Fire Rescues

While everyone sleeps, cops prevent a possible tragedy:

• Grand Crossing District officers kicked in two doors of a burning apartment building and ushered to safety a resident who had trouble walking and seeing through a thick haze of smoke that enveloped the second floor.
  
  “On our end its another family above me, she’s an older lady. They went upstairs, knocked on her door, helped her down the stairs," said Ashley Wilson, who was inside the building when the fire broke out.
  
  Two plainclothes officers were on patrol on the 400 block of East 66th Street in the West Woodlawn neighborhood when they noticed smoke from a first floor window.

Some of the quotes from the families and coppers might make you grin. Nice job Officers.

Good Work Officers

Closed, Cleared by Arrest? A rare enough occurrence lately:

• Two people were in custody after a man was believed shot to death in the Washington Park neighborhood this evening and suspects fleeing the scene caused a traffic crash on the Dan Ryan Expressway, authorities said.
  
  Officers patrolling the area either heard or saw a man shot in the 200 block of East 51st Street about 5:10 p.m., and followed suspects in a vehicle onto the Dan Ryan Expressway, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Daniel O'Brien.
  
  [...] After police began their pursuit, the suspects are believed to have caused a crash on the Dan Ryan Expressway, O'Brien said. Illinois State Police were notified about 5:27 p.m. of a two-car crash in the northbound local lanes at 43rd Street that was related to the pursuit, a state police master sergeant said. No one suffered life-threatening injuries in the crash, he said. Fire Department spokesman Kevin MacGregor said no one was taken to a hospital from the site of the crash.

Great job to all involved.

Marine Unit Again?!?!

Is there anything that these guys cannot do?

• A car reported missing when a Lincolnwood man disappeared in 2001 was pulled from the Chicago River midday Saturday, after the Chicago Police Marine Unit located it using new sonar equipment, authorities said.
  
  Authorities will have to use DNA testing to determine if the bones found today are those of Michael Jansson, who was 21 when he disappeared early on March 9, 2001, but the vehicle identification number of the car found matches the one that was reported missing when Jansson disappeared, police said.

These guys aren't just heroes - they're like super-duper heroes.

Where's the Keesing Bandit when you need him?

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.

Wish Granted

Not the happiest of Christmas tales, but a start:

• The detectives say they granted the 6-year-old boy’s first Christmas wish early when they were able to arrest his grandmother on abuse charges.
  
  Area Central Detective Joseph Mancilla said that at first, when the boy was asked what he wanted for Christmas, he said, “I just don’t want my sister to be beaten anymore."

Grandma got locked up for Child Abuse.  The thing was, she had custody after her own daughter (kids momma) had lost custody for.....wait for it.....Child Abuse.

So the detectives are trying to give the kids at least one decent Christmas:

• [Detective Joseph Mancilla and Detective Pamela] Childs plans to have a cake made at a bakery she goes to and the detectives will be delivering presents there on Christmas Eve.
  
  The detectives plan to put together a trust for the children, and anyone who wants to donate a gift, clothing, shoes or other items can drop them off at the Wentworth District front desk at 5101 S. Wentworth Ave.

We can't be Santa to all the kids, but here and there?

Best wishes to the Detectives and good luck. Merry Christmas.

Del Pearson Coin Toss

Honored by the Bears:

• The road to recovery took another step Sunday for wounded Chicago Police Officer Del Pearson as he took part in Bears pre-game festivities at Soldier Field.
  
  It was a day Pearson and his daughter will never forget.
  
  "It's mixed emotions being out here," Pearson said. "It's a dream come true to be on the sidelines of a Chicago Bears game."
  
  The highly decorated officer had the honor of handing the official coin to the referee for the coin toss at 50 yard line for Sunday's game against the Seattle Seahawks. 

Too bad a little luck didn't rub off on the Bears though. Get well.

Cop + CPR = Good News

Another heroic act:

• The life of a grandmother, who became unconscious while en route to the hospital, was saved Sunday morning thanks to the quick actions of a Chicago Police sergeant.

The Sun Times has instituted a new "comments" policy which, like the Tribune, restricts what you can see without registering. Expect a lot fewer links to the newspapers in coming days.

Cops Stop Grinch

Another off-duty incident:

• An off-duty police officer who was on his way to work Friday sprung into action when he saw two men stealing mail from a postal truck and foiled the thieves plans, police said.
  
  The officer saw two men who weren't wearing uniforms moving mail from a parked U.S. Postal truck parked on the 5900 block of West Fulton Boulevard, police said. Police believe the men broke the window of the mail truck with a large piece of concrete that was found lying on the ground.
  
  He then saw the men load the packages into a black GMC Suburban truck parked nearby, police said. The duo then jumped into the SUV and sped away.
  
  The off-duty officer, 33, followed the pair and phoned 911 to give their descriptions and location, police said.

One of the two was nabbed.  Good job.

Fire Rescue - Again

Cops on the spot again - and they come through again:

• Chicago Police Officer Joe Deferville had just pulled a guy over for driving backward down Division Street on Monday evening when another motorist drove by and said, “Officer, the building back there’s on fire.”
  
