Fourth murder in 16th District
by BRIAN NADIG
The fourth murder in the 16th (Jefferson Park) Police District this year involved a 31-year-old man who is suspected of being shot several times by a member of the gang he belonged to, it was reported at the Sept. 16 meeting of the 16th District Advisory Committee.
The man was shot in the back at about 1 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 10, while he was driving in the 5100 block of West Waveland Avenue, according to police. The man believed responsible for the shooting has been identified but was not in custody as of late last week, police said.
A committee member expressed concern that the shooting was a result of gangs getting a stronger foothold in the district. A police official responded that the gang problem in the district is not serious and that gang members who live in the district often will go elsewhere to conduct illegal activity.
The other murders this year involved the shooting of a teenager in a suspected drug-related incident in the 4300 block of North Milwaukee Avenue, the beating of a 3-year-old girl in a home in the 3300 block of North Natchez Avenue and the stabbing of two men during a home invasion in the 5800 block of North Mobile Avenue. A man and a woman were charged in connection with the Sept. 5 home invasion, and a third person was being sought for questioning, police said.
The number of murdered people in the district in recent years has been four in 2013, seven in 2012 and three in 2011.
It also was reported at the meeting that a man was arrested on Aug. 19 in connection with the sale of drugs in the 5200 block of North Potawatomie Avenue, according to police. Officers chased the man as he fled into the rear of an apartment building, and the man was arrested a short time later as he was leaving his bedroom, police said.
Inside the apartment officers found a .25 caliber handgun, a bag containing about 35 grams of suspected marijuana, an electronic scale and a ledger documenting drug sales, according to police. The gun had been reported stolen, police said.
The suspect was identified by police as Arkadiusz Macorowski, age 18, of the 5200 block of Potawatomie address.
It also was reported that a man was arrested after he allegedly stopped his car near a girl in the 7400 block of West Balmoral Avenue and began to masturbate at about 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 12. The suspect was identified by police as Justin Ross Hoffman, age 20, of the 7700 block of West Rascher Avenue.
It also was reported that several of the juveniles who were assigned to the district’s peer jury did not attend their hearing. The jury, which consists of local high school students, assigns punishments such as community service work to juveniles who have admitted their guilt for minor crimes. The youths who do not complete the tasks assigned to them by the peer jury can have their case returned to the court system.
The committee honored Humberto Candelario and Terry Abbate as Officers of the Month for their July 30 arrest of a man who allegedly threatened subcontractors working for Peoples Gas.
