Crime & Law
Prosecutors said William Kohles was upset over crime rates in Chicago when he allegedly wrote a threatening message to Mayor Lori Lightfoot in which he claimed he would shoot the mayor.
Jay Bollyn, 69, was arrested on hate crime charges and ordered held on a $100,000 D-bond during a court hearing Tuesday. He must post $10,000 to be released from custody.
Postal carrier Aundre Cross was shot and killed Friday in Milwaukee while delivering mail. In a separate case, a man in late October received numerous felony charges, including aggravated kidnapping and attempted aggravated sexual assault of a postal carrier in the Little Village neighborhood.
A new report from the University of Chicago Law School’s Federal Criminal Justice Clinic shows that locking up pretrial defendants has become the norm in federal court, rather than the exception, as required by law.
The Chicago Police Department on Monday evening issued a community alert notifying residents on the city’s North and West sides after at least 50 armed robberies have been carried out between Dec. 7 and Dec. 10.
Edwin Lagunas, 18, has been arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted murder and an additional count of aggravated battery with a firearm stemming from the Nov. 20 shooting that left Ruby Navarrete and Lynner Hawkins dead.
According to Chicago Police Department data, 20 people were shot in 17 separate shooting incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday. That included a triple homicide following a fight at a bar in the 5500 block of West School Street.
The Chicago Archdiocese released a letter Saturday saying that a review board found “no reason to suspect” that the Rev. Michael Pfleger was guilty of the allegations. Pfleger had stepped away from his duties as pastor of St. Sabina Church in October during the review.
In less than a month, Illinois will become the first state in the nation where those arrested for crimes will not have the option of paying cash bail. Instead, whether someone stays in jail as they await trial will be based on a series of metrics used by judges.
Cook County prosecutors are enacting new changes to an existing search warrant policy this month, with an aim at improving communication and accountability while eliminating mistaken raids at incorrect locations.
“So happy to have Brittney back on U.S. soil. Welcome home BG!” tweeted Roger Carstens, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs.
U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois John Lausch on the high-profile cases his office is currently working through.
Bryon Ortega, 19, was charged this week with aggravated criminal sexual abuse, criminal sexual assault and two child pornography-related charges after he allegedly abused two high school students.
“She’s safe, she’s on a plane, she’s on her way home,” President Biden said from the White House, where he was accompanied by Brittney Griner’s wife, Cherelle, and administration officials.
The dispute over the future of the gang database represents the first clash between the Police Department’s leaders and the commission made up of Chicagoans given the authority to set policy for the department in an attempt to restore trust in its operations.
The changes approved last week by Democratic members of the General Assembly is the fourth follow-up bill to the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today Act, or SAFE-T Act.