7 months later, reward increased to $46K+ for info. in disappearance of pregnant mail carrier
CHICAGO — Kierra Coles' family made an emotional plea for someone to come forward with information about her case Sunday, May 5 -- trying to breathe new life into the search for the missing postal worker who was pregnant when she disappeared.According to WGN, friends and family of the 27-year-old passed out flyers near the corner of 81st Street and Vernon Avenue Sunday.
Police officers help deliver baby girl on Easter Sunday
CHICAGO — Chicago police officers helped a new mom deliver her baby girl on Easter Sunday.Officers from the city’s 3rd District were flagged down by the driver of a car that pulled up in front of the police station at 7040 S.
4 adults and 2 kids shot and wounded at Chicago baby shower
CHICAGO — Two men who opened fire on a crowd of people gathered for a baby shower, wounding six people, including two children, may have acted in relation for an earlier gang conflict, police said Sunday.Authorities have only "shards of information" about what happened at the family gathering in Chicago because witnesses are not cooperating, a police spokesman said, but investigators hope the serious nature of the children's injuries will prompt someone to talk."This is a very tragic incident.
Chicago seeks $130K from Jussie Smollett for cost of investigation
CHICAGO — The Chicago city government will seek $130,000 from Jussie Smollett to cover the cost of the investigation into his report of an attack that police say was staged to promote his career, city officials said Thursday.A spokesman for the city's legal department, Bill McCaffrey, confirmed the amount after Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the city would try to recoup the money from the "Empire" actor.Hours earlier, President Donald Trump tweeted that the FBI and the Department of Justice would review the "outrageous" case, calling it an "embarrassment" to the country.Prosecutors infuriated Emanuel and the police chief this week when they abruptly dropped 16 felony counts that accused Smollett of making a false police report about being the target of a racist, anti-gay attack in January.Smollett has maintained his innocence and insisted that the attack was real.The prosecution offered little explanation for the dismissal and sealed the case, but authorities still say the actor concocted the assault.
Judge orders 19-year-old woman held without bond in shooting of Chicago officer
CHICAGO — A judge has ordered a 19-year-old woman held without bond on attempted murder and other charges in the shooting of a Chicago police officer serving a warrant.Police say Emily Petronella fired a shot through a door Saturday night, March 9 striking the 34-year-old officer in the shoulder.
Attorney: Tape appears to show R. Kelly sexually abusing girls
NEW YORK — A man who said he was cleaning out an old videotape collection found what he thought was a recording of R&B singer R.
'Empire' star Terrence Howard supports Jussie Smollett on social media: 'All your lil homies got you'
CHICAGO -- Actor Terrence Howard, who plays the father of Jussie Smollett's character on "Empire," has expressed support for his fellow cast member amid allegations that Smollett staged a racist, anti-gay attack on himself.Howard, who plays music mogul Lucious Lyon on the Fox television series, took to Instagram and posted a video of Smollett holding a giggling baby boy with the message: "All your lil homies got you...
‘Why so many resources?' Chicago pastor questions Jussie Smollett investigation
CHICAGO — Chicago Police Supt.
Prosecutor: 'Empire' actor Jussie Smollett gave detailed instructions for fake attack
CHICAGO — "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett gave detailed instructions to two brothers who helped him stage a racist, anti-gay attack on himself, including giving them specific slurs to yell, telling them to shout "MAGA country" and pointing out a surveillance camera that he thought would record the beating, a prosecutor said Thursday.Police said Smollett planned the hoax because he was unhappy with his salary and wanted to promote his career.
TMZ: Grand jury to hear case involving Jussie Smollett early this week
CHICAGO — Chicago police and representatives for Jussie Smollett were keeping quiet Sunday, Feb. 17 about the investigation into a reported attack on the "Empire" actor.Police said Saturday that the investigation had "shifted" after detectives questioned two brothers about the attack and released them without charges.
