Xavier Washington, 14, of 6140 S. Kimbark Ave., was pronounced dead at 9:35 p.m. Sunday. The boy was shot at 5700 S. Wabash Ave., according to the medical examiner’s office.
The incident occurred about 9 p.m. as the two were traveling inside a car near South Wabash Avenue and 57th Street when someone outside the car shot him, according to a Wentworth Area detective.
After the two were shot, the car crashed, according to Wentworth District police. The driver, a male who is older than 14, was transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where he was paralyzed from the waist down.
More about ExzaviaThe women were beaten and robbed in the vicinity of 5400 South Cornell Avenue about 11:45 p.m. Monday, according to a police alert.
The three black males, wanted for armed robbery, are believed to be between 17 and 21 years old. One is about 5-foot-6 and 135-140 pounds, the alert said. The second is described as 5-foot-8 and 160 pounds. A description of the third suspect was not available.
All three offenders were wearing white T-shirt s and dark pants, and were armed with chrome handguns.
Anyone with information should contact detectives at (312) 747-8382.
*At 2:10 a.m., Tuesday, December 5, near 58th Street and South
Dorchester Avenue, a woman walking alone was confronted by an armed man
who got out of a maroon four door 1990 Chevy Lumina, and attempted to
rob and force her into the car. She resisted, and during the struggle
he also attempted to sexually assault her. The man fled in the car when
witnesses appeared after hearing the woman's outcry.
*
At Fitzgerald's Martial Arts, you can learn to protect yourself in case of attack:"Fitzgerald said he has used Tang Soo Do on three occasions outside of his training and “all three were very successful, in fact the person never got a chance to hurt me.” Passing on these skills to others is a big reason why he teaches, particularly in Hyde Park, where he sees crime and safety as a growing problem.
“Hyde Park has two faces, a daytime face and a night time face and the night time face is much more dangerous,” he said. “The daytime face is professionals, families, students and professors but at night there are gang bangers, drug dealers and people who will hurt you for money.”
This emphasis on self-defense separates Fitzgerald and his school from other Chicago martial arts practitioners in Fitzgerald’s mind.
“I train for self-defense. Others might train for physical fitness, weight loss, whatever, but I train for self defense and I want my students to come back to me and say it worked.” Fitzgerald said. “Criminals hate victims who fight back.”"
Full article
A recent stabbing in the heart of that part of Hyde Park affectionately referred to as "The Student Ghetto" has elicited the following statement from the University's Vice President of Community and Government Affairs:
In response, we have assigned additional officers to the area in marked and unmarked cars. These officers will join the additional four extra patrol cars serving the areas of the neighborhood close to the University that were dispatched in June...
This is a very serious incident that highlights the need to continue enhancing our efforts to increase safety for all those who study, work, visit, and live in the area. Recent efforts to reduce crime in the area have proven effective and data show a significant decrease in crime, but we realize we must do more to improve the security of our neighborhood.
We are also working with the University of Chicago Police, the Dean of Students Office, and all of the University's leadership to ensure appropriate resources are provided to support individuals who experience acts of crime or violence.
Yes, that's correct: the U of C police--though without a doubt the priority for medical emergencies (after the Student Care Center), public disturbance calls, and rides to class when one has sprained his left ankle almost beyond repair--can be counted on to steal your bike (if locked to the rails near the aforementioned cigarette niche).
Please let me know what features you most appreciate on the Hyde Park
Crime Watch blog:
- Posting of University alerts
- Posting of Hyde Park Herald articles
- News from other news sources
- Entries from other blogs
- First-hand tips and reports
- Detailed crime reports from Chicago police department
- Editorial and analysis
Also:
- Do you live in Hyde Park?
- Have you been a victim of crime in Hyde Park?
Email your response to hydeparkcrime@gmail.com or post them as comments.
A man was jumped and beaten while walking his dog at 11 pm. over the
Thanksgiving weekend at 57th and University.
If you have more details, please email hydeparkcrime@gmail.com
There is a final word that needs to be said about the Jemelle Lloyd case. It's a word for all young black males.
