Bulls rally to beat Pistons 85-82

As the United Center rocked and the Bulls celebrated Marco Belinelli's go-ahead, three-point play with 7.5 seconds left, Joakim Noah remained down in the photographer's pit along the baseline, cameras and cheerleaders all around him.

"I didn't really see the play," Noah said. "I had the cheerleaders' pom-poms in my face."

His teammates saw it, which is why they were celebrating the shot that sealed the Bulls' stirring 85-82 comeback over the Pistons, their 17th straight victory in this series. It marked the second time in just more than a month the Bulls erased a 17-point deficit against the Pistons to prevail.

And yet Noah, who had authored, really, the play of the season — one that defines the heart and hustle that has the Derrick Rose-less Bulls on pace for 50 victories now that the midway point has been reached — remained down.

"We were over there celebrating and he was still knocked over by the cheerleaders," said Nate Robinson, who kick-started the rally with nine straight points early in the fourth. "We were like, 'Oh, yeah, we have to go help him up.' But that play shows how hard Jo works. He never gives up."

Noah smiled, clearly relishing the opportunity to tweak his teammates.

"Damn, it took forever, right?" he said of the delay.

All's well that ends well, right?

But make sure to find a replay of Noah's hustle, which came off Belinelli's bricked jumper. As Noah tumbled into cameras and cheerleaders, Belinelli cut to the basket, grabbed the fruit of Noah's effort and laid it in as Rodney Stuckey fouled him.

"I scored, but the credit goes to Jo," said Belinelli, who scored his second game-winner in four games.

Coach Tom Thibodeau just shook his head.

"Quite frankly, I don't know he got to it," Thibodeau said. "It was an incredible play."

The Bulls then watched tying 3-point attempts from Tayshuan Prince and Stuckey rim out as time expired.

"I stayed with the play," Noah said. "The basketball gods were on our side. It's not really a great play because if Detroit gets it, it's a four-on-five fast break the other side. Fortunately, we got it. "

Robinson's boundless energy can delve into extracurricular emotion, but there's no denying he jump-started the comeback. Robinson keyed a 12-2 run to open the fourth with nine straight points and a dish for a fast-break dunk from Butler, who tied his career-highs with 18 points and nine rebounds.

Butler, starting again for the injured Luol Deng, played all but 91 seconds and overcame a 1-for-8 start. He also hit a huge 3-pointer — the Bulls missed their first 10 and made just 3 of 14 — for an 82-80 lead before Jason Maxiell tied the game with 29.4 seconds left off a defensive breakdown.

"Jimmy just kept working the game," Thibodeau said. "He never got down. He kept battling and battling."

Robinson finished with 11 points.

"That's Nate. He made a lot of big-time plays for us," Thibodeau said. "He's not afraid. I respect that about him.

"The group that started the fourth quarter played with energy, got some stops and got us going.

Noah played 45 minutes with 10 points and 18 rebounds.

"We just kept saying, 'We're going to rally together,'" Butler said. "That's what this team is all about."

kcjohnson@tribune.com

Twitter @kcjhoop

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Firefighters battling extra-alarm fire in Bridgeport warehouse

One-third of the Chicago Fire Department's on-duty personnel have responded to a 5-11 alarm fire that has engulfed two warehouse buildings, causing part of one to collapse, in the Bridgeport neighborhood Tuesday night.

A four-story building caught fire after 9 p.m. and then jumped to another building, according to the Chicago Fire Department. Extra alarms, bringing more fire equipment, firefighters and paramedics were called shortly after firefighters arrived.

One firefighter suffered a back injury and was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in serious condition, said Chicago Firefighter Meg Ahlheim, a department spokeswoman.

The fire climbed into the sky and sent ashes down on cars below. The warmth from the blaze could be felt blocks away.

"You could see the embers from the highway," said Darcy Benedict, a 28-year-old UIC medical school student. "I could see blue flames rising up."

Benedict and her boyfriend saw the fire from Interstate 55 and got off to get a better look. 

A crowd of at least 40 adults and children stood behind police tape, bundled up in the freezing weather, taking videos with cellphones.

Several others at the scene expressed doubt that the fire could be contained, as dozens of hoses could be seen in the distance spraying high and low onto the enormous blaze.

The commander at Tuesday's fire used two 'special alarms' to call for additional equipment, firefighters and paramedics beyond what a 5-11 alarm calls for.

“I’m looking at the south side of the main fire building and there’s a big portion of exterior wall and roof collapse,” Ahlheim said.

There was “extreme fire” throughout the buildings. Nobody has been reported injured.

The fire in the second building was mostly extinguished as of about 10:25 p.m. but the first building is "still involved," Ahlheim said.

The special alarm is "extremely rare" according to the Chicago Fire Department. About 200 firefighters and paramedics are at the scene.

The alarms normally escalate one at a time beyond a normal fire response up to a fifth alarm, though the scene commander skipped a fourth alarm once the fire jumped to another building.

The fire Tuesday appears to be the largest since one in 2006 that gutted the historic Wirt Dexter Building in the South Loop. That fire broke out before 3 p.m. on a weekday, snarled downtown traffic and forced the CTA to stop service on Loop L tracks.

There was also a 5-11 fire in 2012 - in Avondale on the Northwest Side. That burned for hours but didn't required the special alarms called for Tuesday night's fire. About 200 firefighters and paramedics responded to that fire.

Check back for more information.

lford@tribune.com
Twitter: @ltaford

pnickeas@tribune.com
Twitter: @peternickeas

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Body of cyanide-poisoned lottery winner is reburied

Mohammed Zaman on the exhumation of his brother-in-law, poisoned lottery winner Urooj Khan. (Posted on: Jan. 21, 2013.)

