CHICAGO (CBS)– Rosetta is the PAWS dog of the week.
She is a darling 9-month-old beagle mix searching for her valentine.
Rosetta loves being with people and is always trying find the closest lap to sit on. Rosetta is enthusiastic about love and playtime.
She makes the perfect valentine as she loves to give kisses.
You can find many adorable dogs and cats available for adoption Friday at noon at the PAWS Chicago Lincoln Park adoption center at 1997 North Clybourn.
CHICAGO (CBS)– Bitter cold temperatures have arrived in the Chicago area, but will not be staying long.
Wind Chill Advisory through 10am this morning pic.twitter.com/zjC2OAEO3Z
— Megan Glaros (@MeganGlaros) February 14, 2020
A Wind Chill Advisory is in effect for all of our Illinois Counties until 10 a.m. Friday. Wind chills could drop to -15 degrees.
At least there's sunshine?!?! LOL pic.twitter.com/Y1B74mc9d6
— Megan Glaros (@MeganGlaros) February 14, 2020
The high temperature is only 18 degrees and temperatures are closer to 0 degrees Friday morning. CBS 2 meteorologist Megan Glaros said the “Feels like” are in the negatives.
Glaros said this is the coldest morning this winter.
Coldest morning ALL meteorological winter! pic.twitter.com/dNF1PeBg0c
— Megan Glaros (@MeganGlaros) February 14, 2020
The good news? Temperatures will start warming up by Saturday to the 30s and should hit the 40s by early next week.
Weekend!! pic.twitter.com/3nuNoOeYzo
— Megan Glaros (@MeganGlaros) February 14, 2020
CHICAGO (CBS)– A woman and a child died in a house fire in Minooka.
Fire crews from Minooka and Channahon responded to the scene at Bell Road near Cobblestone Lane.
The Channahon Fire Chief confirmed the victims were a 57-year-old Susan Weber and a 5-year-old boy.
Two people were able to escape the fire before crews arrived. Firefighter battled through the flames to get the victims out.
The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.
This is a developing story.
CHICAGO (CBS) — Fourteen months after a Cook County Judge ruled Gerald Reed should get a new trial for a 1990 double murder, based on his claims of torture, another judge on Friday threw out that ruling, and ruled Reed will continue serving his life sentence.
Reed, 56, had been granted a new trial in December 2018, amid claims he had been tortured into falsely confessing to the slayings of Pamela Powers and Willie Williams by officers under the command of former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge.
#BREAKING: Judge decides Gerald Reed will NOT GET NEW TRIAL after being granted one in Dec. 2018 after claims of police torture under direction of disgraced CPD Cmdr. Jon Burge.
He’s been in prison for almost 30 yrs – serving life sentence for 1990 double murder. @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/ij9wMDklFk
— Eric Cox (@EricCoxTV) February 14, 2020
Reed has claimed he was beaten so badly, detectives broke a titanium rod that was holding his fractured femur in place. He had to live with that injury for more than 25 years, taking pills to deal with the pain, until a federal lawsuit granted him surgery in 2016.
Judge Thomas Gainer overturned Reed’s conviction in December 2018 and granted him a new trial, but has since retired and Judge Thomas Hennelly has taken over the case.
At a hearing on Friday, dozens of Reed’s loved ones and supporters were hoping Hennelly would order Reed’s release from custody and set a new trial date, but instead their hopes were dashed when Hennelly vacated Gainer’s ruling overturning Reed’s conviction, ruled Reed would stay behind bars for life.
Reed’s mother, Amanda Shackleford, said she was stunned by Hennelly’s ruling.
“I never would have thought that this judge would do what he did today,” she said.
Aislinn Pulley, co-executive director of the Chicago Torture Justice Center, called the judge’s decision an example of a continued coverup of torture committed by Burge and detectives under his command. Burge was fired in 1993 and served 3 years in prison nearly two decades later for lying about the torture of suspects.
