Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Armed robbery, Kenwood and 61st

At 12:15 a.m., Wednesday, January 30, on Kenwood Avenue between 61st and
62nd Streets, a man was walking from his house to his nearby parked
car. He was confronted by another man who got out of a late model, dark
colored, two-door Chevy, displayed a gun, and demanded the victim's
valuables. The victim struggled with the offender for the gun. During
the struggle, a second man got out of the car and fired two gun shots at
the victim, who ran unhurt back to his house. Police are investigating.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Comprehensive listing of recent hyde park crimes

As I have reported before, crime listings in the newspaper indicate only a fraction of crimes reported in Hyde Park. All police reports are aggregated at the Chicago Crime Database, and recently this list has been more conveniently aggregated at Everyblock. Here is a listing of crimes entered in the database between January 15 and today. There is generally a one week delay between the time a crime is reported and its appearance in the database.

Other offense: Missing person 800 block E. 59th St Other offense: Lost property 1500 block E. 53rd St Other offense: Telephone threat 900 block E. 57th St Deceptive practice: Credit card fraud 1500 block E. 53rd St Deceptive practice: Forgery 5700 block S. Maryland Ave Theft: Pocket-picking 5200 block S. Ingleside Ave Other offense: Other vehicle offense 5400 block S. Lake Park Ave Theft: $300 and under 5500 block S. Lake Park Ave Theft: From building 900 block E. Hyde Park Blvd Vandalism: Criminal damage to property 5300 block S. Ingleside Ave Simple battery: Simple 5300 block S. Woodlawn Ave Vandalism: Criminal damage to property 5300 block S. Woodlawn Ave Other offense: Telephone threat 5700 block S. University Ave Theft: From building 5100 block S. Kimbark Ave Deceptive practice: Illegal use of cash card 5100 block S. Harper Ave Vandalism: Criminal damage to property 5400 block S. Ellis Ave Motor vehicle theft: Theft/recovery: automobile 1400 block E. 55th Pl Aggravated assault: Knife/cutting instrument 900 block E. 58th St Criminal trespass: To land 5300 block S. Blackstone Ave Robbery: Strongarm: no weapon 5100 block S. Harper Ave Robbery: Strongarm: no weapon 5400 block S. Woodlawn Ave Theft: Over $300 5200 block S. Cottage Grove Ave Narcotics: Manufacturing/delivery of heroin (white) 5200 block S. Harper Ave Deceptive practice: Credit card fraud 1500 block E. 55th St Simple assault: Simple assault 900 block E. 55th St Simple battery: Domestic battery: simple 1400 block E. 53rd St Aggravated battery: Other dangerous weapon Theft: From building 1200 block E. Hyde Park Blvd Other offense: Death 5800 block S. Maryland Ave Motor vehicle theft: Automobile 1400 block E. 53rd St Robbery: Armed: handgun 5300 block S. Harper Ave Simple battery: Domestic battery: simple 5800 block S. Blackstone Ave Robbery: Armed: handgun 5800 block S. Maryland Ave Motor vehicle theft: Theft/recovery: automobile 5800 block S. Blackstone Ave Criminal trespass: To land Other offense: Death 5300 block S. Blackstone Ave Simple assault: Simple assault 1500 block E. 52nd St Theft: Over $300 900 block E. 54th St Criminal trespass: To land 5400 block S. Woodlawn Ave Theft: Over $300 1500 block E. 53rd St Theft: Retail theft 1200 block E. 56th St Theft: From building 5600 block S. Blackstone Ave Motor vehicle theft: Automobile Theft: From building 5400 block S. Harper Ave Robbery: Armed: handgun 5600 block S. Woodlawn Ave Vandalism: Criminal damage to property

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Purse snatching, 56th and Greenwood

At 11:50 a.m., Monday, January 21, at 56th Street and Greenwood Avenue,
a woman was walking when two men drove up in a 1990-93 black four door
Maxima (with a broken tail light on the passenger side) and asked
directions. As she was talking to them through one of the car's windows,
one of the men reached out and grabbed her purse. They then drove away.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Purse snatching, 9 AM Jan 18, University and 56th

At 8:50 a.m., Thursday, January 18, on University Avenue between 55th
and 56th Streets, a woman was walking when she was confronted by another
woman who grabbed her purse. When the offender found nothing inside,
she returned the purse to the victim, and returned to a nearby white
vehicle driven by a second woman and drove away.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Suspects in Cisse case plead not guilty

Two of the three suspects accused in the Amadou Cisse murder case pleaded not guilty to all charges Friday, authorities have said. Eric Walker, 16, and Demetrius Warren, 17, both pleaded not guilty to charges. A third suspect, Benjamin Williams, 21, has not entered a plea.
More: Suspects in Cisse case plead not guilty

Looking back on the Amadou Cisse tragedy

A reader wrote to ask me, essentially, if I thought there were any lessons to be learned from the murder of Amadou Cisse, if one were to investigate the crime.

I told him that I think there are several potentially revealing angles to look at. First let me say that I don't think it would be interesting or insightful to look at any failure on the side of the university or police. I don't think parallels with other school shootings apply here.

Most interesting, I think, would be to focus both on Eric Walker and Amadou. The tragedy isn't really just about Amadou, but about Eric and Amadou, as well as Warren and Williams, the accomplices. Both Amadou and Eric came from turbulent backgrounds --Amadou's father was killed in battle in Gambia, and Eric's father was gunned down when Eric was three. Both families are certainly devestated. I don't think Eric was expecting to come across the likes of Amadou-- another fighter, who wasn't willing to give in easily, contributing to the deadly result. So the meeting of these two people, so different yet alike in some ways, presents a potentially insightful line of inquiry.

A secondary theme, one that is potentially well investigated in other contexts, is the clash between the university population and the neighborhood. I think Walker said something to the effect that he was going to Hyde Park to commit a crime because people up there have money. From my own experience, I used to think that the crimes around here had a really strong racial component--black on white or black on asian. However, this makes it seem as though class may be playing a role anyway.

There are some other aspects also about clashes between the cultures--on Walker's side, the "gangster" mentality, failures of the education system and parenting -- these are discussed here.
The University side, to some degree, perhaps can represent some isolationism from the surrounding community, despite the best of intentions an efforts.

Despite the time that has passed, every few days it seems someone leaves a message here remembering Amadou. We have heard very little from the community of the perpetrators, a piece of the conversation that I think is sorely missed.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Mugging Wednesday Blackstone and 59th

At 8:55 p.m., Wednesday, January 9, on Blackstone Avenue between 58th
and 59th Streets, a woman was confronted by an unknown man who indicated
he had a handgun, demanded her valuables, took her wallet, and fled.
Police are investigating.