The body of a West Rogers Park man who died of cyanide poisoning last summer after winning a million-dollar lottery was laid to rest again Monday, three days after his remains were exhumed for an autopsy as part of a homicide investigation.

The scene at Rosehill Cemetery on Monday afternoon was in sharp contrast to Friday morning, when a throng of reporters and TV cameramen had massed outside an entrance gate as numerous Chicago police, Cook County medical examiner officials and cemetery workers surrounded the gravesite while Urooj Khan's remains were unearthed.

About half a dozen people — two in light blue coveralls — wheeled a gurney carrying Khan's body Monday from the back of an unmarked white minivan to under a tent at his gravesite in the Far North Side cemetery. The body was then lowered into the ground while two of Khan's relatives stood at the gravesite in the bitter cold.

Haroon Firdausi, a funeral director and imam, gave a brief prayer during the reburial.

The entire reburial took about 20 minutes.

Shortly before the reburial, one of Khan's relatives, Mohammed Zaman, talked briefly at the cemetery about the family's discomfort with his body being exhumed for the police investigation.

"The sad part is that he wasn't resting in peace," Zaman said of the exhumation. "... Now we have to bury him back again. For any religion, it's hard."

As the Tribune first revealed earlier this month, the medical examiner's office initially ruled that Khan's death in July was from hardening of the arteries, after no signs of trauma were found on the body and a preliminary blood test did not raise any questions. But the investigation was reopened about a week later after a relative raised concerns that Khan may have been poisoned.

Chicago police were notified in September after tests showed cyanide in Khan's blood. By late November, more comprehensive testing showed lethal levels of the toxic chemical, leading the medical examiner's office to declare the death a homicide.

After Khan's body was exhumed Friday, an autopsy was performed for evidence that could aid in the homicide investigation. At the time, Chief Medical Examiner Stephen Cina said it could take several weeks for the tests to be completed. The medical examiner's office hopes samples taken from Khan's organs will show whether he ingested or inhaled the cyanide.

Although a motive has not been determined, police have not ruled out that Khan was killed because of his lottery win a few weeks before his death, a law enforcement source has told the Tribune. At the time of his death, he hadn't collected his winnings — a lump-sum payment of about $425,000 after taxes.

Zaman said he hopes the autopsy sheds more light on his brother-in-law's death.

"It's very hard for the family," Zaman said of the exhumation and reburial. "But it's the only way to find out what happened to him."

jgorner@tribune.com

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Obama sworn in for second term in White House ceremony

Singers, musicians, vendors and a veteran parade planner tune up on Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013, for President Obama's Monday inauguration. (Chris Walker, Chicago Tribune)

Washington—

  President Barack Obama took the official oath for his second term on Sunday at the White House in a small, private ceremony that set a more subdued tone compared to the historic start of his presidency four years ago.




Gathered with his family in the Blue Room on the White House's ceremonial main floor, Obama put his hand on a family Bible and recited the 35-word oath that was read out loud by U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts.

"I did it," Obama said as he hugged his wife, Michelle, and daughters Sasha and Malia. "Thank you, sweetie," he told Michelle when she congratulated him.

"Good job, Dad," 11-year-old Sasha told her father. "You didn't mess up."

It was a low-key start to the first African-American U.S. president's second term, which is likely to be dominated - at least at the start - by budget fights with Republicans and attempts to reform gun control and immigration laws.

Obama, 51, will be sworn in publicly on Monday outside the West Front of the Capitol overlooking the National Mall in front of as many as 800,000 people, a much bigger ceremony replete with a major address and a parade.

Downtown Washington was all but locked down with heavy security. Many streets were closed and lined with barricades. Outside the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue, an elaborate presidential viewing stand, encased in bullet-proof glass, was set up for Obama and other VIPs to watch the parade.

Sunday's ceremony, shown live on television, was needed because the U.S. Constitution mandates that the president take office on January 20. Planners opted to go with a private ceremony on the actual date and then hold the ceremonial inaugural activities the next day.

At a reception on Sunday night, Obama thanked supporters and joked that he did not want to give too much of a preview of his upcoming address.

"Tonight I'm going to be pretty brief because, you know, there are a limited amount of good lines," he said to laughter.

"What the inauguration reminds us of is the role we have as fellow citizens in promoting a common good," he continued, more seriously. "What we're celebrating is not the election or swearing-in of a president, what we're doing is celebrating each other and celebrating this incredible nation that we call home."

By Monday, Obama will have been sworn in four times, two for each term, putting him equal to Franklin Roosevelt, who won four terms. A second Obama swearing-in was deemed necessary in 2009 when Roberts flubbed the first one. On Sunday, Roberts read the oath carefully from a card and there were no mistakes.

CHALLENGES AWAIT

Obama, who won a second four years on November 6 by defeating Republican Mitt Romney after a bitter campaign, opens round two facing many of the same problems that dogged his first term: persistently high unemployment, crushing government debt and a deep partisan divide over how to solve the issues.

This has taken some of the euphoria out of his second inauguration, with TV pundits debating how successful he will be and whether he can avoid policy over-reaching, which often afflicts two-term presidents.

"The newness has already worn off. Last time it was the inauguration for our first black president. Now, four years later it is a bit of old news," Mark Hoye, 52, of Sterling, Virginia said at an inauguration ball at a hotel in Washington.

If the president harbored any doubts himself, there was no sign of it as he attended a rousing service at Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington where he and Michelle, who is sporting a new hair style featuring bangs, clapped and swayed to gospel music.

"Forward, forward," shouted Reverend Ronald Braxton to his congregation, echoing an Obama election campaign slogan.

Early on Sunday morning, Vice President Joe Biden was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, making her the first Hispanic judge to administer an oath of office for one of the nation's two highest offices.

