Posted on January 12, 2013 in Harassment

Young athletes at Maine West High School are facing misdemeanor charges for allegations of hazing that some are calling child abuse, according to the Chicago Tribune. Tony Romanucci told NBC Chicago, as reported in the Huffington Post, that allegations of sexual abuse go as far back as 2006, and “that coaches at the school knew about what was happening.” The complaint alleges that older players on the soccer teams shoved younger boys down to the ground, beat them, and then sodomized them with their fingers and other objects.

The two soccer coaches, Michael Divincenzo and Emilio Rodriguez, have been put on paid leave from the school until the dust settles surrounding the incident. Six players have been charged with misdemeanor battery and hazing, but as of mid-December there was no evidence to support felony charges for any student involved in the charges. The Huffington Post reports that an additional four students are facing disciplinary actions. There have been other allegations of hazing abuse among the swimming and baseball teams as well, and the mother of one boy-a baseball player-told NBC that when she reported the incident to the principal it was “swept under the rug.”

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 Posted on January 09, 2013 in Weapons

A 17-year-old boy was arrested for possession of a gun at a gang funeral in mid-December, according to the Chicago Tribune. Roosevelt J. Yarber’s arrest comes as part of a new police crackdown on possession of weapons and possible conflicts at gang funerals. According to the Tribune, “Yarber was carrying a .44-caliber Magnum handgun with six live rounds when he was arrested,” and has been charged with felony unlawful use of a weapon. Area North Deputy Chief John Escalante told the Tribune that “it just highlights the need for us to be out, monitoring these wakes and funerals.”

The crackdown comes after one man was killed and another wounded at the funeral of a gang member on the South Side in early December, and was initiated by Mayor Rahm Emanuel to help curb the explosion of gang violence that has rocked Chicago in 2012. The Gangster Disciples, according to a different article in the Chicago Tribune, were responsible for “more than a quarter of the city’s nearly 400 slaying victims through September 25” of this year. The funeral at which Yarber was arrested was for a member of the Gangster Disciples, but Yarber is not believed to be a member. He was, however, with six other men-“five of them members of the Four Corner Hustlers and one a member of the New Breed gang, which is in a gang conflict with the Gangster Disciples.” Police stopped Yarber and the men he was with because they were not believed to be Gangster Disciples.

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 Posted on January 05, 2013 in Drug Charges

“Authorities in northwestern Indiana have charged a 16-year-old boy with dealing marijuana on school property, saying he sold marijuana-laced brownies to fellow students,” according to the Chicago Tribune. When confronted with a plastic container and metal baking pan with brownie crumbs in his locker that smelled of marijuana, the boy admitted to either selling or giving away the brownies to fellow students, and “police reported finding two $20 bills in his pocket that the boy admitted came from selling the brownies.” More lockers were searched and several students were questioned, but no more evidence or confessions were found in the 2,100-student school.

The boy’s arrest comes on the heels of some major legislation elsewhere in the country that would make his crime a moot point. In November of this year, both Colorado and Washington voted to fully legalize the drug, and according to Rolling Stone magazine there are several more states throughout the union poised to do so in 2013. “As many as 58 percent of Americans now believe marijuana should be legal,” the magazine reports, including former president Jimmy Carter. According to Rolling Stone, Oregon, Alaska, Nevada, California, and New Jersey are expected to join Colorado and Washington in the legalization of recreational pot in the next few years.

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 Posted on January 02, 2013 in Criminal Defense

Margarito Valdivia, 44, a Chicago man “with a history of domestic violence arrests has been charged with the murder of his estranged wife in Munster, Indiana, early New’s Day,” according to the Chicago Tribune. Valdivia is being held without bail for the alleged slaying, in which he’s said to have driven to his estranged wife’s home and attacked her and her boyfriend. Valdivia is alleged to have hit his wife’s boyfriend in the head many times, driving him from her home, and then went back inside to beat his wife. According to the Tribune, police were called to the home at 5:45am only to find that “Valdivia had barricaded himself inside. After a SWAT team was called, police sent a remote-controlled robot into the home, and he surrendered.”

Erica Valdivia was found in the bathroom with “major trauma” to her head including her face. She was declared dead at 10:04am that morning. Mr. Valdivio has been charged with murder and felony battery, and it’s not the first time that he’s facing assault charges. He has Cook County arrests dating back to 1990, according to the Tribune, “when he was arrested on a domestic violence charge and an order of protection was lodged against him.” He was also charged in 1994 with domestic battery, in 1997 for criminal damage and having a firearm, in 2000 for domestic battery, and in 2012 was found guilty of battery.

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 Posted on December 31, 2012 in Sexual Assault

Michael A. Escort, 52, a Joliet man currently serving time for a different crime has been convicted of a 1989 murder, according to the Chicago Tribune. Escort is currently in prison for an aggravated criminal sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping conviction, but is now also facing charges of first-degree murder of an Englewood woman named Mary Smith. Police News Affairs told the Tribune that “DNA evidence linked Escort to the murder and he was in the custody of the Illinois Department of Corrections when he was arrested for the murder.” Bond has been set at $750,000, but-because he is already in prison-Escort cannot be released on bond.

Post-conviction DNA testing is controversial. The most active group in favor of DNA testing is the Innocence Project, a non-profit associated with the Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University. According to Innocence Project data, “301 people in the United States have been exonerated by DNA testing, including 18 who served time on death row. These people served an average of 13 years in prison before exoneration and release.” Advocates of post-conviction DNA testing say it’s especially important for people convicted of crimes before DNA testing was available.

