(Tribune) Wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the city of Chicago flag, Donta Lucas described some considerable troubles he has faced in his 34 years — growing up in the tough Cabrini-Green public housing development and later being homeless. But what he was not, Lucas told reporters Tuesday in a halting voice, was a gang member.…
(WGN) The Chicago Crime Commission is unveiling a new street-gang book that’ll serve as a guide for regional police and others keeping tabs on gangs. The official release of the 2018 Gang Book on Tuesday is the first time since 2012 the crime-prevention group has released a new Gang Book. The Associated Press obtained advanced…
(ABC) Lamanta Reese lived much of his gang life in virtual reality, posting videos on YouTube of him and others taunting rivals. He died at age 19 in the real world, bleeding from his head onto a porch on Chicago’s South Side after one of those gang rivals, prosecutors say, shot him 11 times. Another…
(Sun Times Wire) Federal prosecutors in Chicago escalated their assault on the Almighty Latin King Nation on Thursday, revealing a new 20-count indictment that lays six murders dating back to 1999 at the feet of the violent street gang. The new 53-page document also adds 14 new defendants to a prosecution that began in summer…
(Sun Times Wire) Prosecutors on Monday compared the six square blocks of the West Side controlled by the Black Souls to technology behemoth Apple Inc., while defense lawyers said the street gang was simply a “random collection of dudes.” The stark difference in the interpretation of nine weeks of trial testimony was to be expected,…
(Sun Times Wire) Federal prosecutors have “hundreds” of hours of wiretap recordings collected during the investigation of 11 men identified as members of the brutal Four Corner Hustlers street gang who were indicted in a sweeping racketeering and murder conspiracy in September. Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Salib said at a court hearing Friday that the…
(Sun Times Wire) Federal prosecutors announced a sweeping racketeering indictment against a Chicago street gang late Thursday afternoon, tying nine Four Corner Hustlers to a decades-long conspiracy that led to the murders of six people. Labar “Bro Man” Spann is accused of participating in all six slayings, including the June 2003 murder of Latin Kings…
(Sun Times Wire) Gregory “Bowlegs” Chester “embraced the murder and mayhem” wreaked over a decade by the Hobos street gang. He “contributed to the carnage,” U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp said. And he cannot wash his hands of the blood spilled amid the gang’s reign of terror in Chicago. Still, the judge stopped short…
(Chicago Tribune) A West Garfield Park man who was found on a Lakeview CTA platform with a loaded AK-47 rifle strapped to his chest tried to conceal the weapon by wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, authorities said Sunday. Jordan Watkins, 29, was arrested Saturday morning and ordered held on $150,000 bond Sunday by Judge Maria…
Federal and local authorities have charged nearly 50 members or associates of the Gangster Two-Six Nation street gang accused of dealing guns and drugs on Chicago’s South Side and surrounding suburbs. The investigation, dubbed “Operation Bunny Trap” in a nod to the gang’s rabbit symbol, uncovered gun and drug dealing inside a pizza parlor in…
Fear Me” read the sticker with an image of a skeletal, scythe-wielding figure on the back of Roberto Cerda’s 1991 Mercury Grand Marquis. The image was of La Santa Muerte — Holy Death or Saint Death — a female deity meant to provide protection and deliverance to the afterlife. Cerda, 30, had built a shrine…
Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th) was placed under guard Monday by the Chicago Police Department after a street gang made a “credible threat” against him, sources said. Over the past week, Lopez has angrily voiced his opposition to the street gangs suspected of several high-profile shootings in his Southwest Side ward, including two officers who were…
Keith Daniels’ girlfriend told jurors she saw only one shooter the night Daniels was executed in front of his family for snitching on Chicago’s so-called “super gang,” the Hobos. The ambush began when Daniels and his family returned home from dinner in Dolton in April 2013. A masked gunman stepped out from behind a shrub…
More than 50 people are facing federal or state charges for their roles in selling heroin and cocaine on the West Side, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. A joint federal and state task force uncovered suspects participating in a narcotics-distribution organization in the North Lawndale neighborhood run by members of the Traveling Vice Lords…
A federal judge cut in half the prison sentence of a notorious Chicago street gang leader. Chicago gang leader Alex Somarriba has learned the valuable lesson that when dealing with federal prosecutors, it sometimes pays to play. When Somarriba was arrested in 2014, he offered up some information about some of the dozen murders that…
Federal prosecutors in Chicago say dozens of alleged street gang members have been arrested on state and federal charges connected to the sale of drugs that resulted in fatal overdoses. Authorities said the arrests early Thursday were the result of a joint investigation called Operation Sweet Dreams by the Chicago Police Department, the U.S. Drug…
Federal prosecutors are seeking a maximum 10-year prison sentence for Thaddeus “T.J.” Jimenez, who became a multimillionaire in a wrongful conviction lawsuit against the city and went on to become a ruthless Chicago gang leader. Jimenez has pleaded guilty to possessing a gun illegally in 2015. He and a sidekick, Jose Roman, were riding in…
A gang member wanted for armed robbery and vehicular hijacking in the north suburbs was captured Friday in Detroit. Timothy R. Adams, 34, was wanted on a $500,000 warrant for armed robbery and vehicular hijacking in Waukegan, and a $200,000 warrant for unlawful possession of a controlled substance in Lake County, according to the Lake…
Chicago Police have struck back at known, violent offenders in a series of raids on the city’s South and West sides. Dozens of convicted felons were taken into custody Friday and police are promising more to come. Police are also crediting a new technology initiative with helping identify many of their suspects. Police targeted their…