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Blackhawks rout Kings in season opener

The Blackhawks beat the Kings 5-2 on Saturday.

LOS ANGELES — The Kings owned the moments before the drop of the puck on the 2013 season as they received their Stanley Cup championship rings and watched as a banner was raised to the rafters of the Staples Center commemorating their '12 title.

The Blackhawks owned pretty much every moment thereafter as they throttled the Kings 5-2 Saturday in front of an initially jubilant and then stunned crowd of 18,545.

Marian Hossa had two goals and an assist, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane each had a goal and an assist and Michael Frolik also scored as the Hawks spoiled the Kings' party.

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It was Kane's early goal with the Hawks holding a two-man advantage that helped ease some concerns from last season, including an anemic power play and some inconsistent play from goaltender Corey Crawford. When Kane stepped into a one-timer after a pass from Hossa and rifled it past Jonathan Quick from a low angle, the Hawks had their first power-play goal and Crawford had a lead with which he could work. Not long after, the Hawks had a three-goal cushion on scores by Hossa and Frolik and ended the first period in complete control.

"That's a huge part of the game when you get a five-on-three early," Kane said. "We had a couple of chances when we could have scored but it didn't work in our favor, and then (we had) nice motion and got a goal."

It was a huge boost to a power-play unit that finished tied for 25th last season with a 15.2 percent success rate.

"We have to get a little chemistry and move it around a little bit," Kane said. "It's a good start. Hopefully, it will come better than last year. With the focus we have on it this year and how important it's going to be, it's definitely something we need to improve, and I think we will throughout the year."

When Toews scored early in the second to stake Crawford to a four-goal lead, the goalie took advantage. He allowed only scores to Rob Scuderi when screened and to Jordan Nolan while he was down on the ice after a scramble.

"That's the best start you can ask for, for a first game like that," Crawford said. "All around everyone battled hard and it was just a solid game. I was seeing the puck really well and was focused. On scrambles I felt like I was following the puck well and moving side to side."

The Hawks also got off to a nice start on the penalty kill — another problematic area in '11-12 — by blanking the Kings on all five of their opportunities with a man advantage.

"All areas of our game were pretty solid," coach Joel Quenneville said. "And our special teams were definitely better than we saw last year."

Added Kane: "You have to be happy with the way everyone played. That's probably the perfect game teamwise to start the year."

ckuc@tribune.com

Twitter @ChrisKuc

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Bulls outlast Celtics in OT

Derrick Rose shoots jumpers during practice Friday in Boston. Tribune video by K.C. Johnson.

BOSTON — There's no way Marco Belinelli could have called this shot.

Two days after Luol Deng predicted his game-winner in overtime to Joakim Noah, Belinelli finished a broken possession by somehow sinking a 14-foot turnaround fadeaway with 3.1 seconds left that lifted the Bulls to a 100-99 victory over the Celtics, also in overtime.

With no timeouts, Courtney Lee's 26-foot, desperation heave in response didn't come close, allowing the Bulls to improve their road mark to 12-5, including an astounding 11-1 against Eastern Conference teams.

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"I know it was a crazy shot but the ball was going in so good for us," Belinelli said.

Bad for the Bulls was Luol Deng trying to play through the strained right hamstring he suffered before his game-winner at Toronto and coming up lame late in the third quarter. Deng reached for a pass from Joakim Noah on a fast break and immediately started hobbling, signaling for a substitute immediately.

He will be re-examined Saturday.

"I tried to take off and as soon as I pushed off, I felt a pull," Deng said. "It's swollen and painful. I tried to run in the hallway, but I had a hard time. The percentage (of playing Saturday) is very low."

Belinelli's shot vindicated a poor possession that featured him — with Kirk Hinrich fouled out for the second straight game — dribbling the entire possession and wildly forcing a 3-pointer that missed badly with 23 seconds left.

The Celtics took advantage when Jason Terry buried a 16-foot jumper over Marquis Teague with 12.5 seconds left.

"That was terrible," Belinelli said.

Jimmy Butler, who likely would start if Deng is sidelined, scored six straight points in overtime and finished with 13, one of six Bulls in double figures.

"Jimmy was terrific," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "He made hustle plays, gave us energy. He's not afraid of the moment."

Carlos Boozer's 10th double-double in 11 games pushed his Eastern Conference-leading total to 22 and featured a season-high 20 rebounds. Noah also had a double-double, pushing the Bulls' record to 13-2 since Boozer arrived when they do so in the same game.

Thibodeau played Richard Hamilton well past his minutes limit at 32 and he contributed a team-high 20 points as the Bulls survived a season-high 21 turnovers.

Noah and Butler teamed up for the play of the game, double-teaming Paul Pierce to force a jump ball with the Celtics up two with less than 10 seconds in regulation. Noah won that tip and Hinrich — after Belinelli nearly turned it over — calmly buried a 15-foot jumper with 2 seconds left to force overtime.

Noah and Kevin Garnett, whom Noah once called "a dirty player," battled throughout, drawing double technicals at one point.

"He's a helluva competitor," Noah said. "He's always on some bull(crap), just trying to throw elbows, cheap shots, trying to get you off your game. He has been doing this a long time. But it's all right.

"When we lose, I feel like he crosses the line. But since we've been beating their asses I'm cool with it."

kcjohnson@tribune.com

Twitter @kcjhoop

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Former Chicago businessman gets 14 years in terror case

Throughout Thursday's sentencing, Tahawwur Rana's children appeared nervous, his college student son bouncing his leg rapidly and his daughter, a high schooler, leaning forward with her hands clasped tightly.

After all, their father, a former doctor and businessman who was convicted in one of Chicago's most significant terrorism cases, now faced up to 30 years in prison for aiding and abetting a plot to slay and behead Danish newspaper staffers because of cartoons the paper published of the Prophet Muhammad. Rana also had been convicted of providing support to Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani terrorist organization.