“The era of Jon Burge is not over, it’s continued to be covered up right now,” Pulley said. “Everyone who was a part of that, from the legal system, from the judge, from the State’s Attorney’s office, are complicit in the continued brutality of our people. Gerald Reed should be freed. His conviction was vacated 14 months ago. There is no reason that he’s in Cook County Jail right now.”
Reed’s supporters said they felt completely sideswiped by Hennelly’s ruling. They said they’re hoping the county’s chief judge can do something about it.
CHICAGO (CBS) — A Cook County judge has ruled State’s Attorney Kim Foxx may continue to use taxpayer money to hire a private attorney to represent her office in a special prosecutor’s investigation of the Jussie Smollett case.
Retired appellate judge Sheila O’Brien, who successfully petitioned for the special prosecutor’s probe, had asked Judge Michael Toomin to bar Foxx from hiring outside counsel to represent her office at taxpayer expense, arguing the Illinois attorney general must represent the state’s attorney in such matters.
However, Foxx’s office has argued she has explicit legal authority to hire private attorneys to assist her in handling complex matters. Her office has retained former federal judge Ruben Castillo and a team of attorneys from law firm Akerman LLP to aid her as special prosecutor Dan Webb investigates the entire Smollett case. She also has hired attorney Michael Bromwich at her own expense to represent her personally
On Friday, Toomin ruled it was appropriate for Foxx’s office to hire a private attorney on the taxpayers’ dime.
Toomin also ruled that O’Brien would no longer be able to file any further requests in the case unless she can prove she has grounds to do so.
“I respect the court’s ruling. Judge Toomin’s an excellent judge,” O’Brien said after the ruling.
O’Brien said Toomin’s decision essentially means special prosecutor Dan Webb “will be the person who’s to take this ball and to run with it.”
Foxx’s office said O’Brien’s request to bar her from hiring outside counsel was “inappropriate, unwarranted, and without merit.”
The state’s attorney’s office said it is fully cooperating with Webb’s investigation.
Last August, Toomin appointed Webb, a former federal prosecutor, as a special prosecutor in the Smollett case; tasking him to not only investigate Foxx’s handling of the case, but to decide if Smollett should be further prosecuted for allegedly staging a fake hate crime against himself.
Earlier this week, a special grand jury indicted Smollett on six counts of disorderly conduct, accusing him of filing false police reports claiming he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack last year.
In a statement, Webb’s office said Smollett filed four separate false police reports claiming he was the victim of a hate crime.
“The grand jury’s investigation revealed that Jussie Smollett planned and participated in a staged hate crime attack, and thereafter made numerous false statements to Chicago Police Department officers on multiple occasions, reporting a heinous hate crime that he, in fact, knew had not occurred,” Webb said in a statement.
Cook County prosecutors last year dropped 16 disorderly conduct charges against Smollett, just over a month after Chicago police had accused him of orchestrating a hoax because he was upset with his salary on the TV show “Empire.”
Webb said his investigation of the case led him to disagree with how Foxx’s office resolved the case.
Webb said the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office could not provide him with any evidence that the decision last year to dismiss the charges against Smollett was handled similar to other cases.
“The CCSAO has been unable to provide the [Office of the Special Prosecutor] with documentary evidence that shows that, in dismissing the Smollett case on the terms presented in court on March 26, 2019, the CCSAO relied on other dispositions of similar cases prior to the Smollett case that would justify this disposition,” Webb wrote.
In March 2019, Foxx said, “This case was handled like the other cases that have gone through our alternative prosecution model.”
Webb asked for examples of those similar cases, and so did CBS 2. We couldn’t find any, and neither could Webb.
However, Webb said his office has not reached any conclusions about whether anyone in Foxx’s office engaged in wrongdoing, and said that part of his investigation remains open.
CHICAGO (CBS) — Seven children were injured in a house fire Friday morning in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood.
The fire started shortly after 11 a.m. in the basement of a home near 71st Street and Yale Avenue, according to the Fire Department.
