A man found dead early Tuesday morning in a portable toilet at Sedgwick Park has been identified as David Lindsey, 25, a white male, who resided in Minooka, La Grange police said this afternoon.
While the exact cause of death is undetermined pending results of an autopsy by the Cook County medical examiner, a "tan rock-like substance" and syringes were found with the body, suggesting Lindsey died of a drug overdose, according to Police Investigator Rob Wardlaw.
Lindsey had a prior history of drug abuse, Wardlaw said.
Lindsey was discovered shortly after 1 o'clock Tuesday morning by an employee for Drop Zone, a Frankfort-based company that provides and services portable toilets for the Park District of La Grange. The employee reported no signs of life, Wardlaw said.
Paramedics were called to the scene, but attempts to revive Lindsey were unsuccessful, Wardlaw said.
La Grange police are investigating the death of an unidentified man whose body was found early Tuesday morning in a portable toilet at Sedgwick Park.
The man was discovered shortly after 1 a.m. by a worker who was servicing the toilets. Paramedics were called to the scene but were not able to revive the man.
As of late Tuesday, police had not released the man's identity.
A La Grange woman Monday night took to the podium at a meeting of the village board to criticize the police department for not participating April 6 in an effort to alert residents that two potentially armed and dangerous fugitives from Oklahoma were possibly at large in the community.
Karen Deane, who resides on the 100 block of Malden Ave, wanted to know why La Grange police did not use the CodeRED phone protocol to automatically place calls to residents village-wide to inform them of a manhunt that was underway in neighboring Western Springs, whose police at 2:30 that morning had discovered a stolen pickup truck used by the fugitives, apparently abandoned on the 1300 block of Hillgrove Ave.
"Those suspects could have easily walked over a few blocks to the La Grange border and knocked on any unsuspecting resident's door," Deane said.
Village President Elizabeth Asperger acknowledged that Western Springs police used CodeRED, a reverse 911 emergency phone system in which calls with a recorded message are simultaneously made to all local phone numbers. Local school officials also placed calls to parents after deciding to enforce a soft lockdown on campus activities while a multi-agency police task force after daylight combed Bemis Woods where a Cook County K-9 unit had followed a scent from the pickup truck.
As a La Grange parent at home with a pre-school child, Deane said she only learned of the manhunt later that day after seeing reports on television and local news websites.
Asperger defended the decision not to employ the CodeRED protocol in La Grange, explaining that Police Chief Michael Holub had reason to believe the fugitives had likely moved out of the area and were no longer a threat to public safety.
Indeed, Cory Mathew Wolf, 31, and Brittany Thompson, 24, were apprehended that night in Bristol, Wisconsin, by U.S. marshals who had pursued the couple on warrants from Oklahoma, Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas on charges of attempted murder, burglary and theft. The fugitives allegedly tried to run over an Illinois state trooper April 6 at a rest stop along Interstate Highway 55 near Bloomington.
Three La Grange trustees&Tom Livingston, Mike Horvath and Mark Kuchler&generally were supportive of Asperger and Holub's decision, but also expressed sympathy for Deane's concerns and recommended a re-evaluation of the circumstances under which CodeRED is employed in the future.
Watch the video below to hear Deane's comments and the response from village officials.
Three men were arrested Thursday and charged with plotting to rob the First National Bank of La Grange, the FBI Chicago office and the La Grange Police Department said Friday afternoon.
Joseph "Jerry" Scalise, 73, of Clarendon Hills; Robert "Bobby"
Pullia, 69, of Plainfield; and Arthur "Art" Rachel, 71, of Chicago were charged with attempt and conspiracy to commit armed robbery in a 58-page criminal complaint filed Friday in the U.S. District Court in Chicago.
Judge Nan R. Nolan ordered the men held pending a bond hearing scheduled for next Wednesday.
The three men have been the focus of a joint investigation between FBI and La Grange police since July 2007, when the men were suspected of robbing the Harris Bank branch at 1000 S La Grange Rd in July 2007. Approximately $120,000 was reported taken in that incident.
Using electronic surveillance, law enforcement officials this past December learned of plans to rob the First National Bank of La Grange at 620 W Burlington Ave. The suspects were observed on several occasions in the vicinity of the bank, most notably on Thursdays when an armored car routinely arrived at the bank to pick up substantial amounts of cash, police said.