But at the end of the 90-minute hearing, the brother and sister left the crowded courtroom appearing much relieved — their faces visibly softened — after U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber sentenced Rana to 14 years in prison, a little less than half of the maximum.

After court, Rana's attorneys expressed satisfaction with the sentence after arguments from federal prosecutors that Rana, 52, should serve the full 30-year term.

"I thought we had the law on our side, frankly," said Rana's attorney, Patrick Blegen. "But obviously it's a scary proposition when the government asks for such a lengthy sentence. And his family was very concerned."

Rana's trial drew international media attention because he also was charged with supporting Lashkar's terrorist attacks in 2008 that killed more than 160 people in Mumbai, India's largest city. Rana was acquitted, however, of those charges.

David Coleman Headley, Rana's childhood friend who pleaded guilty in both the Danish and Mumbai cases, was the government's star witness at the three-week trial. Headley's testimony about the inner workings of Lashkar provided a rare insight into an international terrorist network. He faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced next week.

At trial, evidence showed that Rana supported the Danish plot by letting Headley pose as an employee of Rana's Far North Side immigration business while Headley scouted the Jyllands-Posten newspaper in Copenhagen in advance of the attack. The plot was never carried out.

Rana, a Pakistan native, immigrated to the United States from Canada. He worked as a doctor before settling into Chicago, where he set up several businesses and raised three children with his wife. She did not attend Thursday's sentencing because immigration officials stopped her earlier this month when she tried to re-enter the U.S. after a family trip to Canada, according to Rana's lawyers.

At the hearing, the defense reiterated its position at trial that Rana had been drawn into the plot by a more conniving Headley.

But the sentencing also turned on whether Rana's plotting constituted an act of terrorism against the Danish government. That would have required a stiffer penalty under federal sentencing guidelines.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Collins argued for the so-called terror enhancement, saying that in statements to authorities after his arrest, Rana admitted supporting Lashkar as well as knowing that the terrorist group had targeted India in the Mumbai attack.

As for the other scheme, Collins said the plotters hoped to draw the Danish forces into a "fight to the death" after storming the newspaper and planned to make "martyr videos."

"It was not just the newspaper," Collins told the judge. "It was much broader."

But Rana's attorney disagreed, saying evidence at trial showed that Rana wanted to punish only the staff of the newspaper for cartoons that had been deemed offensive to Muslims.

Leinenweber ultimately rejected the government's argument and lowered the maximum faced by Rana to 14 years under the federal sentencing guidelines, leading Collins to make one further attempt at convincing the judge to sentence Rana to the maximum 30 years in prison.

"Defendants who want to think they can avoid detection by sitting at a safe distance need to understand there will be significant penalties when they are caught," the prosecutor said.

Blegen argued for mercy by insisting that Rana's crimes were an aberration for a man who has spent most of his life helping others and raising children who are all in school with plans to contribute to society — a sharp contrast to Headley, who testified at trial about teaching military drills to his young child at city parks.

In the end, Leinenweber noted Rana's seemingly contrasting personalities — an intelligent man convicted in a "dastardly" plot to behead a newspaper staff — and settled on 14 years in prison.

"This is about as serious as it gets," the judge said. "It only would have been more serious if it had been carried out."

asweeney@tribune.com

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FAA grounds Dreamliners in U.S.

Federal officials say they are temporarily grounding Boeing's 787 Dreamliners until the risk of possible battery fires is addressed. (Jan. 16)

With its new plane ordered to stay on the ground, Boeing Co. confronts a full-fledged crisis as it struggles to regain the confidence of passengers and the airline customers who stood by the 787 Dreamliner during years of cost overruns and delivery delays.

A second major incident involving "a potential battery fire risk'' prompted the Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday to temporarily ground all 787s operated by U.S. carriers until it is determined that the lithium-ion batteries on board are safe.

The order affects United Airlines, which is the first U.S. customer. The FAA gave no indication how soon the plane could resume flying.

The decision came the same day Japanese airlines grounded their 787s after an emergency landing and five days after the FAA and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood declared that the flying public is safe on Dreamliners. When it offered those assurances Friday, however, the FAA also announced a comprehensive review of the 787's design, manufacture and assembly.

The grounding represents a significant setback for Chicago-based Boeing, which is marketing the fuel-efficient, mainly carbon-composite jetliner as a vision of the future of commercial passenger aviation. The development of the plane was marred by long production and delivery delays, but it is selling well and has customers around the world.

"We stand behind its overall integrity. We will be taking every necessary step in the coming days to assure our customers and the traveling public of the 787's safety and to return the airplanes to service," Jim McNerney, Boeing's chairman and chief executive, said in a statement. He said Boeing is working with the FAA to find answers as quickly as possible.

Chicago-based United Airlines has six 787s, but it has been flying only one on flights between O'Hare International Airport and Houston. The airline said Wednesday night that it will accommodate customers on other planes. The domestic 787 flights were to end in late March, when United's first 787s were to begin serving international routes. 

United said it "will work closely with the FAA and Boeing on the technical review as we work toward restoring 787 service."

Foreign carriers are not affected by the FAA order, but LOT Polish Airlines canceled its inaugural flight celebration at O'Hare on Wednesday night, even before the flight landed from Warsaw.

"We just think it would be inappropriate to go ahead with the activities," said Frank Joost, regional sales director of the Americas for LOT. He described the FAA grounding of 787 flights as a "surprise."

LOT also canceled the Dreamliner's return flight to Warsaw. Passengers hoping to depart on the 9:55 p.m. flight said they were disappointed. Many were rebooked on Lufthansa through Munich.

