Chicago Sun-Times: All posts by Cindy Hernandez

Lombard man pleads guilty to trafficking fentanyl and providing support to ISIS

2023-12-06T18:07:31.001-06:00

Adobe Stock Photo

A suburban man pleaded guilty Wednesday to trafficking drugs and attempting to provide materials to the Islamic State of Iraq in 2019.

Jason Brown, 41, was charged with one count of attempting to provide material support to ISIS, one count of distributing fentanyl and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

In a plea agreement, Brown, of west suburban Lombard, admitted that in three separate occasions he provided $500 in cash to an individual with the understanding that the money would be wired to an ISIS soldier engaged in terrorist activity in Syria, officials said.

The individual to whom he gave the money was working confidentially with law enforcement officers, and the ISIS soldier was actually an undercover officer, officials said.

Brown also admitted to trafficking the powerful narcotic fentanyl from California to the Chicago suburbs and illegally possessing guns that were used during drug trafficking activities.

Brown has been in police custody since his arrest in 2019.

His sentencing is scheduled for May 28.

It’s a girl! Shedd Aquarium names newest rockhopper penguin Isla

2023-11-30T16:42:09.877-06:00

Isla, the newly named rockhopper penguin, has joined the larger penguin colony at the Shedd Aquarium. She’s the first rockhopper penguin to hatch at the Shedd in eight years.

Shedd Aquarium

It’s a girl!

The Shedd Aquarium has officially introduced Isla, the newly named rockhopper penguin that hatched in June.

Isla was the first rockhopper penguin to hatch at the aquarium in eight years. She officially joined the colony in October and after a blood draw, the animal care team determined she’s a female.

Her name, Isla, is representative of the many islands off South America’s coast where the birds live and find their food, the aquarium said.

The Shedd Aquarium’s newest rockhopper penguin gets a checkup in July. Her parents, Edward and Annie, became famous for doing filmed “field trips” during the pandemic.

Associated Press

Though she is still considered a juvenile, she has reached her full size and has begun to swim independently, shed her downy fluff for waterproof feathers and joined the full penguin colony, the aquarium said.

Rockhopper penguin chick at Shedd joins full colony, takes first dip

Visitors can visit Isla and her parents, Edward and Annie, in the Polar Play Zone.

Chicago cop relieved of powers, charged with filing false robbery report

2023-11-30T15:56:54.842-06:00

Adobe Stock Photo

A Chicago police officer was relieved of police powers after making a false robbery report, police said Thursday.

Zondranika Williams, 37, who allegedly claimed she was robbed in the 8000 block of South Wabash Avenue in the Chatham neighborhood on Sept. 23, surrendered herself Tuesday, Chicago police said in a statement.

Williams was charged with one count of disorderly conduct — false report of offense, police said.

No other details were available.

Chicago man charged with robbing U.S. mail carriers at gunpoint in Forest Park

2023-11-30T13:22:15.83-06:00

Devan Flax, of Chicago, is accused of robbing two U.S. mail carriers in Forest Park.

Adobe Stock Photo

A Chicago man is facing charges in two armed robberies of mail carriers in suburban Forest Park.

Devan Flax, 20, was arrested Tuesday. Flax allegedly robbed a mail carrier Sunday in the 900 block of Beloit Avenue and another on Tuesday in the 1100 block of Beloit Avenue, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said.

Forest Park Police found Flax in possession of stolen U.S. mail, officials said. Officers also recovered stolen postal keys and a gun that he attempted to get rid of immediately prior to his arrest.

He is facing two counts of armed robbery, one count of aggravated robbery, and three counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.

“This operation is a successful example of the role the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and our law enforcement partners play in seeking and attaining justice on behalf of Postal Service employees and customers,” said Ruth M. Mendonça, inspector in charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Boy, 16, shot, wounded walking to school in North Lawndale

2023-11-28T20:08:33.699-06:00

Chicago Police Department | Sun-Times file photo

Sun-Times file photo

Dana Pulliam rushed her youngest son out Monday morning so he could make it to school on time after the long holiday break.

