Nice Job Sarge

Right place at the right time:

• An off-duty Chicago police sergeant spoke exclusively with ABC7 after helping rescue four people from a sinking boat on Lake Michigan after spotting a distress signal through dense fog over the weekend.

  Sgt. Christoria King said she was on a holiday boating retreat late Saturday night when she noticed a flickering light in the distance amid heavy fog near 31st Street Harbor and Beach.

  "The fog was so thick, you could not see in front of you," King said. Despite the limited visibility, King said a call for help carried across the water. "I saw the flickering light again, and I'm, like, 'Somebody's in distress,'" she said.

She and her friends ended up rescuing four people before the boat sank.

Well done. 

Quick Guilty Plea

We'll say this was the fastest conviction plea we can remember:

• The woman federally charged after buying the gun used in the Swedish Hospital shooting, which killed a Chicago police officer and wounded another, has pleaded guilty.

  Back in late April, Olivia Burgos, 23, of LaPorte, was charged with making a material false statement in acquisition of a firearm.

  The documents state that Burgos bought a Glock 29, 10 millimeter pistol from Range USA in Merrillville on May 27, 2024.

  A chaotic scene unfolded on the North Side on the morning of April 25. CPD officer John Bartholomew, who was a 10-year veteran of the police department, and his partner brought Alphonso Talley to Swedish Hospital after he was taken into custody for an attempted robbery.

  Talley asked to be checked out at the hospital. Before a CT scan, police said Talley pulled out a gun and shot both officers. Bartholomew, 38, died as a result and the other officer made a recovery.

Um....we don't think he's "made a recovery." Not even close.

This quick plea deal hints at a cooperative witness, but it sounds like she pled to the Federal charge. Is she still facing any State charges?

Can a Federal plea deal be used as leverage in a State murder case? The shooter wasn't charged Federally, was he?

Good News

You can defend yourself is someone tries to take your gun:

• Chicago’s police oversight agency has cleared a police officer who fatally shot a man after he tried to rob her of her firearm during an off-duty encounter outside her Washington Heights home, according to newly released records.

  Video footage released by city officials showed that on the afternoon of January 18, 2023, a group of men and 39-year-old Leevon Smith walked down the 1300 block of West 90th Street, past the apartment building where Probationary CPD Officer [...] lived. About a block away, out of camera range, the men punched and kicked Smith while he was on the ground, until a witness yelled at them to stop, according to COPA. Smith then followed the group as they walked back up the street toward [...]’s building.

  Hearing the commotion, [...] stepped out of her apartment building, and Smith asked to use her phone, COPA said. That’s when the three men approached her, with one warning that they would beat her if she gave her phone to Smith, according to the agency. Video showed [...] fending off the group until they left.

But one came back, grabbed the PPO's arm and tried to take her gun, which proved to be a costly mistake as she shot him twice, ending the threat and the drain on taxpayer wallets.

Nice to see COPA get one correct. 

More of This

Truer now than ever before:

Probably very true in this case:

• Three masked “yutes” learned a painful lesson aboard a CTA bus Saturday night: not every victim goes quietly. Chicago police said the trio tried to rob a 54-year-old man riding a northbound Ashland bus near 57th Street around 11:22 p.m. But instead of handing over his valuables, the man allegedly pulled a knife from his bag and fought back, leaving two of the robbers nursing their injuries in police custody.

  According to a CPD media statement, the three male offenders approached the man and demanded his property while aboard the bus. Investigators said they began taking items from him, including a chain necklace that was later recovered from one of the suspects. That’s when the victim decided he wasn’t going down without a fight.

  Police said the man reached into his bag, pulled out a “sharp object,” and struggled with the robbers. During the melee, the suspects battered the victim before fleeing the bus.

  Officers were initially dispatched after a panic alarm from the bus generated a “person with a knife” call. But as they investigated, they learned that three ski mask-wearing teenagers had targeted the passenger and gotten more resistance than they expected. Police recovered a knife at the scene.

Good thing there weren't any "No Knives" signs on the bus!

But if we ever take a CTA bus again.... 