Stop risking your future by getting caught up in nonsense.
While the Jemelle Lloyd arrest showed how easy it is for police to sweep black males into the criminal justice system, it also showed how young black males often give police the broom.
Here's what I mean.
Lloyd was arrested and charged with five other Chicago Military Academy classmates with beating up and attempting to rob a Hyde Park man three weeks ago.
Last week, a judge dropped the charges against Lloyd and two others, ruling there was no probable cause for their arrest. Three of his classmates are being held in this case.
Too often, black youth are judged guilty by association, and that appears to be what happened in this case.
Just as often, teens silently watch violence unfold. Lloyd claimed he walked away and didn't see what happened.
But two other teens candidly admitted seeing the beating take place.
In a situation where a victim is being attacked by a group of teens, police don't care who punched the victim or who stuck a hand in the victim's pocket.
Everybody's going to jail.
So as cold as it sounds, teens who have managed to keep their records clean need to shun teens who are itching to get into trouble.
Unfortunately, despite the fact that Lloyd and two other teens were exonerated (and are now back at the Chicago Military Academy), this incident will continue to haunt them.
There was also an undeniably innocent victim in this case: the white man who was knocked down, punched and kicked.
As far as I know, no one has apologized to him.
Worse yet, this kind of crime appears to be part of a disturbing trend.
Young people call it a "beatdown," when a group of teens attack someone and take their cell phone and money. The slang belies the seriousness of the crime.
It's not a joke.
Teens who are caught beating down someone can be charged with attempted robbery and assault, even attempted murder, depending on the victim's injuries.
Parents of students in Chicago Public Schools have complained to me about this kind of violence for a couple of years.
In some instances, upperclassmen are accused of attacking freshmen at bus stops and making them empty their pockets.
The violence doesn't only occur at so-called bad schools. It also happens at schools that have good reputations.
I've heard from parents whose children have been victimized in this way, and these parents have complained that not enough was being done to protect their children.
Lately, whites have also been victimized by the beatdowns.
That's what happened to Ryan Rusch, the 14-year-old Beverly boy who was brutally beaten by three black youths who lived outside of the neighborhood.
In fact, one of the accused attackers allegedly told police that they didn't go to a predominantly black area because they were afraid the victim might pull out a weapon.
The accused teens in that case are facing charges of attempted murder.
The urban street violence made its way to the Hyde Park area last summer, which is why the University of Chicago Police Department had to form a robbery team.
So the random acts of violence aren't so random. These are targeted attacks against people the assailants believe aren't able to defend themselves.
That makes the perpetrators of this violence the worst kind of bullies.
But the young people who engage in this activity also aren't very bright.
They don't seem to realize that attacks against white people in predominantly white neighborhoods aren't going to be tolerated to the degree violence has been tolerated in a lot of black neighborhoods.
I went to bat for Jemelle Lloyd because I believed he was innocent. But a lot of innocent young black males have ended up in jail.
So what happened in this case was more a miracle than a victory.
I pray that Lloyd and the other two innocent students will make the most of that miracle.
At 10:10 p.m., Friday, November 24, on South University Avenue between
57th and 58th Streets, a man was walking. As he passed four other men
they began striking him with their fists and feet, knocking him to the
ground. The offenders then fled. The victim was taken to the hospital
for treatment of bruises.
BY MARY MITCHELL <mailto:marym@suntimes.com> Sun-Times Columnist
Suzette Lloyd got her miracle. "He's free. It's over," Lloyd screamed
into my ear when I answered my cell phone. "Thank you, Ms. Mitchell,
thank you."
"This is the happiest day in my life," Jemelle Lloyd shouted in the
background. "It's like the biggest birthday present."
Jemelle also thanked everyone who prayed for him. He turned 18 on Nov.
13. It was a birthday he'll never forget.
On that day, he had to go to court on disgraceful charges that he and
five other young black males beat up a man in Hyde Park in an attempt to
rob him of $5.
Jemelle swore to police, to his mother and to me that he had nothing to
do with the assault. He is a "B" student, captain of his school's
basketball team, and has no arrests or convictions on his record.
