resident were taken to hospitals with smoke inhalation, according to Fire Media. The police officer was taken to Swedish Covenant Hospital, while the resident was taken to Weiss Memorial Hospital.
  

And of course, the requisite ignorance from the local aldercreature:

• Uptown neighborhood Ald. James Cappleman (46th) who was at the scene of the fire, Tweeted, “I’m very thankful today for our great Fire Department!”

Not to take anything away from the firefighters, but seeing as how a Police Officer is the only one going to the hospital, on Thanksgiving no less, You're Welcome Cappleman, you asshole.

Officer Wounded; Assailant Killed

Late last night:

• A Chicago Police officer suffered a graze wound to her leg and a stabbing suspect wielding a hammer was fatally shot late Wednesday in the South Chicago neighborhood, police said.
  
  The female officer and man were shot near the intersection of East 79th Street and South Shore Drive, police said.
  
  The officer’s partner shot the man, said Fraternal Order of Police spokesman Pat Camden. It was unclear whether the officer accidently shot herself or was wounded by her partner.
  
  At 11:45 p.m, two officers responded to a disturbance at the intersection and saw a man with a knife stabbing another man, police said.
  
  When officers ordered the attacker to drop the weapon but he refused and an officer fired a Tazer, police said.
  
  But the suspect produced a hammer and aggressively charged toward the officers, officials said. Both officers discharged their weapons, police said.

Get well soon Officer.  And well done in eliminating yet another threat to the lives of officers and citizens alike.

Officers Injured in Crash

Not too serious if the reports are accurate:

• The driver of a car that collided with a police squad car has been cited after two police officers and a passenger in the other car were injured in the Fuller Park neighborhood early today, police said.
  
  Diamonde McNeal, 18, was ticketed on charges of disregarding a red light, negligent driving and driving an uninsured motor vehicle. McNeal, of the 700 block of West 50th Street, also was cited with municipal violations, including damage to city property, said Chicago Police News Affairs...

And of course, you got to have the drama:

• Five young women were in the car and one was taken to the hospital.[...]
  
  At least two others in the car were "hostile," police said, and taken into custody.

It's a traffic crash caused by someone driving like an idiot and suddenly, people are going to jail.  Lawsuits to be filed in 4...3...2...

Officer Injured, Offender Shot

Broken leg for the officer, assailant hanging on at the moment:

• Police in the Lawndale neighborhood shot and critically wounded a man suspected of abducting his 2-year-old child from a suburb and then running down a police officer who approached him this evening, authorities said.
  
  An officer shot the suspect at a Church's Fried Chicken restaurant parking lot, 1151 S. Independence Blvd., about 7 p.m. after the suspect ran down an officer with his car, authorities said.
  
  Fire Department ambulances were dispatched at 7:03 p.m., and took the person who had been shot to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital in critical condition, said Meg Ahlheim, a spokeswoman for the Fire Department. A police officer was taken to Northwestern Memorial in fair-to-serious condition, and a third person was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition, Ahlheim said.

Preliminary reports are that the officer was working Special/Violence Reduction Initiative. Well done by all responding units which included State and Bridgeview.  A speedy recovery is wished to the injured P.O.

Cop Injured in Collision

Hitting a semi:

• Two men were killed and a police officer was injured in separate traffic accidents overnight in Chicago, authorities said.
  
  [....] Hours later, a Chicago police SUV collided with a semi at about 1:40 a.m. in the 2600 block of West 79th Street in the Wrightwood neighborhood, said [...], a police spokeswoman.
  
  The officer was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn for treatment of hand and arm injuries, Greer said.

Hopefully, not too serious. Get well soon Officer.

5K Reward

Let's get the word out there:

• Police are offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of those responsible for breaking into a police stable and injuring several horses last weekend. 
  
  
  Late Sunday night, officers assigned to the mounted stable unit arrived on the grounds of the South Shore Cultural Center and found 27 horse out of their stalls, [...]
  
  
  The horses were circling inside the stable’s arena and were shaking. The officers discovered that a rear window was used to get inside the facility in the 7000 block of S. South Shore Drive...

Beating up helpless animals is bad enough.  Beating up living memorials to our deceased members makes it personal.