Minutes later, the 16-year-old called his mom to say that he had been shot.

“I heard the shots like five minutes after he had left, and then he was calling me screaming saying he was shot,” Pulliam said. “I ran right across to the school, and when I got there they were applying pressure to his wound.”

The teenager was walking through Douglass Park and had almost made it to North Lawndale College Prep on the West Side when shots were fired from a passing black Ford Explorer about 9:30 a.m. near the 1200 block of South Albany Avenue, Chicago police said.

The teen had gunshot wounds to the left ring finger and right thigh, officials said.

North Lawndale College Prep officials said a group of students were in the area and fled when the shots were fired.

Most kids ran into the school, including the boy who was shot, officials said. Staff called an ambulance, police said, and he was listed in good condition at Mount Sinai Hospital.

The school went on a soft lockdown, and administrators worked with Chicago Public Schools officials to bring in more social workers and counselors to support students. The school also increased the police and security presence outside the campus.

Pulliam said this is the third time one of her children has been hurt in a drive-by shooting. Her oldest son, now 20, was wounded when he was only 7 years old and then again at 17.

“To have this happen to me for a third time, I’m emotional and I’m traumatized,” she said.

Pulliam said police told her they had a suspect in custody Monday night, but no charges had been filed.

Her son’s back was turned during the shooting, and he was able to describe the vehicle but not the shooter, she said.

“He’s hurt physically and mentally, but he’s OK,” Pulliam said.

The shooting is the latest in a spate of incidents near Chicago schools the past few years.

An analysis by WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times showed a spike in fatal shootings near schools in 2022, when nine children were killed on a weekday in the hours that students head home — between 2 and 4:49 p.m. That does not count a 17-year-old Kenwood Academy student who was killed while on his lunch break or a shooting outside Schurz High School that left a teenager critically hurt.

The city reeled from a shooting on school grounds last December, when two boys were killed and two other teens wounded outside Benito Juarez Community Academy just after classes let out for the day.

Schools citywide have tried to help students deescalate conflicts and heal from the severe trauma that gun violence causes. At North Lawndale College Prep, a group of students called the Peace Warriors have worked to resist and prevent violence by learning nonviolence techniques to prevent fights, break them up and start peace circles to help students through difficult times.

Metra adds holiday train to Union Pacific North rail line

2023-11-27T18:13:54.003-06:00

Tickets for Metra’s added holiday trains on the Union Pacific North line will go on sale Thursday.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times file

Metra has added a sixth holiday train to run in mid-December featuring Santa and Mrs. Claus.

That means on specific Saturdays in December, special holiday trains will run across six rail lines — including Metra Electric, BNSF, Milwaukee District West, Rock Island, Union Pacific Northwest and the newly included Union Pacific North, Metra said in a statement.

Tickets to the Union Pacific North holiday train, which is scheduled to run on Dec. 16, cost $5 and will go on sale at 7 a.m. Thursday.

Tickets to the other five rail lines sold out in less than a day, Metra said.

The newest holiday train will begin with an inbound trip to Chicago from Waukegan at 11:10 a.m. on Dec. 16, Metra said. It will make stops at Great Lakes, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Highland Park, Ravinia, Glencoe, Winnetka, Wilmette, Central St., Davis St., Main St., Rogers Park and Ravenswood before arriving at a decorated Ogilvie Transportation Center at 12:30 p.m.

The holiday train will depart from Ogilvie at 1:35 p.m., Metra said. Riders can return to their starting point on that train or they can stay downtown and use their ticket to ride back on any other train scheduled that day.

The already sold-out holiday trains are scheduled to run on different Saturdays, depending on the line. The Metra Electric features holiday trains this Saturday and Dec. 16. The BNSF and Milwaukee District West holiday trains only run this Saturday. The Rock Island and Union Pacific Northwest holiday trains run Dec. 9.

Police searching for attacker in West Town sex assault

2023-11-22T10:23:26.245-06:00

Chicago police are searching for a suspect in a sexual assault that occurred Nov. 16 in the 2400 block of West Superior Street.