7052 Yale house fire 7 patients EMS plan one. 6 children age 5 to 12. To comer children’s. One 16 year old to u of c. All good condition with slight smoke inhalation. Self evacuated before fire crews arrived. pic.twitter.com/S89Ov2aGoF
— Chicago Fire Media (@CFDMedia) February 14, 2020
Seven children evacuated the home before firefighters arrived, but were taken to the hospital to be treated for minor smoke inhalation injuries. Fire Department officials initially said it was six children and one adult.
Six children between the ages of 5 and 12 were taken to Comer Children’s Hospital in good condition. A 16-year-old girl was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition.
Further details were not immediately availalble.
CHICAGO (AP) — The brothers of Chicago high school basketball star Ben Wilson, who was viewed as the top player in the nation before his murder in 1984, said Thursday they have forgiven the shooter.
Anthony Wilson said he was asked if he was crazy for meeting William Moore, the man convicted of gunning down Ben Wilson. Anthony Wilson, along with his brother Jeffrey, agreed to meet with Moore after his mother, Mary Wilson, asked the family on her deathbed in 2000 to forgive Moore.
“The right thing to do is meet with this man, get the closure that I needed to heal myself and it was one of the best moments in my life,” Anthony Wilson said.
The three men first met in 2017, but they appeared publicly together for the first time before about 350 Chicago Public School students to preview clips from an upcoming documentary, “Both Sides of the Gun,” that chronicles the brothers’ road to forgiving Moore.
Moore was 16 years old when the 17-year-old Wilson bumped into him as he was walking with his girlfriend. An argument followed, and Moore shot Wilson. Moore served 19 years and 9 months in prison before his release in 2004. An accomplice, Omar Dixon, 16, was also convicted in Wilson’s death.
Friends and family on Monday held a vigil for basketball standout Ben Wilson, who was killed in 1984. (CBS)
At the time, Ben Wilson, a 6-foot-8 forward was being recruited by the nation’s top college basketball programs, among them DePaul, Indiana and Illinois.
Part of the reconciliation meant understanding why Moore gunned down the star of Simeon High School, which has since produced several NBA players, including Nick Anderson, Derrick Rose and Jabari Parker.
“It was just an argument that went bad. It wasn’t a robbery. Ben was feeling a certain type of way and he wasn’t backing down. I wasn’t backing down,” Billy Moore said, adding he didn’t have the emotional tools to end the argument peacefully. “I still live with the loss of Benji every day. I know that when I die and I have to stand in front of my maker, I have to account for that.”
We want to thank @arneduncan and @common for moderating the Both Sides of the Gun Reconciliation event. It was a great event to witness and hopefully it inspired the next generation of leaders. pic.twitter.com/FWSXqB58k2
— Malcolm X College (@MX_College) February 13, 2020
Thursday’s discussion between the men was moderated by rapper and actor Common and former U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, a childhood friend of Ben Wilson.
“To me, he was our hero before we had Michael Jordan,” Common said.
One of clips played for the students shows Jeffrey Wilson giving the bullet taken from his brother’s body to Moore as the two embraced.
Since being freed from prison, Moore has learned the pain that comes from gun violence. His son was shot to death three years ago.
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
CHICAGO (CBS) — Two existing medical marijuana dispensaries will now be open for business for recreational weed users in the suburbs.
The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) approved licenses for two more same-site establishments, bringing the total number of same-site dispensaries in the state to 48.
The two dispensaries added to the list are Mindful Dispensary in Addison and Nature’s Care Company located in Rolling Meadows.
The IDFPR said it expects to get more applications as municipalities across the state adopt rezoning ordinances so they can participate in selling medical and recreational marijuna.
Illinois legalized recreational weed on January 1 of this year. Medical marijuana was approved for sale in the state back in 2013. According to the state’s department of public health (IDPH) Illinois has approved more than 98,000 applications for the Medical Cannabis Registry Program as of January 2020.
