Drivers report BBs strike moving cars
by BRIAN NADIG
Reports of BB pellets hitting moving cars, the evacuation of Ebinger School and a police appreciation rally were discussed at the June 16 meeting of the 16th (Jefferson Park) Police District Advisory Committee.
Since June 4 five motorists have reported BBs breaking a car window while they were driving between 10:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. in the 4000 block to the 5200 block of North Cumberland Avenue.
16th District commander William Looney said that it is not clear if the shots were fired by someone in another vehicle or hiding off the roadway. Looney said that the Cook County Forest Preserve District and nearby suburban police districts are aware of the incidents and that Des Plaines police stopped a vehicle which was found to have BB pellets on the floor of the car but that no arrests were made.
About 5 hours after the meeting, two men were arrested after they allegedly used a pellet gun to shoot out lights in an alley in the 7300 block of West Addison Street, police said. Looney said on June 23 that the suspects were not charged with any of the incidents on Cumberland but that since the arrests there have been fewer pellet shootings being reported in the area.
It also was reported that Ebinger School, 7350 W. Pratt Ave., was evacuated on Monday, June 13, after a custodian, who was later arrested, threatened to return to the school with a gun following an argument with a co-worker. The gun was not brought to the school and no one was hurt, according to police.
Looney said that the evacuation occurred in the afternoon after many of the school’s students had left for the day and that dogs were used in a search of the building to make sure no students had been left inside. "It was a good drill for us," he said.
During the advisory committee meeting, Aldermen Nicholas Sposato (38th) and Anthony Napolitano (41st) held an officer appreciation rally outside the 16th District police station, 5151 N. Milwaukee Ave. About 100 people attended, and some of them stood in the street, displaying signs in support of the police to passing motorists.
"The police are getting a lot of heat in the news, and the aldermen wanted to do something," Looney said.
It was announced that a man was arrested after he was found carrying a loaded handgun at about 7:15 p.m. Sunday, May 1, in the 4800 block of West Irving Park Road.
Officers found the gun during a protective search of the man after they smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the man’s car, which was parked in a tow zone, police said. The suspect was identified by police as Mahmud Y. Issa, age 23, of the 3400 block of North Oketo Avenue.
A female passenger also was arrested after she was found to be in possession of Xanax without a prescription, police said. The suspect was identified by police as Zayna Karaman, age 24, of the 3800 block of North Pioneer Avenue.
Also at the meeting, the committee also honored sergeant Patrick Haran as "Officer of the Month" for his role in the April 19 arrest of a man who burglarized an Edgebrook coin shop and murdered the owner of an Irving Park coin store. Haran developed a rapport with the suspect’s father, who gave police his son’s cell phone number, which was used to find the man.
