Woman cuts in line at Hobart store, attacks woman behind her: police

A shopper at a Ross department store in Northwest Indiana is accused of choking another customer who complained that she took “cuts,” authorities say. Chalonder L. Ervin, 34, is charged with felony strangulation and misdemeanor battery for an Oct. 12 confrontation caught on store surveillance …

Former exec at Burling Bank stole $3 million to gamble, feds say

A former executive of Burling Bank in Chicago is accused of stealing more than $3 million from the bank over the past 15 years to feed a gambling habit.

Crooked cop gets 18 months; says he ripped off drug dealers so he could see his kids

A crooked Chicago cop who shook down drug dealers was sentenced to 18 months behind bars Friday after a federal judge dressed him down for violating the trust of people in the neighborhood he was supposed to protect. U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman told …

Former Death Row cop set up killing chamber in latest plot: feds

A former Chicago cop sentenced to Death Row but later released has been arrested and charged in a plot to abduct, extort, murder and dismember a victim whom he believed had large amounts of cash from commercial real estate holdings. Steven Mandell, once known as Steven Manning, set up an office as a killing chamber, the feds say. He had a large sink, large counter and a shower put in, the feds say.

In Abbate trial, witnesses talk about threats, lies and videotape

A barmaid had just been attacked by an off-duty cop, and the Chicago Police officers sent to investigate promised they’d be right in to watch a video of the assault, bar owner Marcin Kolodziej said.

“Why don’t you set [it] up, and we’re gonna be …

Former Mr. Basketball Jereme Richmond back in jail

Former Waukegan basketball star Jereme Richmond, 20, was sent back to jail Thursday after violating terms of his probation.

Man shot dead inside his car in Auburn Gresham neighborhood

A man was shot dead in the South Side Auburn Gresham neighborhood Wednesday night, authorities said. Kenton Morgan, 28, was sitting inside a car in the 8000 block of South Halsted Street when someone approached and shot the man in the stomach about 9:30 p.m., …

Police shoot man who allegedly pointed gun at officers

Police shot one man in the chest and took two others into custody after responding to a report of shots fired in the Englewood neighborhood early Thursday, authorities said.

Obama coming to town as homicide tally ready to surpass 2011’s

Chicago’s 2012 homicide count is closing in on 2011’s 12-month total with more than two months left in the year, and President Barack Obama might be here to see the key statistic tick above last year’s number.

Republicans could use the coincidental timing of Obama’s …

Country Club fire chief refuses to discuss conviction, gives city ‘general apology’

Roger Agpawa and Charles Smith were partners in crime. Both pleaded guilty in the late 1990s to participating in a medical insurance fraud scheme. Agpawa received probation, but Smith was sentenced to four months behind bars. To this day, Smith is still paying a higher …

Top cop McCarthy defends strategies in face of City Council grilling

Five months after being hailed for his handling of the NATO summit, Police Supt. Garry McCarthy was grilled Wednesday by aldermen demanding more police hirings, arguing for the redeployment of existing officers and questioning his vision for ending the bloodbath in Chicago’s streets. “When you get on TV and say in the month of July and August, shootings decreased or whatever you say, we don’t feel that. Not at all,” said Ald. Latasha Thomas (17th). But McCarthy insisted that his anti-gang strategies are taking hold and that Chicago has enough police officers to maintain that progress.

Man wounded in West Side drive-by shooting

A man was wounded in a drive-by shooting Tuesday night in the Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side, police said. The 31-year-old man was standing outside in the 1500 block of South Keeler Avenue when a gray car pulled up about 10:15 p.m., said police …

Trial opens for suspect accused of killing two at corner grocery for a few ‘lousy dollars’

She was a mother of two who worked as a cashier at the Southwest Side corner store. He was the grandfather next door who had stopped by. Graciela Rodriguez and Nicholas Guerrero were gunned down when a greed-driven Timothy Fountain walked into Maggy’s Food and pulled the trigger for a few “lousy dollars,” Cook County prosecutors said Tuesday at the opening of Fountain’s double murder trial.

Ex-cop in videotaped beating of barmaid says he had ‘bad day’

Disgraced former Chicago cop Anthony Abbate testified Tuesday that he was having “a bad day” when he brutally beat a barmaid at a Northwest Side tavern.

Indiana troopers’ high-tech radar guns can now catch tailgaters

The Indiana State Police trooper pointing a radar gun on your car on the Borman Expy. might not just be checking your speed. The trooper could be checking if you’re tailgating the car in front of you, too.