The first week recreational pot was legal, there were nearly $11 million dollars in sales.
Anyone 21 and over can possess up to 30 grams of cannabis flower, 500 milligrams of THC in cannabis-infused products and up to five grams of cannabis concentrate.
Click here to see the complete list of same-site dispensaries in Illinois.
CHICAGO (CBS) — After a frigid Friday, warmer returns on Saturday with some clouds and snow showers.
(Credit: CBS_
According to CBS 2 meteorologist Robb Ellis, the warm up begins overnight.
(Credit: CBS)
FRIDAY: Expect a low of 14 with breezy skies and increasing clouds.
SATURDAY: Mostly cloudy with a high of 33. There will be a chance of snow showers in the late afternoon going into the evening hours.
EXTENDED: Temps will continue on a gradual warming trend through Monday. Showers are possible Monday with temperatures dropping again through the middle of the week.
(Credit: CBS)
CHICAGO (CBS) — A Purdue University Northwest student was shot in the leg early Friday while walking with three other students off campus in Hammond, Indiana.
The students were walking near 167th and Marshall, about five blocks away from campus, when someone in a dark-colored SUV pulled up and fired five shots, according to the university and Hammond police.
One of the students, an 18-year-old man, was shot in the leg.
All four ran to a nearby Walgreens at 169th and Kennedy, where they called 911.
An ambulance took the victim to a local hospital, but his injuries were not life-threatening.
The school has notified all of the students’ families.
The Purdue Northwest Police Department and Hammond Police were investigating.
Anyone with information on the shooting should call Hammond police at 219-852-2991.
CHICAGO (CBS) — The city of Chicago is seeking to settle another handful of police misconduct lawsuits next week, including a proposed $10 million payout to Tarance Etheredge, who was shot in the back by police in 2012 during a foot chase in the South Shore neighborhood.
According to Etheredge’s lawsuit against the city and five Chicago police officers, he was walking to work at Staples around 11 a.m. on Dec. 17, 2012, when two plainclothes officers pulled up in an unmarked car, and yelled at him to “come here.”
Etheredge claimed the officers did not identify themselves, so he ran away in fear of his safety. One of the officers began chasing him on foot, while the other chased him in the unmarked squad car.
As Etheredge started running through nearby alleys, two other plainclothes officers in an unmarked squad car joined the chase, and eventually a uniformed officer in a marked patrol car also showed up.
After realizing the people chasing him were police, Etheredge said he stopped and surrendered, but one of the officers, identified in the lawsuit as Mark Heinzel, shot him in the back, even though he was unarmed and posed no threat to anyone.
The lawsuit accuses police of excessive force, conspiracy to conceal the truth, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
“There was no legal justification to point, threaten, or fire a firearm at or utilize deadly force,” the lawsuit states.
According to the lawsuit, Etheredge was left a parplegic after the shooting.
The City Council Finance Committee is scheduled to vote on a proposed $10 million settlement of Etheredge’s lawsuit on Tuesday.
Proposed settlements in two other police misconduct lawsuits also are on the agenda for the committee on Tuesday.
The city’s Law Department is seeking approval of a $400,000 settlement with Refugio Ruiz-Cortez, who spent more than a decade behind bars on a drug conviction, based partly on the testimony of corrupt former police officer Glenn Lewellen, who later was convicted of a lengthy drug trafficking conspiracy.
Ruiz-Cortez was convicted of drug charges in 1999 and was sentenced to more than 17 years in prison, but federal prosecutors later moved to dismiss the indictment and set him free in May 2010. Ruiz-Cortez claimed Lewellen, an informant, and others framed him on the drug charges.
According to published reports, Ruiz-Cortez took his lawsuit against Lewellen and the city to trial in 2016, but a jury balked at an $11 million payout.
The other settlement up for a vote next week is a $270,000 payout to Cruz and Aurea Rodriguez, their sons Oscar and Luis, and their son-in-law Romulo Acuna; who have accused police of breaking down the door to their Humboldt Park home on May 31, 2014, without a warrant or probable cause.