  Deferville told the reverse driver to turn around and bolted half a block east to a brick three-flat that was filling with smoke as a closed business burned next door at 4050 W. Division.
  
  Deferville, 32, and his partner, Officer William Morales, 40, scrambled through thick gray smoke frantically knocking on doors at 7:54 p.m.
  
  On the third floor, hip-hop music was blaring from an apartment. Deferville found a mother in her 20s and her grade school-age daughter.
  
  The mother was looking for clothes, but Deferville told her, “Ma’am, we’ve got to go now, get a pair of socks for your daughter, I’m taking her out of here.”
  
  Then he picked up the girl and ran for front door, with the mother following.
  
  Morales helped an elderly blind man to the stairs, and fellow Officer Matthew Scott, 47, took the man’s arm and led him outside.
  
  A fourth man from the second floor was escorted from the building as six officers in total descended on the building for a final sweep to check that everyone was out.
  

In all, four rescues by the team. Nice job all around.

Awards Ceremony

The annual event honoring dozens of heroes:

• As Chicago cops, Officer David Hickey and his brother-in-law, Sgt. Christopher Kapa, are no strangers to facing critical split-second decisions.
  
  Hickey was shot in the leg last year as he and three other officers from his gang investigation team chased down and arrested several suspects wanted in about a dozen drug-related slayings across the city.
  
  Kapa made the risky decision in March to drive Officer Del Pearson to a hospital without waiting for an ambulance when the veteran tactical officer was shot and bleeding profusely from a chest wound.
  
  On Monday, Superintendent Garry McCarthy honored Hickey, Kapa and about 70 other officers for bravery at the department’s annual awards ceremony.

Some truly sad news at the end of the article though:

• Pearson has been unable to return to work since the shooting. His arm is no longer in a sling, but he said he still feels nagging pain in his left hand due to nerve damage from the shooting.
  
  Pearson said he hopes to return to work next year but indicated on Monday that he will likely not work on the streets again.

A two-time winner of the Award of Valor, probably won't work the streets again. We're sorry to hear that the damage done when he was shot will restrict him that badly. That part of the story never gets told enough - the walking wounded who won't ever be the same.

Nice Pinch

Not sure if this guy was an Apple-picker himself, but he sure had a bunch of stuff lying around:

• A man on parole for burglary had dozens of iPods and smartphones at his West Side home when police and parole officers visited there Friday because of recent neighborhood burglaries and he bragged to them he would “steal anything,” according to police.
  
  Daniel Ramirez, 22, of the 2100 block of West Huron Street, was arrested at his home about 10 a.m. Friday, according to police. He is being held in Cook County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail after being charged with felony theft of more than $100,000 in goods and felony unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, according to jail records. Officers also arrested another man, Adam Salas, 41, after they found him at Ramirez’s home and he dropped drugs in front of them, according to a police report.
  
  Ramirez is accused of the theft of more than $100,000 in goods, including more than 80 iPods, numerous iPads and cell phones, about 20 bicycles, and other items including laptop computers and jewelry, according to police.

There's still decent police work being done out there in some places.  Not all of it gets this coverage.  Good job boys and girls.

Kidnapped Child Found

A dearth of good news lately, so this is welcome news:

• A desperate four-hour search for a kidnapped baby ended joyfully when Officer Naomi Gibson heard a muffled cry in a gangway.
  
  Gibson and a team of officers were frantically looking for the 1-month-old girl throughout the Grand Crossing District on the South Side on Tuesday morning.
  
  At 10:54 a.m. — with the temperature hovering at 32 degrees — Gibson heard a cry coming from a gangway in the 6800 block of South Ridgeway.
  
  She spotted a white garbage bag full of pink baby clothes. Then she saw the baby sitting in a car seat, covered with a pink blanket.

And why was the child kidnapped?

• Williams allegedly took the child to pretend the baby girl belonged to her and her boyfriend, who had recently been arrested and faced a bond hearing on a felony drug possession charge.
  
  She’s accused of planning to use the child to evoke sympathy from a judge to get a lower bond for her boyfriend, but then abandoned the scheme — and the baby.
  

And when it all fell apart, she just left the baby in a gangway, denied having anything to do with the child, and refused to assist the police in any way, shape or form to return the infant.  We wish we could say we were shocked, but we can't.  Let's see if Mope-rah can wring a story out of this one.  We're sure it's all the fault of the police at some level.

An excellent job by the officers responding and searching until locating the child.

Mounted Unit

WGN did a nice piece on the Mounted Unit the other day. 

Here's a link to the story.

The Marquez family meeting the horse bearing Donny's name is especially touching.

Marine Unit Again (UPDATE)

This is about the one-hundred-fiftieth rescue this year by these guys:

• The Chicago Police Marine Unit rescued a 36-year-old city water department worker who may have suffered a heart attack this morning while four miles out on Lake Michigan.
  
  The marine unit received a distress call shortly after 11 a.m. that a worker on the Versluis, a tugboat, was having trouble breathing and chest pains, according to a spokesman for the marine unit.
  
  The rescue unit sped to the boat's location, which was about 3 to 4 miles out in Lake Michigan. It took the rescue responders about five minutes to get to the vessel, he said.

