Stories by Matt Masterson

It was expected that during the first week of the longtime 14th Ward alderperson’s landmark racketeering trial a 12-person jury would be seated, opening arguments would be given and witness testimony would begin. Instead, none of those things happened.

The four former Commonwealth Edison officials convicted this year for their efforts to bribe ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan are seeking to push back their sentencing dates, but federal prosecutors claim there’s “no good reason” to do so.

Officer Craig Lancaster, an active member of the Chicago Police Department, has reportedly been charged with aggravated battery following a May incident with 14-year-old JaQuwaun Williams outside Gresham Elementary School.

A federal judge this week sentenced 51-year-old Ayanna Nesbitt to one year and one day in prison after she entered a guilty plea to one count of wire fraud.

The selection process, which began slowly Monday morning, has continued at a leisurely pace throughout Tuesday. No jurors have yet been officially seated to hear the case.

According to a statement from the Chicago Police Department, the shooting occurred just before noon Monday in the 7300 block of South Dante Avenue.

Just as proceedings were set to begin, Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart announced that Robert Crimo Jr. had agreed to plead guilty to seven Class A misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct, rather than the seven felony charges he had faced.

With two months left in 2023, Chicago remains on pace for double-digit percentage declines in the number of homicides and shootings recorded in the city as violence crime rates return to pre-pandemic levels.

The bench trial of Robert Crimo Jr. is set to begin Monday in Lake County, more than 16 months after his son — Robert Crimo III — allegedly killed seven people and wounded dozens more during the Highland Park Fourth of July parade.

The independent monitoring team that oversees the CPD’s consent decree implementation published its eighth semi-annual report this week, which found that although the department has reached some level of compliance with 85% of paragraphs, it has only fully complied with 33 out of 552 paragraphs.

William Groves, 48, has been charged with 15 counts of attempted first-degree murder, 15 counts of aggravated battery, 15 counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm in an occupied building and one count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.

Attorneys for Robert Crimo Jr., who is set to go to trial next week on seven counts of reckless conduct, had sought to call his son — alleged parade shooter Robert Crimo III — to testify in his defense.

No one was killed, but two people were listed in critical condition and the other 13 victims were hospitalized in fair or good condition following the shooting that took place at around 1 a.m. Sunday in the 1200 block of South Pulaski Road.

Chicago police on Wednesday announced Mario Munoz, 34, has been arrested and charged with a felony count of arson and a misdemeanor count of criminal damage to property.

Skokie police announced Zevulen Ebert has been charged with two felony battery counts and two felony hate crime counts stemming from an incident at a rally Sunday. 

The first cohort of students in Northwestern University’s Prison Education Program are set to graduate next month, and when they do they’ll be joined by one of the most renowned writers and journalists in the country.

The incident occurred Sunday evening near a banquet hall in Skokie, where about 1,000 people had gathered to show solidarity with Israel, according to event organizers. A group of about 200 pro-Palestinian protesters also staged their own rally near the hall.

Mohammad Reza Baniassadi allegedly conspired to provide fraudulent information to U.S. immigration authorities to obtain benefits for his foreign national clients over the course of seven years.

The victim — who was identified as Damien Green, according to Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office records — was one of 23 total people who were shot in 22 separate shooting incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m. Sunday.

Attorneys for Rylan Wilder announced Thursday their client had settled with the city of Des Plaines, just as they were about to go to trial over claims that the officer’s actions were excessive and represented willful and wanton conduct.

The Englewood native has been Chicago’s top cop for less than a month, but after spending nearly three decades serving in various roles throughout the department, he believes he knows what’s needed to make improvements for his officers and residents throughout the city.

CPS officials said the High School Admissions Test will be held for district students on either Oct. 24 or Oct. 25 for those taking the exam in English. Students testing in Spanish, Arabic, Polish, Urdu or Simplified Chinese will take the HSAT at school on Nov. 1.

According to police, the person initially ignited several sidewalk autumn or Halloween displays along with some street corner garbage cans. The last three fires have been set with decorations on the front porches of homes.

According to Chicago police, two adult men were attempting to walk across the 800 block of North Lake Shore Drive just before 5:30 a.m. The pair were not in a crosswalk, police said, and one of the men was struck by a BMW X-3 that was heading southbound.

The Justice Department on Sunday announced it has opened a federal hate crimes investigation into the fatal stabbing, after 71-year-old Joseph Czuba allegedly stabbed Wadea Al-Fayoume, 6, and his mother, 32-year-old Hanaan Shahin, in a Plainfield Township home.

According to Chicago Police Department data, 21 people were struck by gunfire in 19 separate shooting incidents between 6 p.m. Friday and 11:59 p.m Sunday.