The lawsuit accuses a group of seven officers of assaulting the family, then arresting them and falsely accusing them of attacking the officers.
CHICAGO (CBS) — A woman was seriously injured Friday afternoon in an apartment building fire in the South Shore neighborhood.
The Fire Department responded to the fire at a three-story courtyard apartment building near 67th and Cornell.
6700 block of Cornell large apt complex fire in one unit. Fire contained to one unit. Checking for extension in cockloft. One patient from fire. Main body is extinguished. pic.twitter.com/GITFpVng0z
— Chicago Fire Media (@CFDMedia) February 14, 2020
Fire Department officials said the fire was contained to a single apartment and was extinguished by about 4:30 p.m., but crews were checking to make sure it hadn’t spread to the attic.
One woman suffered burn injuries, and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in serious to critical condition.
Paramedics were checking a second person for possible smoke inhalation injuries.
by Todd Feurer, CBS Chicago web producer
CHICAGO (CBS) — Patrick Doherty, a high-ranking Cook County official, has been indicted on federal bribery charges accusing him of conspiring to pay bribes to a relative of an Oak Lawn village trustee in order to install new red light cameras in the southwest suburb.
Doherty, 64, who serves as chief of staff to Cook County Commissioner Jeff Tobolski, is charged with two counts of bribery and one count of conspiracy to defraud. Tobolski is not named in the indictment and has not been charged with a crime.
According to the indictment, Doherty also worked as a sales agent for a company with a contract to operate red light cameras in Oak Lawn, and as part of his employment with them, received a portion of the proceeds from red light camera violations generated by their cameras. The indictment does not identify the company, but Oak Lawn officials confirmed the company is SafeSpeed, which is at the center of an ongoing federal probe.
Federal prosecutors say, starting in 2017, Doherty conspired with another sales agent and someone with a financial interest in SafeSpeed to pay bribes to a relative of an Oak Lawn village trustee, in exchange for influencing that trustee to help approve the installation of additional cameras.
According to the indictment, they agreed to pay the relative $4,000 in weekly installments of $500, concealing them as payments from a separate company.
In a phone call on May 25, 2017, Doherty told his fellow sales agent he would make the payments to the trustee’s relatives “if it’s going to get us the job,” according to the charges.
“I’ll just pay it. Just make sure we get the, make sure we get the f***ing thing, the contract,” Doherty said, according to the indictment.
Doherty’s arraignment hearing has not yet been scheduled.
In a statement Friday afternoon, Oak Lawn Mayor Sandra Bury said she has ordered an internal investigation as a result of the charges against Doherty.
“We, like the rest of the residents of the Village of Oak Lawn, just now learned of the alleged involvement of an Oak Lawn Trustee in SafeSpeed’s unsuccessful attempt to increase the number of red-light cameras throughout the Village. Prior to reading today’s indictment of SafeSpeed’s representative, Patrick Doherty, the Village was unaware of the existence of any investigations involving one of its officials, nor do we know the identity of the Trustee referenced,” she wrote. “We are shocked and appalled by what’s being reported as the alleged actions strike at the very core of the public’s trust in government-they cannot and will not be tolerated.”
The charges against Doherty come about two weeks after former Illinois State Sen. Martin Sandoval pleaded guilty to taking $70,000 in bribes to act as a “protector” for red light camera company SafeSpeed. Sandoval said he agreed to take bribes in exchange for blocking proposed legislation to ban red light cameras.
Federal agents raided Sandoval’s home and offices last September, four months before he was charged. According to a search warrant from those raids, federal investigators are casting a wide net in an ongoing corruption probe. The warrant revealed the FBI was seeking evidence related to a vast array of subjects — including Tobolski and SafeSpeed. Others named in the warrant included ComEd; businessman Michael Vondra; video gambling company Gold Rush Gaming; several unnamed Illinois Department of Transportation officials; and several asphalt, concrete, and construction companies.
