Bad stuff last night on the 4400 block of Magnolia. Around 11:30, a Pizza Hut delivery man was attacked by three men and left lying injured, in a pool of blood, on the sidewalk. Gathering from what readers have written to us, there was a tremendous response: marked and unmarked police cars, a fire truck, and an ambulance, which eventually took the victim away. A witness says, "We saw the police confiscate several weapons from a man who was on his knees. The area was then taped off and under investigation for several hours."[UU Note: We can't help but wonder if the same idiots in the area have upped the game they were playing last year.]
Shortly thereafter, a reader on Dover observed a heavy police presence. "Tonight around 11:30 PM on Dover between Sunnyside and Montrose there were several police, in cars and on foot, clearly looking for someone... shining spotlights and flashlights on the street and in the alleys."
We don't know if the Dover search was related to the Malden attack, but the timing makes it seem likely.
If anyone has any details about the condition of the driver or the attack, please leave it in the comments. We hope for his recovery and survival.
Remember, Beat 2311's CAPS meeting is Tuesday night, 7pm, at Truman College.
how can anyone hurt a pizza delivery man? That's one sick individual right there. Sad sad sad.
ReplyDeleteI was sitting out on my deck in the alley between Magnolia and Malden appreciating the efforts of a couple of our local officers as they cuffed and frisked a guy they had suspected of possessing drugs or a gun (they came looking for him, guns drawn, as he stood by a dumpster calling his buddies to see if the coast was clear) when they got the call about the pizza guy, released the guy (they hadn't found anything on him or in the dumpsters) and hauled ass out of there down the alley toward the 4400 block.
ReplyDeleteAs I went back inside I saw the firetruck and ambulance screaming down Magnolia, but had no idea what had happened. After the previous occurrences of this, I'm surprised that places will still deliver to our neighborhood.
Shocker!
ReplyDeleteMagnolia is like a third world country right now. It is Anarchy. The problem with that is that it is over flowing on to my street of Malden. Maybe not the gangbangers but the foul mouthed kids, and the teenage moms looking to escape Magnolia. We used to meet families out on Sunnyside and play but no more.
I long for the good old days when "Poppy" used to drink with his buddies and get a little loud. At least they kept the language clean. Now you have to dodge the "MF'S" & the "N BOMBS" constantly so your child does not pick those words up. Twice last week we had to reprimand children for dropping "N BOMBS" in front of our child.
I feel bad for the Pizza Guy. I wonder how long until they decide the risk isn't worth the reward and stop delivering in this area all together.
What's going on over on 4400-4500 Magnolia is nothing short of disgusting.
ReplyDeleteIt's a War Zone over there, and should be treated as such.
As an aside, I went to the Sheridan Park Yard Sale over there, and the bangers (I suspect from the hand gestures and uniformity of dress) couldn't even take the morning off to let their neighbors make a little money on the street for once.
At about 945 AM, there was a gathering of about 20 thugs on the Sunnyside Mall. Voices were raised, verbal threats were made, etc.
I wanted to see how this all unfolds with my own two eyes, so, against my better judgement, I stuck around a little while. Right after the first little squirmish, about 1/2 the guys went up to Magnolia/Wilson and bought white T-shirts, which they all changed into as they loitered in the parking lot for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, the group that stayed back sat in the Sunnyside Mall and openly smoked weed. On the way back from the mall, I listened to the guys in white (2 appeared to be VERY high) curse at each other all the way back to the Sunnyside Mall.
Right after the guys in white got back to the Mall, I saw a cop drive into the Wilson/Magnolia strip mall, literally turn his head down the street to see about 20 guys gathered blocking the sidewalk at the Mall, and then turn his car the other way and head out on Wilson. He didn't even drive down to see what was up, which I would have thought would have been reasonable given what happened on that same block earlier. I am no expert on policing, so maybe the cops actions were part of the plan, but I didn't find anything I saw that morning reassuring as a shopper at the yard sales.
I am furious about the complete and utter disrespect for the neighborhood and civility that is going on over on Magnolia this summer, which I have now witnessed here AND personally. We need to regain control of that street and set some expectations for reasonable conduct before it completely falls apart.
When I first moved to Truman Square, 15 years ago or so, I had to call a plumber in the middle of the night because of a frozen water pipe. The guy quizzed me for a good fifteen minutes on the phone, and later told me that he remembered Uptown in the 1970s and 1980s and how calls like mine were just excuses to rob repairmen. We laughed about the "bad old days" and how far Uptown had come.