Suzy Zaborek, 27, of Chicago was at Chicago O'Hare on Wednesday night waiting for her father to arrive from Poland aboard the 787. He came home early specifically to ride on the inaugural flight.

Zaborek had not been following the Dreamliner woes in recent weeks and the dramatic groundings on Wednesday.

"I'm glad I didn't know because I wouldn't have let him get on on of those," she said.

The FAA decision to ground all U.S.-registered 787s was the direct result of an in-flight incident involving a battery earlier in the day in Japan, FAA officials said. It followed another 787 battery fire that occurred Jan. 7 on the ground in Boston.

Both failures resulted in the release of flammable materials, heat damage, smoke and the potential for fire in the electrical compartments, the FAA said.

"Before further flight, operators of U.S.-registered Boeing 787 aircraft must demonstrate to the FAA that the batteries are safe," the regulatory agency said. The statement said the FAA will work with Boeing and airlines "to develop a corrective action plan to allow the U.S. 787 fleet to resume operations as quickly and safely as possible."

The FAA said it took drastic action because it determined that battery failures are "likely to exist or develop" in other planes.

Lithium-ion batteries can catch fire if they are overcharged, and the fires are difficult to extinguish, Boeing has previously said. Still, lithium-ion is the right choice for the 787, Boeing officials said.

Earlier Wednesday, Japan's two largest airlines grounded their fleets of 787s after one of the jets made an emergency landing and passengers were evacuated via emergency slides.

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Chief Keef jailed after judge finds probation violation

The funeral of rapper Joseph "Lil Jojo" Coleman attracted both friends and police attention this past September. (Posted on: Sep. 14, 2012)

Just weeks after releasing his debut album, "Finally Rich," South Side rapper Chief Keef was taken in handcuffs from juvenile court Tuesday after a Cook County judge ordered him held in custody.

Judge Carl Anthony Walker ruled that Chief Keef had violated his probation for a 2011 gun conviction by holding a rifle at a gun range in New York while a video was being shot last summer.

Prosecutors have been seeking to detain the 17-year-old rap sensation for weeks, most recently alleging that he had violated his probation by moving to a north suburb without telling authorities. Police interest in Chief Keef, whose real name is Keith Cozart, grew after he sent a taunting tweet following the slaying of aspiring rapper Lil Jojo in September.

After the judge ordered him taken into custody, Chief Keef emptied his pockets and handed his cellphone to his uncle before a court deputy escorted him from the courtroom in handcuffs, according to his lawyer.

During the approximately two-hour hearing, a gun range employee testified that Chief Keef was holding the rifle during an on-camera interview by Pitchfork Media, an Internet-based music publication.

The judge ruled that by holding the firearm, Chief Keef violated the terms of his 18-month probation sentence for pointing a gun at a Chicago police officer in 2011, according to Andy Conklin, a spokesman for the state's attorney's office.

The rapper is scheduled to be sentenced before Walker on Thursday. Until then, he will be locked up in the juvenile holding facility.

Chief Keef's grandmother, Margaret Carter, was disappointed with the judge's ruling and was unsure what to expect at the sentencing.

"I don't play Jesus Christ like y'all do," she told a Tribune reporter in a phone call. "We don't know what Thursday will bring us."

When news of the rapper's incarceration went viral Tuesday afternoon, supporters on Twitter urged that he be freed while others insisted he stay locked up.

Chief Keef's lawyer, Dennis Berkson, didn't contest that his client was holding the rifle, but he argued Tuesday that the rapper did not break the law because he was merely holding the weapon to promote his album, which was released Dec. 18.

Berkson added that his client never took the weapon away from the gun range.

"It was a promotion. Just like a movie," Berkson said. "There was no intent on his part to possess a gun."

Chicago police have been looking into whether Chief Keef and his allies played a role in the Sept. 4 slaying of Lil Jojo, whose real name was Joseph Coleman. The slaying garnered national attention after Chief Keef sent the taunting tweet about the slain 18-year-old hours after the killing. Chief Keef received mostly negative feedback from his more than 200,000 Twitter followers before he claimed his account had been hacked.

Chicago police also believe Coleman's death was part of an ongoing gang dispute between the Brick Squad faction of the Gangster Disciples and the rival Lamron faction of the Black Disciples. Law enforcement sources have said that Coleman was a reputed Brick Squad member, while Chief Keef was purported to be affiliated with Lamron. The sources have also said that a number of later shootings were thought to be linked to Coleman's slaying.

Neither Chief Keef nor his rap allies have been charged with any wrongdoing in Coleman's slaying or any other shootings.

Earlier this month, prosecutors alleged that Chief Keef violated his probation by moving to Northbrook without notifying officials, but Judge Walker disagreed, saying prosecutors had not presented "any credible evidence" that the teen had moved from his Dolton home.

At the time, Berkson said the rapper was spending a lot of time recording songs in the Northbrook home of his manager, where they had set up a studio.

jgorner@tribune.com

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Witness: Joliet slaying victim told 'you ain't going home tonight'

Two men and two women are due in court for killing and robbing two of their friends.

Friends and relatives of the victims of last week's double homicide in Joliet gathered outside the Will County Courthouse Monday afternoon, asking that the slaying suspects be brought to justice.

Eric Glover, 22, and Terrance Rankins, 22, were found strangled Thursday in a home in the 1100 block of North Hickory Street. Police said robbery appeared to be the motive.

The four defendants — Adam Landerman, 19, Alisa Massaro, 18, Bethany McKee, 18, and Joshua Miner, 24 — each face first-degree murder charges and remain in custody on $10 million bond. Landerman is the son of a Joliet police officer.

When the suspects were arrested Thursday afternoon, three of them were partying inside the home, officials have said.

Friends of the victims said Rankins and Glover were called to the home by the women charged in their deaths. Casey Smith said Rankins called Wednesday night and joked that the women were telling him and Glover that they had been "kidnapped."

