Thursday, October 1, 2009

Thug Fighting At Lawrence & Magnolia

A reader sends in this info:
"This morning on my way to work, I got caught up in a fight at the end of Magnolia and Lawrence. There were about 5 guys all coming out of the back of 4752 N Magnolia building throwing rocks at another guy. These guys were probably in their late teens. They ran out into Lawrence onto traffic, throwing objects into the road, then ran onto the side walk next to the parking lot on Lawrence, where they continued to beat the one guy. One thug was on a bike, and the others on foot. I immediately called 911 and the police arrived in minutes. I can't help but think this may have been related to the beating early this morning in Edgewater."

UU Note: This same address was the scene of the recent pedal-by shooting. See Lake Effect News for more info. photo via LEN.

30 comments:

  1. I saw them earlier at Leland & Magnolia. When they heard the police coming, one of them jumped the fence with ease at the northwest corner of the intersection and let the rest in through the door. They then ran north in the alley. Several police cars were seen within minutes.

    Also, there was one gangbanger on a lime green bike with yellowish handlebars.

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  2. These gangbangers will always be there like a cat and mouse game with the police. I live at Clarendon and Montrose and from the 29th floor I heard alot of gunshots at 2:30 AM coming from somewhere in the northwest area of uptown. I saw in about 5 minutes alot of CPD lights flashing on some street past Truman on the north side of Wilson. I still say if the Guardian Angels come here and patrol these trouble streets alot of the punks and gangbangers will move on out of these streets you live on. residents and the police have their limits and some help is better then no help to make it safe for those who live here......

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  3. This sounds like a building where the landlord should be notified about what's going on with his tenants. He or she needs to be held responsible since that appears to be a base of operation for gangbangers.

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  4. I called 911 yesterday afternoon when I noticed 3 older teens in front of Clarendon Park (Clarendon and Sunnyside) on phones with metal poles (looked like the ends of bats?) hanging down from the sleeves of their sweatshirts. One of the guys was lighter-skinned with low mohawk. 911 has always taken, and the police have typically responded to my "suspicious activity/suspicious persons" 911 calls.

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  5. To clarify, a gang banger hopped the rather tall fence, then opened the fence door to let the rest in and they proceeded to the alley. They just passed through.

    I consider the residents of that property to be good neighbors. Also, the management of that property installed a bright flood light that prevents gang bangers from hiding on that property.

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  6. What time was this at again? I've been up since 8 AM and didn't hear anything, although I did step out for a few to get some coffee.

    This is not a good turn of events for this building which has been nothing but a good neighbor for the 2 years I've been here. If this building is starting to become a new gang hangout than the building management needs to be informed immediately and we need to put a stop to this. I fear for the residents of that building and for our once quiet street corner.

    After the shooting last week I talked to a lady who lives in assisted housing north of Lawrence on Magnolia. She told me that she has lived there for 15 years and that this last year has been the worst year ever. Gangs are now roving into areas that they never had before. That she had noticed gangs hanging out behind 4752-ish recently and causing all kinds of a ruckus that had previously been absent. This is getting out of hand!!!

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  7. I noticed them as well, probably around 8:00/8:10 at Racine, headed westbound on Leland. I was on my way to the El, and thought to myself, "don't kids go to school anymore?"

    Either way, the one guy who was a little bit heavier was chasing this goofy one, and taunting him, and the rest of the pack was trailing,a few jogging, trying to catch up to the heavy guy and the goofy guy.

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  8. I've lived on Malden between Lawrence and Leland, and I've noticed a stepup in this kind of activity over the past few months--I've called the cops three times over the past two months alone, because of fighting going on outside my window. Now, there's a shooting in front of a kid-filled building on a busy street during prime time. Ridiculous.

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  9. This may seem like a side issue but I would really like to see zoned parking on the 4600 and 4700 block of Magnolia. Truman College night classes result in tenants (like myself) having to park blocks away and walk through some of these trouble spots, rather than parking within steps of my front gate.

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  10. Anyone happen to have Woodlawn Mgmt's number handy (I'm at work). We need to call them and let them know we are not going to tolerate this behavior in our community. They need to weed these tenants out.

    This used to be a relatively quiet building. It's getting out of hand now.

    Btw mrazlife - I agree with you on the parking issue.

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  11. I will be calling the Landlord today - The little green sign on the building has a phone number. All concerned neighbors - Please do the same.

    For the past year, this building had been fine, and now CHAOS. The new residents play loud, profanity ridden music at 9am on Saturday AMs, attract shootings, and now this. The corner will only quiet down when the new trouble-making tenants gone.

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  12. You may have to jump through a hoop or 2, but I was able to get through at (773) 449-5502‎.

    I would encourage concerned parties to call, but remember, the person you talk to likely doesnt live in the building and have all the information.

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  13. FYI there is a Gang & Drug house form available under the links on this website.

    We should all fill one out, I believe the landlords can be fined up to $10,000 per offense.

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  14. Any chance the fighting here is related to this story from the Trib?

    http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/10/teen-attacked-in-edgewater.html

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  15. I've noticed a recent uptick in "un-neighborly activity" at this building as well. On a recent saturday afternoon (9/19), as we entered our car nearby, I noticed the LOUD music(which is uncharacteristic for this building), as well as a fire in an outdoor fire pit that NOBODY was tending to. And yes, I am a bad citizen, because I did nothing more than notice and comment on it. I will be more vigilant now.

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  16. Oops. Just noticed last line of original post.