Small Measure of Justice

Thirty-five years for Attempted Murder:

• A man who shot a Chicago police officer in the face in Lincoln Park and then yelled, “You will die!” pleaded guilty Monday to attempted murder and was sentenced to 35 years in prison, court records show.

  [...] At one point, prosecutors said, McPherson ripped an officer’s COVID-19 mask off and grabbed the officer in a bear hug.

  McPherson then moved into the parking lot, sat inside the woman’s car with the door open, and allegedly told an officer, “I got a gun, too.”

  “What? You want to fight?” McPherson allegedly asked the officer as body-worn camera footage recorded the encounter. “I’m not leaving. This is a good a** gun, too, b****.” After an officer alerted others that McPherson was armed, McPherson allegedly responded, “Y’all not going to get this. I’m too strong for this s***.”

  Prosecutors said McPherson then pulled a handgun from beneath his legs and pointed it at the first officer, who could see directly down the barrel of the weapon. The officer grabbed the gun and pushed it away from his face. Two shots were fired, and one bullet struck the officer in the cheek, causing a through-and-through wound.

Literally, inches away from death.

He'll serve 85% of the sentence (29.75 years) but probably gets credit for the five years spent in custody. 

More Vigilantes Please

We're enjoying this more than you can imagine:

• Chicago police say a man sexually assaulted a woman as she walked through the Loop on Friday afternoon, but the attack took an unexpected turn when another woman allegedly stabbed the assailant in the eye before officers arrived. A second man who intervened in the confrontation was also cut during the chaos, according to police.

  Crime scene tape surrounded the entrance to theWit Hotel at 201 North State Street, where the attack unfolded shortly after 4 p.m., according to witnesses.

  Police said a 24-year-old woman was walking on the sidewalk when a 31-year-old man sexually assaulted her. The suspect then became involved in a physical altercation with a 25-year-old man who intervened, CPD said. As the two men fought, a 36-year-old woman at the scene allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed the suspected assailant in his right eye. She also cut the other man on his left wrist, according to police.

We're going to go out on a limb here and say the guy who got cut across the wrist was probably a Good Samaritan who got in the way of the woman wielding the knife. If true, maybe he'll refuse to cooperate and everyone can just agree the shitbag who got stabbed in the eye is the only offender.

Hopefully, the first of many instances for the Summer of 2026 - the year Chicagoans just got fed up. 

 

An Intelligent Judge?

We weren't sure they existed in Cook County any more, but evidently, there's one:

• A Chicago judge denied a request to appoint a special prosecutor for investigations into federal agent misconduct during Operation Midway Blitz last fall.

  A group of hundreds of politicians, community activists and religious leaders had asked for a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of misconduct against U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration Enforcement agents during the federal immigration crackdown in Chicago.

  They argued Cook County State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke worked too closely with federal agencies to bring cases against them, and had abandoned her duty to investigate the actions of federal immigration agents.

  O'Neill Burke denied any conflict of interest, and her team argued, "Illinois law simply does not permit prosecutors to initiate criminal investigations and bring prosecutions because the general public and elected officials would like them to."

  The judge ruled the petitioners did not prove the state's attorney abandoned her duty to investigate federal agents, nor did they prove she had a conflict of interest. The judge said an allegation of a relationship with law enforcement is not enough to establish a conflict of interest.

Amusingly, the entire article doesn't mention the judges name even once. There's an embedded link to a previous story that names the judge - Erica Reddick - but we guess the "reporters" don't want it know that there is an actual judge following actual Law and recognizing that Cook County pretty much has zero authority to investigate and prosecute Federal agents.

Not that we would even recommend voting for a judge in Cook County, but we'd recommend cutting her a break for traffic violations or something. 

Vigilantes Spotted!

Locally this time:

• A man accused of shoving a woman onto CTA tracks at the Cicero Blue Line station ended up on a stretcher himself after outraged bystanders allegedly jumped him, threw him onto the tracks, and beat him before police arrived, according to court records and a Chicago police report.