"He said they told him, 'You ain't going home tonight,'" Smith recalled, adding that Rankins thought it was a joke. "They said, 'You're kidnapped and you ain't going home.'"

Rankins' mother, Jammille Kent, said her son was best friends with Glover. When she last spoke to her son the night before police discovered his body, he told her he was going out. She tried texting him at 11:15 p.m. and then called his phone several times when he did not respond. Normally, he would answer the phone or return calls right away, she said.

"He knew them," she said of the defendants. "But they weren't friends. I knew his friends, and those weren't his friends."

When her son did not return home Thursday, she contacted her cellphone provider to see if they could trace the location of his phone. They were unable to locate the phone but told her the last number to be called or to call her son's phone belonged to McKee, she said. That call came in at 8:49 p.m. Wednesday, she said.

Glover graduated from Joliet Central High School in 2008. He played minor league football in the area and coached youth football with his stepdad, Bobby Jones.

On Wednesday, Glover watched a movie with his fiancee and his mother and stepdad and left about 6 p.m., Jones said. "Last thing we said (to him) was we love you, be careful," Jones said.

Rankins grew up in Joliet and was a 2010 graduate of Joliet West High School. His mother said he had hoped to go to college and wanted to be a social worker. He enjoyed making music, dancing and playing sports, she said.

A Will County judge set a preliminary hearing in the case for Feb. 5.

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Golden Globes: 'Les Miz' 'Argo' and 'Girls' win big

The Best Actress nominee struggles to keep her "Girls" in her beautiful Zac Posen gown and reveals her favorite way to watch her hit HBO show.

Hosting the 70th Golden Globes Sunday in Beverly Hills, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler proved it was possible to skewer their Hollywood colleagues without entirely alienating the crowd, as distinct from previous host Ricky Gervais.

Some 20 years after Fey and Poehler first met as improvisers at the Chicago comedy hub i.O. Theater, the pair were relaxed, funny and fully in control as they took in a room filled with the biggest stars of films “that have only been in theaters for two days,” and “the rat-faced people of television.”

Aside from their opening monologue, however, Fey and Poehler popped up only intermittently throughout the NBC broadcast.

The show — which included a rambling and unwieldy speech by lifetime achievement award winner Jodie Foster and a surpise win for “Argo” as best picture and Ben Affleck as best director — could have used their spikey interjections to give a discombobulated night a stronger throughline.

But the co-hosts' bits right at the top were pure gold. Referring to the controversy surrounding the depiction of torture in “Zero Dark Thirty,” Poehler teed up a joke that probably came closest to Gervais-level comedic bite, noting of director Kathryn Bigelow: “I haven't been following the controversy … but when it comes to torture, I trust the lady who spent three years married to James Cameron,” a line that prompted a shocked laugh from “Zero Dark” star (and best actress winner) Jessica Chastain.

Fey aimed her own zinger toward “Django Unchained” filmmaker Quentin Tarantino (a winner for best screenplay), whom she called “the star of all my sexual nightmares,” and then looked over at “Les Miserables” co-star Anne Hathaway (best actress in a film comedy or musical) and remarked, “I have not seen someone totally alone and abandoned (as Hathaway's ‘Miserables' character, Fantine) since you were onstage with James Franco hosting the Oscars.” Poehler noted a significant absence in the audience Sunday: “Meryl Streep is not here tonight because she has the flu — and I hear she's amazing in it.”

On the red carpet earlier in the night, Fey and Poehler stressed that their own nominations were the least of their concerns, and when their names were announced as nominess, Fey jokingly gritted her teeth with Jennifer Lopez by her side, while Poehler snuggled up to George Clooney. Neither won. The honor went to “Girls” creator and star Lena Dunham, who thanked her fellow nominees “for getting me through middle school.” (“Girls” also won for best comedy television series.) As a follow-up, Fey and Poehler appeared on stage, drinks in hand, disconsolate. “Glad we got you through middle school, Lena,” said Fey, who then directed her attention towards singer Taylor Swift: “You stay away from Michael J. Fox's son,” she instructed. “Or go for it,” added Poehler.

In TV, the big winner was “Homeland,” which was named best drama. The Showtime drama also notched acting wins for stars Damian Lewis and Claire Danes, echoing their Emmy wins. That came as no surprise — unlike Don Cheadle's win (over the likes of Alec Baldwin, Jim Parsons and Louis C.K.) for his role in “House of Lies,” also on Showtime.

In the movie categories, Jennifer Lawrence (“Silver Linings Playbook”) toppled Streep, Maggie Smith and Judi Dench in winning best actress in a comedy or musical, accepting her award with a sly wink at noted awards-season campaigner and movie mogul Harvey Weinstein: “Harvey, thank you for killing whoever you had to kill to get me up here today.” Best supporting actor honors went to Christoph Waltz as the German bounty hunter in “Django Unchained.”

Former President Bill Clinton made an unexpected appearance to introduce the clips from “Lincoln,” a film that depicts a commander in chief pushing a bill through Congress with the help of some unsavory deal-making. “I wouldn't know anything about that,” joked Clinton. Poehler then followed him onstage and exclaimed, “Oh my God, that's Hillary Clinton's husband!” Daniel Day-Lewis won best actor for his performance in “Lincoln,” as well.

Some lighter moments shone: Hilariously, presenters Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell pretended to have seen each of the movies nominated, when clearly they hadn't, a bit that amused most in the audience — with the exception of a stone-faced Tommy Lee Jones. Upon her win, Hathaway clutched her Golden Globe and said, “Thank you for this lovely, blunt object” that she would forevermore use “as a weapon against self-doubt.” (Previous Golden Globe winner Richard Dreyfuss later Tweeted: “Lovely blunt objects make only OK weapons against self-doubt. #goldenglobes #trustme.”)