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  17. Hey tgram, I was at the intersection of Broadway and Leland at about 8:05-8:10 this morning and saw it start when Goofy was on a bike on Leland just to the east of the intersection with Broadway, had a confrontation with Chubbo, then Goofy dropped his bike and started running right through traffic west bound on Leland and on the sidewalk with Chubbo chasing at a fat boy's pace. The rest of the cockroaches followed shortly thereafter, one of them grabbing the bike. I called 911 . . . twice. Not sure what happened after.

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  18. This type of violence has been going on outside my building for well over two years and it seems like no one will get involved until it happens to their building. The rap profanity music has been played loudly for the past 3 years. I have a bullet wedged in the wall 2 feet below my bedroom window. I've seen numerous fights and heard gunshots within half a block nearly every other day. The longer everyone waits to help, the more chance this will be happening to all of you in your buildings as well. We need to step up as a community and not wait until it is literally on our doorstep to take action.
    My opinion is that the landlords need to be held accountable for the tenants of their building. Isn't it standard procedure for a landlord to check employment and references before they rent to a new tenant? If landlords won't rent to these gang bangers they will have to find another neighborhood to live in. I agree with everyone that we need to contact these landlords and management companies and let them know we will not stop bothering them until they screen their tenants more carefully.
    It seems like common sense to me that the better the neighborhood gets the more the landlords can charge for rent so why are they still running these "slummy" buildings. They should be taking a more active role with the buildings even if they do not live in the neighborhood, they still own the property here.

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  19. Are people jumping to conclusions that any of these gangbangers live in that building? The person reporting this mentions that the kids came out of the back of the building, but it is not clear if that was from inside the building or from the property. These kids can hop any fence and congregate on any property without actually living in a particular building. Not that the landlord should not be informed, but hold off on the lynch mob (exaggeration\sarcasm).

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  20. I wonder if these landlords are so desperate for rent money that they would rather ignore the problem.

    I live on Montrose between Malden and Magnolia. At least two units in our building have recently been vacated. One of them told me she was affected because of the economy. Granted, she always seemed a bit "off" (though harmless), so this may have just been an excuse, but in hard times like these, I can see why landlords would take or keep anyone as long as the rent got paid every month.

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  21. I don't think my comment came off as I intended. As Sean said, none of these gang bangers may live in this building. I meant we need to target the landlord and management of the buildings we know they live in. How did they finally get the drug building just off the corner of Hazel/Montrose cleaned up- that is the type of effort we need to make. Hold these building owners to a higher standard than they have now.

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  22. Are people jumping to conclusions that any of these gangbangers live in that building?

    It may be a jump to a conclusion, but it's probably a good bet that at least one of the "regulars" around there lives in that building. They may not ALL live there, but from the repeated stories of incidents in and around the building, there is definitely some connection and some reason for being there.

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  23. Ok, here's the 8:15 to 8:20 report. I observed police in the Leland end of the alley between Mag and Mald. (for those who don't know these streets this must make you crazy. Sorry.)

    Then, there was another group of police cars three blocks east on Leland at Winthrop and they were interviewing a few suspects. Not knowing what was going on, or what incident proceeded it, I knew I could count on UU to try to fill in the blanks.

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  24. Woodlawn is the new management right?

    Call them.

    The Alderman's staff touted them as better than the previous management.

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  25. MONS is right. The building wouldn't be targeted if someone they were "after" didn't live there. That's pretty much common sense.

    Sean - not everything is a conspiracy against low income residents. Most are great neighbors. Don't turn this into an us vs. them argument. That's so old and not even valid.

    Can't we all expect a safe neighborhood?

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  26. I wrote in earlier about the fight, and to clarify I didn't see anyone come out of 4752 N. Magnolia. I saw one guy being chased, running out from the side of the building. He was then confronted by two other guys who then started throwing rocks at him, which also flew into oncoming traffic. A few seconds later, about 3 guys also ran out from behind the building, including one guy on a bike.
    I’m so tired of this :(

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  27. I was wondering when it would come our way from the southside. This is so not the same neighborhood that it was 10 years ago when I moved in. It seems like all the little boys have grown up to be bangers. I should not be afraid to work a little later or go out with co workers and take the train or bus home; it's only a block and a half to my street. I have to fork over $20 to take a cab home just to know that I am going to get hime safe and not be mugged on the walk to my building. This is not okay.

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  28. Wow... I look at that building all day long (I work from home and my desk faces out the window towards 4752 N Magnolia)...

    I was the witness of last week's shooting and I've been kind of freaked out thinking that there would be retaliation on me or something.. Clearly the beef between the thug that lives at 4752 and whoever the F shot him isn't done. FML.

    What freaks me out even more is that I left my house early this morning to go on a business trip... glad my timing didn't match up with this shiz.

    This. Needs. To. Stop.

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  29. Woodlawn Community Development Corporation (or WCDC) is the new management for a number of these buildings. They have been pro-active at placing floodlighing in the front and back of some problem buildings and it has been somewhat helpful. They seem to be working on things but input from the community is helpful to know where there are worse problems than others. For what it is worth, their efforts seem to make some of the young troublemaking folks even more determined to continue doing whatever they are doing. NOTHING will happen without continued community spirit, calling 911, giving feedback to the management, being persistent, etc.

    WCDC works out of the old office (same location, different staff) at
    4429 N. Clifton
    phone: 773.769.1555

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  30. I agree with everything Digger said -

    FYI - The telephone number posted on the building itself is 773-262-6034.

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