  Prosecutors said 44-year-old Robert Rhodes-Chambers attacked a 43-year-old woman on the platform around 11:30 p.m. on May 10. He allegedly punched her in the back of the neck and shoulder with his fists before pushing her onto the tracks.

  A CPD report said the attack was captured on CTA security cameras. The woman suffered pain to her knee, ankle, right shoulder, and head, according to the report.

  But before officers could get to the station, two witnesses allegedly turned on Rhodes-Chambers.

The offender was himself tossed onto the tracks, then beaten by the "witnesses."

No where in the article does it give a description of the "witnesses" and no where does it say anyone is in custody....and we certainly hope it remains that way. No one should be looking too hard for these "witnesses."

And in the unlikely event anyone sees any "Seeking Information...." posters around the Blue Line, remember to properly dispose of said garbage, kind of like these "witnesses" disposed of their garbage.

UPDATE: Is word filtering down to the crooked judges to start holding CTA criminals accountable?

• A menace who brutally attacked women on the CTA trains across the city for several months in 2024 received a nine-year prison sentence on Tuesday, according to court records. Darryl Alexander, 35, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of aggravated battery and one count of criminal damage to government property in exchange for the sentence from Judge Anjana Hansen.

  Prosecutors charged Alexander with attacking five women on the city’s transit system between August 1 and October 8, 2024, crimes he allegedly committed while on probation for attempting to rob another woman on a train downtown.

But...but...we can't "jail" our way out of this situation!

Except that Darryl won't be attacking women on the train for at least three years now. Too bad he won't run into a few of these "witnesses" for some even more effective justice. 

Can We Get This Here?

Good news at the national level:

• The Justice Department will adopt firing squads as a permitted method of execution as the Trump administration moves to ramp up and expedite capital punishment cases, officials said Friday.

  The Justice Department is also reauthorizing the use of single-drug lethal injections with pentobarbital that were used to carry out 13 executions during the first Trump administration — more than under any president in modern history. The Biden administration had removed pentobarbital from the federal protocol over concerns about the potential for unnecessary pain and suffering.

Um...who cares if a federally convicted felon experiences a moment or two of pain on their way out the door? Do you have any idea what pain they must have inflicted on members of the public to even merit a Federal Death Penalty?

Besides, who are they going to complain to? Satan? 

Do you know how long THAT line is to see the Dark Prince himself?

NYPD Sgt Out on Appeal

The sergeant with the "cooler conviction" was granted what the courts have given to every actual criminal - the ability to be free while appealing:

• NEW YORK CITY - The former New York City police sergeant sentenced to three to nine years in prison for tossing a picnic cooler full of drinks at a fleeing suspect, who then crashed his motorized scooter and died, has been granted bail pending appeal. That's according to attorney Arthur Aidala.

  Judge Saliann Scarpulla, of the mid-level Appellate Division, ordered Erik Duran freed on $300,000 cash or bond and said he must surrender his passport to his lawyers, who will keep it until his appeal is over.

  "This is a major win for Erik and his family and for law enforcement officers around the country," said Vincent Vallelong, the president of Duran’s union, the Sergeants Benevolent Association.

There was absolutely ZERO intent to cause death or bodily harm - the criminal was driving a motorbike down a crowded sidewalk while attempting to escape, endangering many people. If he was running and got tackled or tripped into a tree, we doubt this would have even been an issue.

Why a bench trial was chosen in lib-tarded New York, where the judge's anti-police bias would play an oversized role is still a head-scratcher.

Good News

The Lil Homicide civil trial isn't happening for now:

• The family of Adam Toledo, the 13-year-old shot and killed by Chicago police in Little Village in 2021, has moved to voluntarily dismiss their wrongful death lawsuit.

  Attorneys for the family filed the motion in court Friday morning.

  Toledo was killed during a foot chase in 2021.

Obviously, the family is judge-shopping because (we're told) that most of the motions being made before trial are being denied or modified against the family, first and foremost being the claim by the lawyers that the witness list would be eighty or ninety names long.

The trouble was, there weren't eighty or ninety witnesses to the shooting - there were ZERO aside from the cops and the body cam video which showed Lil Homicide running with the gun and then popping out of hiding before being justifiably sent to his eternal damnation. 