Michael Haneke, the Austrian filmmaker whose “Amour” won for Best Foreign Film, was awarded the prize by Arnold Schwarzenegger. “I never thought I would get an award in Hollywood from an Austrian,” he said.

Smith (not in attendance) won for best supporting actress in a TV series as the droll dowager countess on the PBS hit “Downton Abbey.”

The best surprise reaction early on had to be from pop star Adele. Winning best original song for the theme to the James Bond film “Skyfall,” she admitted she'd come to the awards with a fellow new mom, both eager for a night out: “We've been (wetting) ourselves laughing,” she said. Wrapping up the night, Poehler announced: “We're going home with Jodie Foster.”

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NHL lockout officially over

Chicago Blackhawks winger Bryan Bickell talking about the end of the NHL lockout and the challenges of playing a shortened season. Bickell talked Friday following an informal practice at Johnny's IceHouse West.

By Chris Kuc




Tribune reporter

9:38 p.m. CST, January 12, 2013

It's back to work for the NHL.

The lockout that paralyzed the league for 119 days officially ended Saturday night when the NHL and NHLPA signed a Memorandum of Understanding -- a mini version of the collective bargaining agreement -- after the union ratified the agreement that was reached last Sunday earlier Saturday.

The Blackhawks will start training camp on Sunday.

As previously reported, the Chicago Blackhawks will open the season Jan. 19 with an afternoon game against the Kings in Los Angeles. The NHL released the regular-season schedule and the Hawks face a tough test right out of the gate with 10 of their first 12 games on the road while Disney on Ice and the Bulls occupy the United Center.
The Hawks' home opener is Jan. 22 against the St. Louis Blues.

ckuc@tribune.com

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Bulls hold on to beat Knicks 108-101

Bulls beat the Knicks 108-101 on Friday.

NEW YORK — Three players and a coach were not around to witness the end of the last Bulls-Knicks game at Madison Square Garden.

That coach was New York's Mike Woodson, who forecasted another battle royale.

"Chicago, the Celtics, Indiana … teams that play defense and get after it, there will be (intense) games," he said. "I expect (this) will be no different."

It turned out completely different, a walk in the park for the Bulls — for 44 minutes. But even after giving up 12 straight points late in the fourth quarter, Chicago left town with a solid 108-101 victory.

"When you build a cushion," coach Tom Thibodeau said, "you can withstand things not going your way. The most important thing is getting the win."

Marco Belinelli came through at the end, hitting 5 of 6 free throws and making a steal to lock up the victory. The Bulls improved to 3-0 against the Knicks, a mark that pleases native New Yorker Joakim Noah to no end.

"It feels great," he said. "Everybody's locked in when we play the Knicks. It's easy to get up for games like this — big stage, playing in the Garden."

Luol Deng scored 33 points on 13-for-18 shooting, besting his season high of 29 that came Dec. 21 in that wild, four-point Bulls victory in New York that featured nine technical fouls.

"Honestly it's not about the scoring," he said. "I just want to play well. I score for the team, but I don't go out trying to get big numbers. I never focus on one thing."

Carmelo Anthony scored 39 points, but most came after the game was decided. And he shot just 14-for-32.

"(Deng) guarded Carmelo about as well as you can," Thibodeau said.

There were no scraps or technical fouls Friday, just superb basketball from the visitors, who improved to 9-1 on the road against Eastern Conference foes.

The Bulls scored the game's first five points and cruised to a 57-36 halftime lead.

Noah (nine points, eight rebounds, four assists, four blocks) surprised observers by reprising his "finger guns" celebration after nailing a 15-foot jumper in the first quarter. Noah had ditched that after the elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn.

"I just got too hyped," he said, implying he would not do it again.

The Bulls allowed New York to score 41 points in the fourth quarter — and nail 11 of 17 from deep in the second half.

"We opened up the 3-point line against a team that can shoot the 3," Thibodeau said. "We want to learn and improve. (But) I want to look at the game in totality."

Until the late flurry, the Bulls were totally dominant, building a 101-80 lead with 3 minutes, 47 seconds to play.

"I wish every game was here," Noah said. "It's the best, man."

tgreenstein@tribune.com

Twitter @TeddyGreenstein

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1 dead, 1 wounded in South Side attack

Chicago police work at the scene of a fatal shooting at 71st an Jeffery on Chicago's southeast side. (Phil Velasquez, Chicago Tribune / January 10, 2013)

Staff report

10:42 p.m. CST, January 10, 2013

Two men were wounded, one fatally, in a shooting in the South Shore neighborhood this evening, police said. Two others were shot, one fatally, in a separate Englewood neighborhood attack. 

The most recent shooting happened about 9:30 p.m. in the 6300 block of South Honore Street. One man died and another was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, police said, and he's expected to survive. 

An earlier shooting took place about 6:13 p.m. in the 2000  block of East 71st Street — near Jeffery Boulevard —said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Veejay Zala.

One man was shot and died on the scene, the other suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for treatment, said Zala. A condition was not available.

News Affairs had no immediate information on any of the circumstances of the shooting.

Another person was shot in the 1200 block of South Jeffersron Street in the South Loop neighborhood before 9 p.m. That person is in stable conditoin at John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County. 

Check back for more information. 

chicagobreaking@tribune.com
Twitter: @ChicagoBreaking

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Bucks' strong second half enough for victory over Bulls

New coach Jim Boylan chuckled pregame Wednesday night when asked if he discussed what happened the last time the Bucks visited the United Center.

"I don't think you want to bring up the fact you were down 27 points midway through a third quarter," Boylan said.