He was charged with a felony and was kicked out of the Chicago Military
Academy in Bronzeville.
After three weeks of being treated like a criminal by police,
prosecutors and school officials, Jemelle finally had someone in
authority take his side last Monday.
In a hearing at criminal court, Judge Donald Panarese ruled there was no
"probable cause" for Jemelle to be charged.
The judge also dropped the charges against Lawrence Gardner and
Alexander Tolls, the Cook County state's attorney's office confirmed.
Three others: Van Epinger, 17; Michael Pleasants, 17, and Armani Carson,
18, will be indicted in the case.
Jemelle had maintained he was walking to a bus stop -- dressed in the
same school uniforms as the other five students -- when he was
apprehended by the University of Chicago police as a suspect in the crime.
Jemelle spent three days in Cook County Jail before his mother could
scrape together the $5,000 she needed to post bond.
But his mother believed in his innocence to the point that she reached
out to everyone and anyone she thought could help.
Although that legal fight is over, the arrest had a profound impact on
her son, the mother said.
"He's just trying to get his life back together," Suzette Lloyd told me
on Monday.
"What's really bothering him is that the police officer pulled a gun out
and stuck it in his face when they were arresting him. I think that was
the most devastating thing that's happened to him."
After I put a spotlight on Jemelle's plight, several high-powered
attorneys, including former appellate justice R. Eugene Pincham, agreed
to take on Jemelle's case pro bono.
"This case just wasn't handled properly," said Pincham, who was in court
when the charges against Jemelle were dropped.
"As it is, three black children will be forever barred from a decent
life because they made one mistake. These are the instances when we need
daring, creative, innovative solutions so as not to destroy three young
lives."
Without a doubt, what the three teens are accused of doing is despicable.
But like Pincham, I'm concerned about how quickly black males are cycled
into the criminal justice system.
In Jemelle's case, police didn't even put together a lineup. Worse yet,
the Chicago Public Schools kicked Jemelle out in his senior year, and
shipped him across the city on the Northwest Side to an alternative high
school before he was found guilty of anything.
Had these young men been suburban, white and first-time offenders, they
would have probably been given a "station adjustment."
That's when a parent is hauled down to the police station and between
the parents and the cops, the teen is made to see the error of his ways
without being hit with formal charges.
Although the charges against Jemelle have been dropped, Suzette Lloyd
knows that's not enough.
"I've got to try and clear his record up in some kind of way. I've got
to get it off his record and have everything expunged," she said.
The mother said this ordeal has stressed her out.
"I'm relieved so much that I have my son for Thanksgiving. But I'm
bothered that no one said I'm sorry to the young men who didn't commit
the crime," she said.
Considering that so many other young black males have spent decades in
prisons for crimes that they didn't commit, Jemelle is extremely blessed.
Still, this is just one case in the hundreds of cases that happened that
same day, Pincham reminded me.
"The judicial system and the police department need to be more
sensitive. That is why the jail now is full of black folks," he said.
The Lloyds are very grateful for the generosity of readers. Their
donations to Jemelle's defense fund totaled about $3,500. After paying
for expenses related to this case, the balance of this fund will be
banked to help someone else. But if you wish for your check to be
returned, please contact my office at (312) 321-2585.
I fail to see how this would be more effective than distributing the so-called “rape whistle.” At least the whistle makes noise. Clearly, so long as a bureaucracy is actually doing something and producing work, it is doing its job.
...I think that anyone who thinks that a “Student Emergency Contact Card” would be a good response to campus crime is the one with his head inside of his behind.
And while we’re at it, how about we hear the council, for once, strongly criticize the grossly inadequate job the University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) does on our campus. If 50 kids from Shoreland and Broadview can harshly chastise the University for its transportation problems, then maybe the Council could go over to UCPD HQ and demand, not request, increased patrols, increased response time, and increased “drunk van” service. Of course, if any of them are reading this, they’ll first have to form a committee on protests, or a committee on Chicago Maroon columnists.
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