Chicago police, Fox dispute reports about Smollett attack
CHICAGO -- Chicago police said Thursday night that local media reports that the attack against "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett was a hoax are unconfirmed.The reports surfaced as detectives were questioning two "persons of interest" who were captured on surveillance cameras in the area of downtown Chicago where Smollett said he was attacked last month.The two men aren't considered suspects but may have been in the area when Smollett says he was attacked, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said earlier Thursday.
Proposed bill would make Chicago its own state
CHICAGO -- An Illinois lawmaker wants the state to cut its ties to the Windy City.
Prosecutors seek new sentence for Chicago police officer who fatally shot Laquan McDonald
CHICAGO — Prosecutors on Monday, Feb. 11 asked Illinois' highest court to review the less than seven year prison sentence for the Chicago police officer who fatally shot Laquan McDonald — an unusual move in what was already a rare case.Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and the special prosecutor who won a murder conviction against former officer Jason Van Dyke, Kane County State's Attorney Joseph McMahon, said they believe Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan improperly applied the law last month when he sentenced Van Dyke to six years and nine months in prison.
Police: 'Empire' actor Jussie Smollett arrived home with rope around neck
CHICAGO — Detectives have recovered more surveillance footage of "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett walking in downtown Chicago before and after he says he was attacked by two masked men, including video of him arriving home with a rope around his neck, but they're still searching for footage off the attack, a police spokesman said Thursday.The video from a surveillance camera at Smollett's apartment building showing him arrive home with a rope around his neck is part of a larger effort to obtain as much footage as possible of his walk from a Subway restaurant to his apartment at around 2 a.m. Tuesday.Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said detectives, who are investigating the case as a possible hate crime, have pieced together more footage from the hundreds of public and private surveillance cameras in that area of downtown Chicago, which is home to many high-end hotels and restaurants.
Chicago police release photos of 'persons of interest' in 'Empire' star's attack
CHICAGO — Detectives reviewed surveillance footage of "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett walking to his downtown Chicago apartment, but so far none of the video shows him being attacked by two masked men, although investigators have obtained images of people they would like to question, a police spokesman said Wednesday.Spokesman Anthony Guglielmi released photos of the "persons of interest" Wednesday evening.
Chicago officer who fired shots that killed Laquan McDonald gets nearly 7 years in prison
CHICAGO — The Chicago police officer who gunned down a teenager in 2014 was sentenced Friday to nearly seven years in prison, bringing an end to a historic case that centered on a shocking dashcam video and fueled the national debate over race and law enforcement.Jason Van Dyke was convicted last year of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery — one for each bullet he fired.
Man accused of throwing dogs off of Chicago balcony charged
CHICAGO — A suburban Chicago man accused of throwing two small dogs off a second-floor balcony, killing the 17-year-old Chihuahua and causing the other dog to run away, has been charged with felony aggravated cruelty.Officer Jennifer Bryk, a Chicago police spokeswoman, told the Chicago Tribune that 51-year-old Jerald Jeske, of Park Ridge, is due in court Wednesday.Police say Jeske's wife told officers that during an argument Monday outside her apartment in the West Town neighborhood, he slapped her twice, accused her of loving her dogs more than she loved him and threatened to kill the animals.
Chicago police officers likely didn't see train that killed them
CHICAGO — Two Chicago police officers may not have seen or heard the commuter train that fatally struck them because they were focused on another train coming from the opposite direction, a department spokesman said Tuesday.Spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said "very limited" video from a body camera one of the officers was wearing helped investigators piece together how the tragedy might have happened.The officers had run onto an elevated area of the tracks Monday night on the city's far South Side to investigate gunfire.
2 Chicago police officers struck by train, killed while investigating report of shots fired
CHICAGO -- Two Chicago police officers were fatally struck by a train Monday as they investigated a report of gunshots on the city's far South Side.Eduardo Marmolejo, 37, and Conrad Gary, 31, were pursuing a person who had headed toward train tracks and were hit shortly after 6 p.m. as the commuter train passed through the area, Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said."There was no stop at that location so the train was probably going somewhere between 60 and 70 miles per hour," Johnson said during a news conference.