All three men have extensive criminal records and ties to organized crime. In fact, they were arrested Thursday while attempting to break into the home of a deceased mob boss, Angelo "The Hook" LaPietra, who resided in Chicago's Bridgeport neighborhood.
Scalise and Rachel achieved notoriety in 1980 when they robbed a jeweler in London, England, of $3.6 million in valuables, including the 45-carat Marlborough Diamond. Following their arrest upon arriving at O'Hare airport, the duo was extradited back to London, where they were subsequently convicted and served 12 years in prison.
Scalise in 2008 drew on his criminal experience as an adviser during the filming of Public Enemies, a motion picture in which actor Johnny Depp portrayed the legendary bank robber, John Dillinger.
Countryside Interim Chief of Police Scott Novak presents Matt Cook, holding daughter Ellie, with a symbolic check for $2,600 as Mayor Robert Conrad looks on.
The family of Cari Lyn Cook, the young Countryside mother who was struck and killed last May while crossing 47th St with her two small children, received a check for $2,600 at tonight's meeting of the Countryside city council.
The money was raised at the 13th Annual Cops & Kids basketball tournament held February 18 at Gurrie Middle School in La Grange.
To learn more about the event, watch the video below. To learn more about the Cari Lyn Cook Family Fund, click here to visit the website.
A 23-year-old Crystal Lake man was arrested Sunday night by La Grange police and charged with aggravated criminal sexual abuse after admitting that he engaged in sexual activity with a 15-year-old Brookfield boy in the parking structure behind Village Hall, according to a press release issued Tuesday by police.
Scott Madura at booking
Scott Madura was taken into custody shortly after midnight when an officer on a routine patrol of the parking deck discovered Madura and the boy inside a parked vehicle.
During his investigation, the officer learned that the two were engaged in sexual activity and that the Brookfield resident was a minor, police said.
During questioning later at the police station, police say Madura admitted the sexual nature of the encounter and told them he met the boy in an Internet chat room.
Madura was arraigned Tuesday morning at the Cook County courthouse in Bridgeview, at which time bond was set at $200,000. A preliminary hearing on the charge is scheduled for March 22 at 9:00 a.m.
The Brookfield youth was released to the custody of his parents.
La Grange police are investigating an armed robbery that occurred Feb. 16 at the 7-Eleven convenience store at 201 W Hillgrove Ave.
A man described as Hispanic, six feet tall with a slender build and wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and dark pants entered the store at 11:56 p.m. last Wednesday night, according to Police Investigator Dave Rohlicek. The man produced a black semi-automatic handgun and demanded money from a clerk, who was alone in the store at the time.
The man then fled north on foot along Ashland Ave with a small, undisclosed amount of cash, Rohlicek said.
The clerk was not injured, he said.
Anyone with information regarding the robbery is asked to call the La Grange police at 708-579-2334.
The Cari Lyn Cook Memorial Family Fund is the beneficiary of tonight's 13th Annual Cops and Kids Charity Basketball Game at the Gurrie Middle School gymnasium,
1001 Spring Ave., La Grange.
Police officers from the La Grange, Countryside, and Hodgkins police
departments will compete against the school's basketball team.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the game begins at 6:30 p.m. A prize raffle will be held and snacks will be available.
La Grange Village President Elizabeth Asperger Monday night said she opposes a proposal to create a public safety commission because she does not believe that resident volunteers who would serve on it are qualified to evaluate policies developed by the village board and staff.
"We are, of course, always appreciative of our residents' willingness to assist the village," Asperger said. "But I don't believe that we are in a position to rely upon resident volunteers to assess matters related to police activity, fire activity or traffic and pedestrian safety."
Asperger expressed her views in response to an inquiry at Monday's village board meeting from Trustee Michael Horvath, who wanted to know why trustees had not been given a formal opportunity to publicly discuss and possibly take action on the commission he proposed.
Horvath raised the issue during the portion of the board meeting reserved for comment by any trustee on any topic.
Watch videos below this story to witness the whole conversation.