How come there isn't a TV series about these officers? "Chicago Water" or something.

UPDATE: Check out the photo the Tribune uses in their story about the Police Marine Unit:

The Fire Department boat. This is the level of fact checking that everyone who watches and reads the main-stream media has come to expect. If they can't be bothered to even make sure a picture matches a story, how can anyone trust the words written?

You can't.

Lambert Tree Winner

The narrative from the Tribune site:

• Chicago Police Officer Joseph Lopez accepts the Lambert Tree Award from Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, left, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The award is given out for bravery in the line of duty. Lopez, an 8-year veteran, responded to a call of shots fired. Upon arrival, a witness told Lopez the subject fled in a SUV. Lopez located the parked vehicle several minutes later. As he approached, the rear passenger door opened and a male subject fled.
  
  Lopez pursued the subject to a residential parking lot, where the subject turned toward Lopez, pointing and firing a semi-automatic handgun at him three times. Fearing for his life, Lopez aimed his weapon at the subject, but did not return fire as he was concerned additional gunfire would endanger citizens near the scene. The foot pursuit continued to a rear gangway and up some stairs.
  
  The subject, realizing he had nowhere to go, walked down the stairs, coming face-to-face with Lopez. At that point the subject pointed his handgun at the officer. Fearing for his life, Lopez discharged his duty weapon one time, fatally striking the subject. The subject's weapon, a loaded 9mm semi-automatic handgun, fell to the ground but was recovered immediately.

A job very well done Officer. Congratulations.

Nice Job Officer

Still chasing them down:

• Some people start work early, some people start work late -- and this week Chicago Police Officer John Wrigley did both at the same time.
  
  The 43-year-old off-duty officer was getting ready for work Wednesday afternoon when he heard the screams of a woman being robbed and ran after the 15-year-old crook, arresting him in the Roscoe Village neighborhood.
  
• The teen was released on electronic monitoring and is expected in court on Oct. 29 on the charges, Conklin said.
  
  Officer Wrigley, who was shot in the line of duty in 2005, was given multiple awards for valor for the incident, including Officer of the Month, he said.

Nicely done Officer.

ANOV Time?

The pilot admits it was pretty much happenstance they stumbled on it, but a good job recognizing it for what it was:

• The lush crop of pale green plants growing in neat rows on the far South Side was, by one estimate, just days from being ready to harvest.
  
  
  Unfortunately for the grower, Chicago Police got there first — and spent Wednesday hacking away at what’s thought to be among the city’s largest marijuana operations discovered growing outdoors.
  
  
  The crop, spotted by a Cook County sheriff’s officer on a routine helicopter patrol Tuesday, might be worth as much as $10 million on the street, police said.

$10 million? Cut it, dry it, package it, sell it, fund the Helicopter Unit.

Helicopter Gets Five

Imagine if these guys were up all the time:

• Officers hovering overhead in a Chicago Police helicopter spotted a band of suspected burglars breaking through the roof of a retail clothing store on the far South Side Saturday, prosecutors said today at their bond hearing.
  
  
  The five men allegedly cut a hole in the roof of J Bees Sports & Casual Wear, 1301 E. 87^th Street, shortly after midnight  intending to make off with merchandise, according to court documents. That’s when the patrolling police helicopter spied the alleged burglars and radioed for backup.
  
  
  Leaving a bolt cutter, pick axe, sledge hammer, pry bar atop of the building, the men hid in the building’s basement until they were found by police and arrested.

Good job, but we still think unmanned UAV's are the wave of the future.  Armed with napalm.

Nicely Done

Remember, we're operating with out a contract, but every day someone is running toward the sound of gunfire:

• Chicago police chased down and arrested a gunman who shot and critically wounded another man on the city's West Side, authorities said.

  The shooting was one of at least four late night shootings occurring across the city.

  Officers saw the unidentified man open fire on the 33-year-old victim at about 10:20 p.m. in the 4300 block of West Madison Street in the West Garfield Park neighborhood, police said, citing early reports.

  The victim, who was struck multiple times in the back and abdomen, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition, police said.

  The officers quickly chased after the gunman finally taking him into custody. Police hadn't determined the motive for the shooting, saying that suspect wasn't cooperating with investigators.

Big surprise there.

And once again, either by accident of by design, the Tribune reveals the crime increase that Rahm and Garry insist isn't really there:

• As of Sunday, Chicago had 79 more homicides than it did through the same time last year, according to preliminary police statistics. The city has also experienced 177 additional shootings this year.

All crime is down....except killings....and shootings....and car thefts, those are up, too because the insurance companies say so.....and arson....and bank robberies set a new high again the other day...and thefts from buildings, because we wouldn't want to classify those as burglaries.....which are up, too....and the FBI still won't take Chicago stats into their national accounting of crime. Other than that, crime is down.

GROUPON Coupon

Imagine our surprise when checked our e-mail and found this waiting for us:

A tactical arms class being offered to interested parties at a suburban Woodstock gun range. Humorous that this would show up in Chicago area mailboxes as the killing fields of the south and west sides run red with blood.

The good news is that there are still two days to get this deal!