CHICAGO (CBS) — A new federal indictment has been handed down against embattled singer R. Kelly in Chicago, adding a new sexual abuse victim not mentioned in the original case, but removing another victim from the charges.
According to the original charges in Chicago, Kelly sexually abused five girls in the late 1990s, made four videos of one of the victims, and then paid hush money and made threats to cover up his sex crimes.
One of the victims from the original indictment, identified only as Minor 2, has now been removed from a list of the victims. She is identified in the new indictment as Individual D, though the new charges no longer accuse Kelly of sexually abusing her when she was a minor. Instead, it claims Kelly arranged to pay her a total of $350,000 to return two videotapes depicting him having sex with her and an underage girl identified only as Minor 1.
A new victim, identified only as Minor 6, has been added to the list of victims in the case. According to the indictment, Kelly met Minor 6 in 1997 or 1998, when she was 14 or 15 years old.
The new indictment does not specify when Kelly is accused of sexually abusing Minor 6, but says she was under age 18 at the time.
So, while five victims remain in the case, it’s not the same five victims originally listed.
RELATED: Catch Up On CBS 2’s Coverage Of The Kelly Case
Minor 1 is the same girl who was at the center of a child pornography case filed against Kelly in 2002. He was acquitted in that case in 2008.
With a new indictment in the case, Kelly will have to appear for a new arraignment at some point, but no such hearing has yet been scheduled. However, he is due back in federal court on March 5 for a status hearing on the original indictment.
The feds said Kelly coerced Minor 1 and her parents to lie to police and a Cook County grand jury about Kelly’s sex crimes.
Kelly’s former manager, Derrel McDavid, is charged alongside Kelly in the case, accused of conspiring to cover up videotapes Kelly made of himself sexually abusing children. Federal prosecutors say McDavid instructed the Minor 1′ father to deny she was the girl on the video, and Kelly persuaded the girl to falsely deny that he’d abused her, and to falsely deny that it was her on the tape.
The feds also accuse Kelly of making payments and buying gifts for Minor 1 and her parents from 2000 to 2015 to keep them quiet about the videos.
Kelly and McDavid also are accused of paying off others so they wouldn’t cooperate with the investigation, and would help cover up evidence, including the videos.
Another Kelly employee, Milton “June” Brown, faces child pornography charges; accused of helping ship videotapes of Kelly’s sexual crimes in the U.S. mail.
Kelly is facing separate charges in a federal indictment in New York, another indictment in Cook County, and another case in Minnesota.
The federal charges in New York accuse Kelly of using his fame to recruit young women and girls for illegal sexual activity. The racketeering case also accuses him of kidnapping, sexual exploitation of a child and forced labor. In December, federal prosecutors added bribery charges against Kelly, connected to his 1994 marriage to the late singer Aaliyah, who was only 15 at the time.
Prosecutors accused Kelly of scheming with others to pay for a “fraudulent identification” for her. The marriage was annulled months later because of Aaliyah’s age.
Kelly’s attorney Steve Greenberg said in a tweet “we are aware of the superseding indictment. We continue to fight for him and look forward to the day he is free. #notguilty #rkelly.”
In Cook County, local prosecutors have accused Kelly of sexually assaulting and abusing four victims years ago. Three of the accusers were underage at the time.
In Minnesota, state prosecutors have charged Kelly with engaging in prostitution with an underage girl.
Kelly’s federal trial in Chicago has been scheduled for April, his federal trial in New York is scheduled for July, and his trial in Cook County court is scheduled for September. No trial date has yet been set in Minnesota.
Kelly and his co-defendants have pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
We are aware of the superseding indictment. We continue to fight for him and look forward to the day he is free #notguilty #rkelly
— Steve Greenberg (@SGcrimlaw) February 14, 2020
CHICAGO (CBS) — Campaign Q and for Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx on Friday.
And many of the questions were about, you guessed it, new charges against Jussie Smollett. Some of them from CBS 2 political investigator Dana Kozlov.
For Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, it’s been a rollercoaster week. She racked up another high-profile endorsement, from Illinois U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth.
“I know when she’s re-elected, she’ll keep making progress on the issues that matter to people all across Cook County,” Duckworth said.
But she was also back on the defensive after a special prosecutor and grand jury brought new charges against actor Jussie Smollett for staging his own attack, 11 months after Foxx’s office dismissed them.
RELATED: Jussie Smollet Indicted On New Charges Related To Attack CPD Called A Hoax
“What I reminded folks is that the Cook County State’s Attorneys office did file 16 counts in this particular case. And Dan Webb followed suit following six. And so it is not surprising and I stand by that,” Foxx said.
CBS 2 didn’t get a chance to ask the state’s attorney why, if she stands by that, she dismissed the charges in the first place. In fact, Foxx took only a few questions at a campaign stop, artfully dodging those focused on what the new Smollet charges may mean for her politically.
“What I remind voters, and what I hear from voters across this county are the issues related to them directly,” Foxx said.
Special prosecutor Dan Webb has yet to issue his opinion on whether there was any wrongdoing by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in regards to the Smollett case. That will come later.
“We’ll take whatever criticism and responsibility that comes with the work of public leader,” Foxx added.
Criticism. But not any more questions. Foxx then attended a City Club luncheon where Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot spoke about ending poverty. They mayor said her support for Foxx hasn’t wavered.
“I know Kim. I know her well,” Lightfoot said. “I know her heart and what she has and tends to accomplish as state’s attorney and I have total confidence in her.”
Webb has not indicated when he plans to release his findings on whether was wrongdoing in the Cook County State’s Attorneys office. But it’s expected to come down after the March 17 primary election.
Click here for more on CBS 2’s coverage of the Jussie Smollett case.
CHICAGO (CBS) — A once high-ranking police commander, Ed Wodnicki, was stripped of his police powers because of a high-speed chase through Indiana.
Now he’s at the center of another controversy: whether taxpayers have the right to access texts and emails that could explain what really happened.
During the chase, Wodnicki hit speeds of 114 miles per hour and refused to stop, claiming he was on route to official police business.
At the end of the chase with Indiana State Police near Chesterton in June, Wodnicki told the troopers, “Sir, I am heading to a call.”
But the story had some holes.
“Well, your bosses just told us you didn’t have anything urgent to get to so there is no reason you should have been driving that way,” one of the Indiana troopers responded.
“Oh please, come on guys. I’m a fucking policeman. I swear to God I thought you were giving me support,” Wodnicki said at one point after he stopped.
Eight months later, Wodnicki is still getting paid, but last month he was stripped of his police powers.
Plenty of questions still remain about exactly when the once high-ranking commander was caught driving recklessly in a city vehicle.
Tom Needham believes taxpayers have the right to know.
He’s a Chicago attorney who filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request into the incident.
“I asked for any communications Wodnicki made on that day June 12 that explained what he was doing in Indiana and any interactions he had with the Indiana state police,” Needham said.
When CPD ignored his request, he filed a lawsuit.
And ultimately CPD responded, saying Wodnicki had no communication through his work email or texts.
But what about his personal phone?
Well that’s off limits, according to the city.
Matt Topic and FOIA law expert said: “The city’s position is wrong, and it’s been rejected by courts all around the country.”
Topic was involved in the lawsuit that ultimately required Rahm Emanuel to release his private emails that pertained to public business.
He says CPD has an obligation to at least inquire whether Wodnicki made any contact with city officials during his wild ride from his personal phone.
Otherwise, Topic and Needham argue, it sends the wrong message to city officials.
That message?
“That if there is something embarrassing or something shameful or something scandalous or illegal do it on your personal iPhone or personal email account because then the city won’t ask you about it,” Needham said.
An attorney representing the city and CPD says Wodnicki was alone and there is no indication that he used his private device for public business.
The city’s asking for the case to be dismissed.