You can't have people who weren't there testifying to things they never actually....you know....witnesses. The fact that he and his fresh gang tattoos were out after curfew with another felon shooting at passing vehicles was kind of inconvenient to the case, so the family didn't want any of that mentioned either.

They have a year to refile, but those rulings will follow the case no matter where it ends up. 

Nice Shot Citizen

Another happy ending!

• A licensed concealed carry holder shot and killed a man who broke into his home and charged at him early Monday, a shooting that occurred inside a home directly across the street from a Chicago Police Department district station.

  The 33-year-old concealed carry license holder called 911 at 1:24 a.m. and told dispatchers he had shot an intruder inside his home in the 2200 block of East 103rd Street and had already begun performing CPR on the man, who had suffered a gunshot wound to the chest. His home is across the street from the South Chicago (4th) District station.

  Officers arrived and took over lifesaving measures, but the intruder, who remained a “John Doe” as of Monday evening, was pronounced dead at 1:43 a.m.

The homeowner isn't required to attempt life saving measures?

Who would have thought?!? 

Let's get this homeowner a box of ammo. 

Crime Solved!

Not only was the crime solved, but many future crimes were prevented at the same instant!

• A 27-year-old man shot and killed a 16-year-old who tried to rob him at gunpoint on Wednesday afternoon on the Far South Side, according to police.

  According to preliminary information, the man is a licensed concealed carry holder who was working in the area of the 11700 block of South Normal when the boy approached him around 3:36 p.m. CPD said the 16-year-old tried to take unspecified property from the man while displaying a firearm.

  The man drew his own firearm and shot the 16-year-old in the chest, police said.

  Officers responding to the scene administered CPR in an attempt to save the boy, but he was pronounced dead after being transported to Christ Hospital.

Did anyone ever decide to run with that program where a successful Concealed Carrier shooting was rewarded with a free box of ammo?

Good News on Two Fronts

So Police are still allowed to shoot people attempting to commit murder:

• Chicago police officers who fatally shot a man as he stabbed a victim in the middle of a busy West Side street in May 2024 have been cleared of wrongdoing, according to documents released by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.

  The incident occurred late on May 27, 2024, in the 300 block of South Cicero Avenue, where Tracey Watson, 35, was shot and killed by officers as he stood over a victim making stabbing motions.

  According to COPA’s findings, a witness flagged down two officers to report that Watson was chasing their friend with a knife. The officers spotted the men nearby and attempted to engage them. From their patrol car, one officer ordered Watson to drop his knife, but Watson ignored the command and continued advancing toward the victim, COPA concluded.

  As officers stood nearby, the victim fell to the pavement, attempting to protect himself while Watson stood over him making stabbing motions. The officers “verbally directed [Watson] to drop the knife several times, and [Watson] failed to do so,” COPA said in a written summary report.

And an actual miracle - cops aren't responsible for gravity killing uncoordinated morons!

• A Chicago police officer has been cleared of wrongdoing in a foot chase that ended with the pursued man falling, suffering a fatal head injury, and later dying in June 2024, according to a newly released report.

  Community activists rallied around the death of 22-year-old David Curry, with Black Lives Matter Chicago labeling the incident a “police crime” and saying Curry’s life was “cut short” as he “ran for his life.” But documents released Thursday night by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability show the agency found that the officer involved did not violate department policy.

  [...] One officer got out of the squad car to chase Curry on foot. COPA said Curry continued running, turned, and collided with the cop. The force sent him falling backward, and he struck his head on what investigators described as an uneven concrete slab. The officer told COPA that his hands were raised in front of him to grab Curry’s shirt when Curry suddenly turned, causing the collision. Investigators said video evidence and other information supported the officer’s account.

Good thing no one had to call Use of Force "expert" Larritorious.

CCL for the Win

Sadly, he only wounded one of the offenders:

• A licensed concealed carry holder shot an armed man who tried to rob him early Tuesday morning on the Northwest Side, according to Chicago police, and officers tracked one of the suspects to his home by following a trail of blood.