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 Posted on December 27, 2012 in Traffic Offenses

With the increased use of social media and smart phones, the Illinois Toll Way has decided to create a Twitter account. The toll way tweets to provide drivers with information for each of the four toll ways: the Tri-State, Jane Adams Memorial, Reagan Memorial, and Veterans Memorial toll ways.

Travelers now have to option to follow each of the toll ways on Twitter and can receive real-time roadway incident information, according to the Illinois Toll Way.

The Illinois Toll Way Executive Director Kristi Lafleur shared in a news release, “Toll Way Trip Tweets will help us connect to our customers in a new way and, hopefully, give them the information they need to be able to plan their trips based on what’s happening on the road.”

The tweets include updates such as information on roadway conditions, accident reports as they happen, and updates on congestion, according to the toll way.

Details in the tweets may include real-time information about the type of incident, the location based on the nearest crossroad and milepost and the subsequent impact on traffic, such as lane closures, said the Illinois Toll Way. It was reported that as many as three messages may be sent using Twitter for each incident. The final tweet will be the conclusion and clearing of the incident from the roadway.

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 Posted on December 25, 2012 in Traffic Offenses

Traffic fatalities on Illinois roads have been on the rise this year, with the number at about 937 so far. This has prompted the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Illinois Toll Way to urge drivers to be safe as millions of motorists hit the roads for the holidays.

The Illinois Toll Way alone, expects 15.7 million vehicles on the toll way system during the Christmas and New Year holidays. This includes the weekend before Christmas all the way through January 2.

Over the last three years, traffic fatalities have been under 1,000, according to Josh Kauffman, spokeman from the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT).

That figure has been the lowest since 1921, said Kauffman.

That number, however, has been on a steady increase this year, he said. Last year, there were only 813 deaths.

He said that there are a number of reasons why fatalities are increasing including a higher number of travelers, bad weather, distracted driving, and impaired driving. Speeding, texting while driving, and seat belt use can also be named as causes for the increased number of fatalities, he said. Kauffman added that often, it’s a combination of those factors.

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 Posted on December 22, 2012 in Juvenile Crimes

A 17-year-old teen faces criminal charges for his involvement in a single-vehicle crash that caused the death of a southwest suburban teen, according to a story in the Chicago Tribune. The juvenile driver has been charged with reckless homicide, aggravated reckless driving and reckless driving. If convicted, he could end up in a juvenile detention facility for anywhere from two to four years.

The juvenile driver said that he lost the control of his vehicle because he attempted to avoid hitting a deer in the road. However, two other teens said that the stretch of road where the accident took place is known by young people as a good place for racing. The juvenile was driving his pickup when he lost control, and the truck flipped and hit a tree, causing the driver and the victim to be thrown out of the truck. The victim, Jay Vana, was found beneath the vehicle by the emergency crew, and both teens were taken to Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, where Vana was pronounced dead.

Vana, 16, was a student at Lockport Township High School. He was not wearing a seat belt when the crash happened. The driver was not drunk at the time of the accident, but he was driving above the speed limit of 35 mph, according to police.

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 Posted on December 21, 2012 in Criminal Defense

Robert G. Geniesse, 50, the former chief executive officer of a social service agency in Naperville, fled America a few days before being charged with embezzling over $200,000 from the agency, the Chicago Tribune reported on December 18.

The agency, Our Children’s Homestead, is a non-profit organization which tries to find homes for children with special needs. Geniesse was fired from Our Children’s Homestead 18 months ago, when the agency’s board of directors started to suspect him. “People here were devastated by what he did,” said the agency’s Chief Executive Officer Kurt Friedenauer. Despite everything, the adoption and foster care agency has been able to continue its operations.

A warrant was issued for Geniesse’s arrest on October 25 after a DuPage County grand jury found him guilty of 10 felonies, including stealing more than $100,000 from Our Children’s Homestead. Geniesse used the money, for example, to finance his own film production company. He fled to Germany before the charges. “Investigation determined that Geniesse fled to Frankfurt, Germany, five days before the warrant was issued,” FBI agent Mark Wallschlaeger said. Geniesse’s wife had already fled to Germany about a month before Geniesse. Authorities said they will seek to extradite him as soon as he is caught in Germany.

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 Posted on December 15, 2012 in Criminal Defense

A Chicago cop who was off-duty crashed into a bicyclist in August in the Logan Square neighborhood, reports the Chicago Tribune. Michael Bergeson, 33, stopped his pickup truck after the crash and called police, but when he heard an ambulance approaching, he fled. He failed to notice though that the license plate from his car had been knocked off in the crash. Police found the plate and were able to identify the reckless driver.

Bergeson was charged with leaving the scene of an accident and filing a false police report. Both charges are felonies and may result in prison time and heavy fines. When facing a felony charge, it is always a good idea to contact a skilled criminal defense lawyer. Bergeson also falsely claimed that the woman bicyclist fled the scene after the crash. The 25-year-old woman was knocked unconscious in the crash and suffered injuries to her face and feet and got bruises on her body.

The hit-and-run crash was witnessed by the victim’s boyfriend. The boyfriend saw the truck speeding and driving recklessly. The truck then ran a stop sign and hit the victim’s bicycle, and the woman was thrown off her bike and knocked her head. The off-duty officer got out of his car and asked the victim if she was okay, the witness said. The cop called 911 twice without telling his name, started his truck, drove around the victim and damaged two parked vehicles before he managed to flee. Bergeson has been relieved of his police duties and is currently working in an administrative post with pay.

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