The next hearing is set for Feb. 19.
DEERFIELD (CBS) — Charges have been filed against a woman who police say struck a child while driving on Deerfield Road, leaving the boy for dead.
Stacy A. Shapiro, 46, of Northbrook, surrendered herself to authorities at the Deerfield Police Department after she was charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving personal injury. The felony punishable by 3 to 7 years in prison and fines not to exceed $25,000.
Bond on the warrant was set at $250,000. Shapiro was processed and was released after posting bond. A preliminary court date has been set for Feb. 18.
Chase Thompson, 12, was struck last Friday night on Deerfield Road and remains in critical condition in Lurie Children’s Hospital.
“We believe there were aggravating factors in this accident and it may afterall have been avoidable,” Chase’s father, Thad Thompson said Friday. “I need to worry about Chase. I do think he will make it though.”
The boy’s dad had offered a $10,000 reward for to the driver, provided that the driver surrendered. As CBS 2’s Chris Tye reported, Thompson was saying Wednesday that his unconventional approach worked. On Friday, he said the money would go to the tipster whose information led to Shaprio’s arrest.
“They’ve identified the driver and have the car in their possession, and are continuing their investigation,” Thompson said Wednesday.
At the time, Deerfield police told Thompson that they believe the person of interest brought to the police station is the driver who hit his son.
Chase is nonverbal, and is kept secure with double-cylinder locked doors at home. But with no jacket and no shoes, Chase still made it out of the family’s home this past Friday and was hit by the car.
Police told Thompson they think the driver hit the boy at a full 35 mph, never hitting the brakes.
CHICAGO (CBS) — A seven-year-old girl shot her11-year-old brother in the neck in a home in North Lawndale.
It happened in the 3100 block of West Fillmore on Friday night when the girl gained access to a firearm in the apartment. While she was holding the weapon, it fired and struck her brother, police said.
The boy is reportedly in serious condition at Stroger Hospital, according to Chicago Police.
According to dispatch reports, a mother called 911 to report daugther shot her other son. Police did not immediately confirm that.
At the scene, one officer was clearly having difficulting dealing with the aftermath, dropping to his knees outside the home.
The shooting appears to be accidental.
Area North Detectives are investigating.
CHICAGO (CBS) — A horse barn fire at Tower Hill stables is burning out of control in the town of Hampshire, in the far northwest suburbs.
Crews are attemping to rescue animals, but it is unclear how many horses were at property or whether any were inside when the fire started.
The Burlington Fire Department responded to the barn, 12 N254 Tower, shortly after 8 p.m. on Friday.
According to its website, the Tower Hill stables is a 140 acre horse farm with 6 barns, 131 stalls.
The farm offers horse boarding, riding lessons and camps.
DOLTON (CBS) — Cars sold at a recent auction could have been used in a crime.
Officials in south suburban Dolton are accusing a tow company of releasing cars meant to be stored as evidence in criminal investigation.
The owner of the tow company says this is all politically motivated.
W and W Towing has contracts with nearly 20 police departments, including the Village of Dolton.
Early Walker, who owns the company, says he was awarded the contract in 2016, and he says he’s had issues with the village ever since. “It’s been straight hell,” he said, without elaborating.
Sources close to Dolton Village Hall say several cars that have been seized in various crimes and stored on the W & W lot have gone missing.
Illinois State police looking into at least 2019 jeep, a Dodge Challenger and a 94 Jeep, but sources claim there are more.
The 2019 Jeep was mistakenly sold at auction
Walker takes responsibilty for the Jeep but says he had the former police chief signed off to demolish the 94 Jeep.
In an email, Dolton police accused the towing company of stealing the Challenger saying, “There was also a Dodge Challenger in his lot set for forfeiture that one of his “employees” stole and was fleeing from police in for several months and he never notified us.”
Walker says the Challenger isn’t missing.
“Everything else that was on the list has been accounted for,” said Walker. “I really don’t see the issue other than political attacks.”