Horvath first suggested the idea of a public safety commission last summer as La Grange officials were considering pedestrian safety improvements along 47th St and other village thoroughfares following the death last May of Cari Cook, a 29-year-old mother from Countryside who was struck and killed by a SUV while crossing 47th St with her two small children.
Asperger, who as president controls what issues and items are put on the village board's meeting agendas, said Monday that her opposition to the creating the commission grew out of discussions she had with Village Manager Robert Pilipiszyn and various department heads.
"The village board and our staff are best suited to define the goals and objectives related to public safety," Asperger said. "We are fortunate to have a very professional staff with significant depth of experience and expertise to carry out the village's charge with respect to public safety mandates. Obviously, our staff has a thorough command of the many issues that impact decisions relating to public safety matters, from infrastructure to budget issues."
On those occasions when expertise for a specific issue is not found among the staff, the decision is often made to search out and contract a consultant with the required knowledge and experience to conduct studies and then render opinions and recommendations for the village board and staff to evaluate, Asperger said.
She noted that the village had hired a consultant to conduct studies of traffic flow and origin along 47th St and make recommendations following last year's tragic accident.
Asperger acknowledged that input from residents has value, but also its place and purpose. She recalled a community meeting held in the gymnasium at Seventh Ave School two weeks after Cook's death, which was attended by more than 200 citizens, and where everyone was offered an opportunity to stand at a microphone and share their thoughts and feelings.
"I think we very consistently encourage our residents at any time to communicate with us their thoughts, their desires, their concerns, and their recommendations for improvements," Asperger said. "I certainly have no desire to stifle that. Quite the opposite, I encourage it at every turn.
"But I am concerned with charging a group of volunteers to make what sound more like evaluations of policy decisions and directions in the public safety arena across the board," she said. "Because they are very complex issues that are community wide in nature and really require an understanding of all of the pieces that contribute to a policy making decision, which quite frankly we [the village board] are charged with, and I know we work hard at."
However, Asperger said she could envision an additional role for residents in helping to identify and develop mechanisms and programs to better communicate existing public safety issues and mandates to various audiences throughout the village. She gave as an example the need to communicate school safety policies "with respect to pick up and drop off times and the like."
Asperger also expressed concern that the village staff, already recognized as operating under a heavy workload, would be further stressed by the needs and demands of a newly created commission.
In his rebuttal, Horvath said that resident volunteers should not be viewed as a drain on staff but rather as a resource that both supplements and complements existing resources.
"We've heard many, many times that our staff can't do certain things relative to information gathering," Horvath said. "A perfect example was getting information about crosswalk improvements on 47th St. If properly chartered, [a public safety commission] would be a great idea to gather input and communicate information as you described it.
"I
think we are in agreement there," Horvath continued. "I think we are
probably a little bit misaligned on the value of the input coming from
our residents. I think that input—that sounding board—is very valuable for public safety."
As to the qualifications required of resident volunteers in evaluating policies and directives, Horvath said, "I don't think the expertise is any different. I think people understand intuitively what a safe community is. It's broader than traffic. It's neighborhood watch. It's other types of things that I think would be very valuable for our community to formalize. And I also think it sends a message to the public that public safety is important."
Horvath noted that trustees earlier that night approved the
creation of a public arts commission, which will be filled by the
existing members of the design review commission.
Public safety, Horvath said, "is just as important as economic development or public art or design review."
Horvath encouraged his fellow trustees to support creation of a public safety commission and to "communicate your thoughts with Liz."
But not one of them used the occasion of Monday's discussion to do so.
In her opening remarks at Monday night's regular meeting of the village board of trustees, La Grange President Liz Asperger:
Welcomed Webelos Scout Pack 39 from Ogden Ave School, who attended the meeting to earn merit badges for citizenship.
Announced that the board identified several short and long-term initiatives at the strategic planning session it held Jan. 8-9. Staff is now developing an operations plan that will be presented at a workshop likely to be held within four to six weeks.
Reported the death last week of long-time La Grange resident and paid-on-call firefighter Ken Straube.
Announced that West Suburban magazine would feature La Grange in its March-April edition.
Played a video segment from ABC7 Chicago's Hungry Hound food reporter, Steve Dolinsky, that featured three new restaurants in downtown La Grange.