  It happened around 2:40 a.m. in the 5200 block of West Montana Street, police said.

  Officers responded to calls of shots fired and learned that a 39-year-old man was exiting his vehicle when two men approached him on foot, police said. One of those men pulled out a firearm and demanded the victim’s belongings, according to CPD.

  The victim, who is licensed to carry a concealed firearm, drew his own gun and fired shots at the would-be robbers, police said. One of the suspects was struck multiple times in the legs, according to police.

Better luck next time Citizen!

Nice Pinch

One of those long-term investigations that seem kind of rare nowadays:

• Chicago police recovered $4 million worth of suspected narcotics and multiple firearms during a six-month investigation.

  The investigation, which concluded earlier this month, focused on narcotics being trafficked in Chicago and the suburbs. Officers served a search warrant on Jan. 10 at the home of a convicted felon involved in narcotics trafficking.

  During the search, officers recovered various suspected narcotics with an estimated value of $4.3 million, five firearms and about $54,000 in cash, according to CPD.

But only one arrest? He's charged with about fourteen different felonies, so he's probably already home in his own bed.

Still a nice arrest. 

Good News, but....

This is good to see:

• Police deaths on the job fell 25% in 2025 to 111, an 80-year low not seen since World War II.

  The number of law enforcement professionals nationwide who died in 2025 declined by a quarter compared to the same time period last year, according to preliminary data provided by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

  The NLEOMF data shows that 111 federal, state, county, municipal, and U.S. Territories officers died in the line of duty in 2025. That's a 25% decrease compared to the 148 officers who died in 2024, according to the organization.

Part of this is undoubtedly better emergency medical treatment. It's a driving force behind less homicide fatalities over time.

Another part is less anti-police rhetoric being driven by democrats and the media. Americans generally like and appreciate safer communities and that means working with police.

But another part might be police disengagement, especially in blue-state blue-city $hitholes where homicides are down (reflecting a national trend) but property crimes and similar crimes are up. You have an entire generation of cops who have been ordered not to chase, not to confront, not to enforce wide swaths of the actual Law. 

If that's what society wants....

Discuss. 

Ninety-One Years

A good start:

• Jeffon Williams, who shot two Chicago police officers during a 2020 traffic stop, later telling an investigator, “F*** that officer, I hope he dies,” has been sentenced to 91 years in prison.

  A jury convicted Williams on August 14 of nine felony counts, including multiple charges of attempted murder, and Judge Steven Watkins on Monday handed down his punishment: two consecutive 45-year prison terms for the attempted murders and a consecutive one-year sentence for unlawful use of a weapon. Williams must serve 85% of the attempted murder sentences.

  Williams was 19 years old when he shot two CPD officers in Homan Square early on August 30, 2020. At the time of the shooting, he was on bail for pending burglary and stolen motor vehicle cases. 

Eighty-five percent works out to roughly 77 years. If they count back from the date of the shooting, he'll be ninety-six....pending a democrat governor pardoning him after everyone who remembers is retired or deceased.

Nice Job Sarge

Above (literally) and beyond:

 

Mentally ill subject on the roof, CFD shows up, but it isn't for them to confront someone armed with a knife on a roof - they're just there to pick up the pieces after he hits the ground.

So Sarge goes up, talks him into ditching the knife, and then sits up with him for a bit, talking and enjoying the sunny weather before the subject finally decides it's probably quieter on the ground....

Or something like that. We don't have all the details. But we're pretty sure this isn't in any job description - it's just something cops do, day in and day out with little to no recognition, because that's what we do.

Nice job....and anyone with the details, post them in the comments. 

Don't Look Now....

We've been doing a bit of driving lately:

• gas prices in suburban Costco were $2.92 the other day
• in Indiana, under $2.75 a gallon
• in Wisconsin, $2.54 
• our Thanksgiving turkey - $0.60 per pound
• our Christmas ham - $0.59 per pound (spiral cut was $0.99)

And jobless claims just hit a three year low. 

Things aren't perfect, but they're definitely looking better than last year. 

Hell, the last few years.