Cops questioning man in Chatham sexual assault

 

(Tribune illustration / March 16, 2012)

Chicago police were questioning a man following a sexual assault on a woman this past Thursday morning in the city's Chatham neighborhood.
The 23-year-old woman was attacked at about 12:15 a.m. in the 200 block of East 87th Street, according to authorities.
Early reports indicate that the attacker first attempted to rob the woman at gunpoint before sexually assaulting her then fleeing on foot, police said. The woman's husband called 911 to the assault.
Officers in the area quickly took the man into custody and were questioning him at Area South headquarters, said Officer Ron Gaines, a police spokesman.
The woman was taken to Advocate Trinity Hospital for treatment, authorities said.

This morning's assault is about a mile north of where a woman was sexually assaulted in Abbott Park while waiting at a bus stop late last week. Police issued a community alert and a composite photo of the attacker.

Police weren't saying whether they were questioning the man in custody about Saturday's attack.

Authorities: 2 dead, 1 wounded in Chatham shooting

 

Sisters of a dead gunshot victim grieve at the corner of 79th Street and St. Lawrence Avenue. (Chris Sweda, Chicago Tribune / August 25, 2012)

Two assailants wearing masks opened fire this past Saturday afternoon leaving two people dead and a 17-year-old girl hospitalized in serious condition in the Chatham  neighborhood on the South Side. The shooting happened about 1:15 p.m. this past Saturday in the 7900 block of South St. Lawrence Avenue, fire and police officials said.
Two men wearing masks shot three people: a 20-year-old man who was dead on the scene, a 17-year-old girl in the lower back, and an 18-year-old man in the leg and lower arm, according to police.
Christopher Spraggins, 20, of the 300 block of East 76th Street, was pronounced dead at the scene while a man identified as Aaron Gaithan, 18, of an unidenitifed address, was declare dead at 2:14 p.m. at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
Police said the teen girl was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center, where, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Kevin MacGregor, she was in serious condition.
The gunmen ran eastbound after the shooting and fled into a car, police said.
No arrests have been made this evening, according to police News Affairs Officer Daniel O'Brien.

Annual Labor Day Outdoor Cookout at the Chatham Food Market!!!

Stop by for the annual Labor Day Outdoor Cookout, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Saturday, September 1, 2012, with great grocery shopping at Chatham Food Market, 327 East 79Th Street in the heart of the Chatham retail strip!  So, come join us, Saturday!

Walmart Express in West Chatham to close

 

Employees Eugene Young and LaSalle Body stock the shelves for the opening of the Walmart Express in West Chatham a year ago. (Antonio Perez/Tribune / July 20, 2012)

The Walmart Express in West Chatham will close July 27, the Bentonville, Ark-based company announced Friday.

The smaller format store that opened last summer and sells primarily groceries was losing customers to the larger Walmart Supercenter that opened in January and is roughly 100 yards away. 

Express stores average about 15,000-square-feet.  The larger Supercenters are roughly 185,000-square-feet and sell general merchandise in addition to groceries. 

The West Chatham Walmart Express employed 24 Walmart associates who have been offered jobs in the company, with most "walking across the parking lot" to work at the Supercenter, according to spokesman Steven Restivo. 

Walmart's vision was to have the two stores complement each other, Restivo said, but increasingly customers were shopping at the Supercenter. "Customers appreciate having the one-stop shop environment at the SuperCenter," he said.  "Over time we found that their unusually close proximity resulted in customers making a clear choice." 

The shuttering is not a reflection on Walmart's Express store format, which is in pilot-phase, according to Restivo.  Walmart is trying-out its smaller Express format with 11 stores (including West Chatham) operating in three Chicago neighborhoods, northwest Arkansas and North Carolina, according to Restivo. 

"We expect to test, learn and refine these stores over time," he said.  Customer traffic at the Wrigleyville and River North Walmart Express stores has grown every month and "customer experience scores are high," said Restivo. 

Walmart operates six stores in Chicago. 

Customers who ordered items to be delivered at the West Chatham store after July 27 will be able to retrieve them at the Supercenter, at 8331 S. Stewart Ave., Restivo said. 

Annual Independence Day Outdoor Cookout at the Chatham Food Market!!!

Stop by for the annual Independence Day Outdoor Cookout, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Sunday, July 1, 2012, with great grocery shopping at Chatham Food Market, 327 East 79Th Street in the heart of the Chatham retail strip!

Chatham Crime Report and Round-Up

Shots fired at, by police in Chatham neighborhood

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Chicago police traded gunfire with a man in the Chatham neighborhood Saturday night, June 2nd.

It's not clear why police were pursuing the man about 8:30 p.m. in the 7800 block of South Vernon Avenue, but he shot at police, and police also shot at him, Chicago Police Department News Affairs Officer Ron Gaines said.

1 wounded, 1 grazed in late night Chatham shooting

A man was wounded and a second man grazed in the face in a shooting late Sunday night, June 3rd, in the city's Chatham neighborhood on the South Side, Chicago police said.
The men were discovered in the 700 block of East 79th Street at about 10:50 p.m., police said, citing early reports.
One man, 31, was struck in the upper left side of his back, while the second man, 30, was grazed on his cheek, police said.
The wounded man was taken to St. Bernard Hospital, where he was expected to be treated and released, police said. The man with the graze wound refused medical treatment.
Police were still trying to gather details on the shooting this morning, but added both victims were uncooperative.
No arrests have been made.