Disability Hit Series

The Sun Times continues to do Rahm's bidding with Fusco and Novak contributing something like four separate stories of disabled cops and firefighters with questionable injuries. We aren't going to link to the stories themselves because they're pretty one-sided.

No one here is doubting for a second that there is the potential for abuse of the disability system and there likely is abuse going on as we speak. But the scorched earth solution Rahm is looking for does nothing except screw the legit cases.

So how about this - the FOP, the Memorial Foundation, someone start posting stories about cops or firefighters who qualify for disability. Officers who will never be physically whole. Firefighters with lung damage. Guys and gals missing digits, limbs, eyes. People who will never hold their child again. Or walk.

Those stories are there and they aren't being told.

Horses Attacked

We guess J-Fled's "station security" evaluation didn't include the stables.

Second, is this place unattended overnight? Or evenings? Or what?

Third, what sort of animals treat horses like this?

• Two horses belonging to the Chicago Police were injured when someone broke into a stable kept by the department's Mounted Unit on the grounds of the South Shore Cultural Center, authorities said.
  
  Officers assigned to the unit returned to the stable around 11:15 p.m. Sunday and found that the two horses and 13 others had been let out of their stalls, police said. Tissue paper was strewn inside the stable and outside.
  
  A horse named J.R. suffered chemical burns to the face after being sprayed with a fire extinguisher, and a horse named Schott was cut on the back of its right let and suffered another injury to its left hoof, police said. No other details were available on their condition.

The assholes who did this need to be made to shovel out the stables for a few years to start. Then let the horses have them for a few hours of kicking. Assholes.

Cop Injured

We have an issue with the phrasing of this:

• A Chicago police officer was injured this morning when he was struck by car that then sped off on the South Side, authorities said.

  The officer was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn for treatment of non-life threatening injuries, police said.

  The officer was standing outside of his police car, conducting a street stop in the 7900 block of South Wabash Avenue in the Chatham neighborhood around 12:30 a.m., when the car hit him...

One of our commentators related that the officer was dragged almost 100 feet by the car. News Affairs is stating "non-life threatening injuries" if the media reports are accurate. That's all well and good that we aren't attending a funeral and all, but Densey Cole ended up suffering what turned out to be "non-life threatening injuries" and he might never walk unassisted again. The officer shot a few weeks back in the leg was also "non-life threatening," but reports since suggest he has undergone and will undergo additional surgeries for knee damage that will leave him with a limp forever.

"Non-life threatening" seems to downgrade the injury to the extent it slips under everyone's radar and fades from memory awfully quickly. We're guilty of it ourselves though we try to verify seriousness before posting. Can we come up with a better description that might convey the seriousness of the injury and the life altering impact many have on cops careers and quality of life?

More Sun Times Nonsense

This from the article a few days ago about the officer shot:

• A Chicago Police officer and a 15-year-old boy shot each other Wednesday night on the Far South Side, police said.

  The 35-year-old officer was shot near his knee and the teen in his leg and side in the 1300 block of 112th Place, officials said.

  About 8 p.m., plain clothes officers stopped three teenage boys for “suspicious activity,” police said. But the 15-year-old boy fired at the officers and “engaged in a gun battle,” said Police Supt. Garry McCarthy.

  But at least two residents said the officer shot his gun first.

So now the Slum Times expects us to take the first bullet or two before we can legally eliminate the threat to our own lives? We must have missed that part of the State Law. Was this something Quinn added at some point after hours when no one was looking?

Honest to god, the ignorance of the media sometimes astounds us. But we get used to it pretty quick - we just lower the bar a little more.

Offender Charged

Why no Felony Murder?

• A man has been charged with attacking an off-duty Chicago Police officer whose motorcycle struck his 4-year-old cousin in Maywood Saturday. The officer shot and killed the girl’s father, who also allegedly attacked him following the crash.

  John Passley, of Bellwood, was charged Monday with one count each of aggravated battery to a police officer and aggravated battery on a public way, officials said. He will appear in bond court Tuesday.

  The officer — a 43-year-old, eight-year veteran of the force — was headed home Saturday evening when the incident began, Fraternal Order of Police Spokesman Pat Camden said.

A death in the commission of a felony would seem to fit the charge of Felony Murder, wouldn't it?

An e-mail relates the officer is resting at home but may require surgery to repair damage from the crash and beating.