Chicago police

Police are still searching for the attacker in connection with a sexual assault in the West Town neighborhood late last week.

A woman had just walked away from a bus stop around 5 p.m. Thursday when a man followed her and pulled her into a gangway in the 2400 block of West Superior Street, Chicago police said.

The attacker pushed her against a flight of stairs and began taking his clothes off, police said. As he attempted to pull her clothes off, she began to scream for help. A nearby citizen heard her screams and chased him away.

In a community alert, police said they were looking for a “disheveled and dirty” man who was Black, stood between 5-foot-4 and 5-foot-7, and has short black hair. He was wearing a beige fleece sweater with a green “half-front” and beige sleeves, blue jeans and white high-top gym shoes.

Anyone with information is asked to call Area 3 detectives at 312-744-8261.

2 children found stabbed in Lisle home; 1 in custody

2023-11-21T13:56:38.948-06:00

Adobe stock photo

Two children were hospitalized after they were stabbed in their home last week in suburban Lisle.

Their father called police around 5:45 p.m. Friday and said a woman, who police say was known to the father, was inside his home in the 1900 block of Matson Lane with a knife and his children were covered in blood, the Lisle Police Department said in a statement.

The children, 1 and 4 years old, suffered stab wounds and were taken to a nearby hospital in stable condition, police said.

Officers arrested the woman, who was taken in for questioning.

“This is an active investigation, but there is no threat to the community at this time,” Lisle Chief of Police Kevin Licko said.

No other details were immediately available.

Fund set up for family of man fatally beaten outside House of Blues: ‘He was a very fine son’

2023-11-20T18:42:40.269-06:00

Andrew Hulburt and his parents, Anita and Paul Hulburt.

GoFundMe

Money is being raised for funeral expenses for Andrew Hulburt, who was fatally attacked outside the House of Blues last week.

Kris Decklever, a childhood friend of Hulburt, has set up a GoFundMe campaign. The money will be used for transportation, burial and headstone expenses.

“Drew was the kindest person I’d ever met,” Decklever wrote on the page. “Growing up he was a friend to everyone and one of my best friends.”

Hulburt, 47, who lives on the Northwest Side, was outside the venue, 329 N. Dearborn St., when two men asked him for money about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, Chicago police said.

One of the men punched Hulburt, and officers later found him unresponsive on the sidewalk with a head injury. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The cause of death is pending.

“It has all been very difficult. He was a very fine son,” his mother, Anita Hulburt, told the Sun-Times.

There were no updates from detectives about arrests.

1 dead after freight train, semitruck collide in Back of the Yards rail yard

2023-11-20T17:54:28.372-06:00

A person died Monday when a freight train backed into a FedEx semitruck in Back of the Yards, fire officials said.

ABC7 Chicago

A man was killed after a freight train backed into a FedEx semi in Back of the Yards on Monday morning.

The collision happened about 6:30 a.m. in the Norfolk Southern rail yard at 350 W. Garfield Ave., Chicago police said.

La Voz Sidebar 2023

Lea este artículo en español en La Voz Chicago.

Firefighters arrived at the scene and began to extricate the 29-year-old truck driver. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police and Chicago Fire Department officials said.

“Norfolk Southern is aware of an incident involving a truck driver at our 47th Street intermodal facility in Chicago Monday morning. Our thoughts are with their family and colleagues during this difficult time. We are working with first responders to fully investigate the incident,” Norfolk Southern said in a statement.

FedEx referred all questions about the crash to Norfolk Southern.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration did not return calls seeking comment. The Federal Railroad Administration said it will not be investigating the incident as it didn’t meet its criteria for an investigation.

The fire department did have not have more details.

350 west Garfield Norfolk and Southern rail yard. A freight train has struck a semi Semi was stopped on tracks on rail property updated information indicates we have a fatality CFD is making recovery. (Langford)
— Chicago Fire Media (@CFDMedia) November 20, 2023