ReplyDeleteSeems like we're sliding backwards. The Pizza Hut guy is in my prayers; I've heard from friends on Magnolia that he was beaten so severely that they are afraid for his survival.
P.S. I really hope the Pizza Guy is ok. I am making the assumption he is an innocent man who happened to get caught up in the chaos over there.
ReplyDeleteLet's all hope for a speedy and complete recovery.
Too bad as I doubt robbery was the cause of his attack. More like walking into the wrong place at the wrong time. Whatever is the cause residents that live on Magnolia and the surrounding streets in Uptown have had their share of gang violence this year and it seems to be climbing no matter what efforts are put forth to stop it. I also think that it is going to take more then positive loitering to chase these punks out of Uptown.
ReplyDeleteIs there anyway to forward the postings and comments to Laura W?
ReplyDeleteStash,
ReplyDeleteDid you report pot smoking and gang loitering to 911? If not you enabled it. The cops have no more right to move them along without probable cause than they do to pat you down.
I was listening to my scanner last night and they had a description of 2 hispanic males. They later found shirts matching the description by the cemetary around Beacon and Montrose.
It's gonna take an alderman that makes CHA enforce it's own rules to un-rid this particular cockroach problem WISEGUY.
ReplyDelete~CPD needs to do something to mimic the results they had over on Malden/Leland a year or two ago. If you recall they served 8 high risk warrants in one day over there (approx. 2 years ago) and just obliterated 95% of the problems on that corner. IT CAN BE DONE.
ChipDouglas, I'm not sure if this was you but a week ago I saw a Father with his toddler son kicking out 2 pre-teens from his yard for using the N-word. Anyway when the kids walked past me I heard one say, "He a MF-ing racist". Talk about a spin on reality, wow !
There's more to this story. I actually logged the info as it was happening. There were at least 2 suspects. And what the second guy did, after the attack, took nerves of steel!
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to assemble a list of methods for reducing street gang violence for a potential future post on UU. Meanwhile, I found this interesting article about street gang crime statistics in Chicago (http://www.iir.com/NYGC/publications/Block_Block_1993.pdf). The article is nearly 20 years old (dated 1993), but the Vice Lords are listed as one of the top 4 most prolific gangs. I also noticed that there was a peak in violence that corresponded with the recession of the early 1990s. I doubt this is a strange coincidence. Stay tuned...
ReplyDeleteThese events are heartbreaking to me. I love Uptown. I moved into the neighborhood in 1993. And even without the brand new Target, Uptown was a better place, back then! I could live anywhere, but I love this area, and watching it crumble is really getting to me.
ReplyDeleteNote: One of the officers on the scene was a female. When I heard the panic in her voice, I knew the victim was probably seriously injured. Women usually show their concern more easily. :-)
At one point, officers where searching the cemetery near Lawrence, but the communication stopped after that.
I sincerely hope they catch the jackasses who did this. If they don't, any one of us, could be next!
I sincerely hope is okay as well.
ReplyDeleteI observed two undercover police officers arresting some bangers near my apt at Sheridan and Buena. At first I thought it was a drug deal b/c I saw a bunch of the baggy white shirts, but then I saw the bullet proof vest and saw the handcuffs. Nice job CPD keep it up!
Any update on his condition?? Sounds scary.
ReplyDelete@Sam45man - I probably should have mentioned as part of the story that I did alert police via txt2tip. In retrospect, I probably should have just called 911 and let them prioritize the issue. A call to 911 from a safe location would have taken all of 2 mins.
ReplyDeletePart of my motivation in trying txt2tip was selfish. I wanted to see how easy it was to make a tip. It look me three tries. First one bounced back because I got the number wrong, and second bounced back because I did not include the "agency" that I was directing my tip to.
To be honest, between all the cursing and yelling and total disregard for others around who were just trying to enjoy the morning, I was a bit intimidated to pick up my phone. But good citizens alerting police has to happen and has to be part of a much more comprehensive solution.
wow i call the cops nonstop every 10 minutes or so if i see anything i dont like and it has made a difference in my neck of the woods in rogers park.
ReplyDeleteit kinda pisses off the cops. but i dont care. you have to just call call call call call and then call some more.
there have been days where i have no idea how many times i have called the cops.
thats how many times you have to call the cops.
so many times that you dont know hoe many times you have called the cops.
come on people!
oh sad, i hope the gentlement survives and can work again
ReplyDelete