This time, the Bucks "only" trailed by 15 in the opening period, but the comeback carried the same weight. Preventing the Bulls from posting their first, four-game winning streak this season, the Bucks stormed back behind a scintillating performance from Brandon Jennings for a 104-96 triumph.

Jennings scored 20 of his opponent-season-high 35 points in the third period, mocking Nate Robinson's winged airplane routine on two of his four 3-pointers in the period. Robinson, starting for the injured Kirk Hinrich, punctuated his 13 first-quarter points with several demonstrative gestures.

"I really don't take kindly to trash talking because I don't do a lot of trash talking," Jennings said. "I warned him. And then I got ticked off at halftime and just attacked."

That the Bucks rallied despite beating the Suns at home on Tuesday while the Bulls rested made the victory all the more impressive. Boylan is 2-0 since replacing the departed Scott Skiles on Monday, getting 16 points and four 3-pointers off the bench from Mike Dunleavy.

"We had a good edge to start but then we started trading buckets," coach Tom Thibodeau said. "They got to every loose ball, made the effort plays. In the first half, we moved the ball. In the second half, we didn't, which led to their 15 blocked shots."

That's the most blocks for a Bulls' opponent since the Magic had the same on April 6, 2005. Larry Sanders posted seven as the Bulls shot 29.8 percent in the second half.

"Larry's presence around the basket is intimidating," Boylan said. "Guys go in there and they're looking for him."

Robinson disputed this as vehemently as he disputed his duel with Jennings got out of hand, emphasizing on the former that the Bulls kept attacking the basket. As for the latter, Robinson said the trash talking is "just basketball."

Robinson finished with 19 points, six assists, five rebounds and a career-high-tying five steals, so it's not like he got distracted. Still, Thibodeau was asked if he would rather see Robinson keep his emotions in check.

"It's a competitive game," Thibodeau said. "Some guys do it and they're fine. To me, if you do it and that's the way you are and you're not distracted … I prefer just to concentrate on doing your job."

Translated: Yes.

The Bulls' last gasp faded when Marco Belinelli missed a wide-open 3-pointer with 69 seconds left and failed to close a 100-96 deficit. Belinelli later followed with a frustration foul on Sanders, who blocked his attempt on the next possession.

Carlos Boozer posted 22 points and 11 rebounds for his sixth straight double-double, his longest streak as a Bull.

"Having Kirk out was a huge factor because of the pressure he applies to Brandon in the backcourt," Boylan said.

Didn't look like much could stop Jennings.

kcjohnson@tribune.com

Twitter @kcjhoop

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Attorney: Poisoned lottery winner's widow has 'nothing to hide'

The widow of a West Rogers Park man who died of cyanide poisoning weeks after winning a $1 million lottery jackpot was questioned extensively by Chicago police last month after the medical examiner's office reclassified the death as a homicide, her attorney told the Tribune on Tuesday.

Authorities investigating the death of Urooj Khan also executed a search warrant at the home he had shared with his wife, Shabana Ansari, according to Steven Kozicki, her attorney. Ansari later was interviewed by detectives for more than four hours, answering all their questions, the attorney said.

"She's got nothing to hide," Kozicki said.

The mystery surrounding Khan's death — first reported by the Tribune in a front-page story Monday — has sparked international media interest.

Cook County authorities said Tuesday that they plan to go to court in the next few days for approval to exhume Khan's remains at Rosehill Cemetery. In a telephone interview Tuesday, Medical Examiner Stephen J. Cina said he sent a sworn statement to prosecutors laying out why the body must be exhumed.

"I feel that a complete autopsy is needed for the sake of clarity and thoroughness," Cina said.

Sally Daly, a spokeswoman for the state's attorney's office, confirmed that papers seeking the exhumation would be filed soon in the Daley Center courthouse.

Khan, who owned a dry cleaning business on the city's North Side, died unexpectedly in July at 46, just weeks after winning a million-dollar lottery prize at a 7-Eleven store near his home. Finding no trauma to his body and no unusual substances in his blood, the medical examiner's office declared his death to be from natural causes and he was buried without an autopsy.

About a week later, a relative told authorities to take a closer look at Khan's death. By early December, comprehensive toxicology tests showed that Khan had died of a lethal amount of cyanide, leading the medical examiner's office to reclassify the death a homicide and prompting police and prosecutors to investigate.

While a motive has not been determined, police have not ruled out that Khan was killed because of his big lottery win, a law enforcement source has told the Tribune. He died before he could collect the winnings — about $425,000 after taxes and because he decided to take a lump-sum payment.

According to court records obtained by the Tribune, Khan's brother has squabbled with Ansari over the money in probate court. The brother, Imtiaz, raised concern that because Khan left no will, his 17-year-old daughter from a previous marriage would not get "her fair share" of her father's estate. Khan and Ansari did not have children.

Al-Haroon Husain, an attorney for Ansari in the probate case, said the money was all accounted for and the estate was in the process of being divided up by the court. Under Illinois law, the estate typically would be split evenly between the surviving spouse and Khan's only child, he said.

Kozicki, Ansari's criminal defense attorney, said his client adored her husband and had no financial interest in seeing harm come to him.

"Now in addition to grieving her husband, she's struggling to run the business that he essentially ran while he was alive," Kozicki said. "Once people analyze it, they (would) realize she's in a much worse financial position after his death than she was before."

Reached by phone Tuesday evening at the family dry cleaners, Ansari denied reports that she had fed her husband a traditional Indian meal of ground beef curry before he died. She said he wasn't feeling well after awakening in the middle of the night. She said he sat in a chair and soon collapsed. She then called 911.

Chicago police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, speaking Tuesday at an unrelated news conference, remarked that he had never seen a case like this in 32 years in law enforcement.

"So I'll never say that I've seen everything," he told reporters.

jmeisner@tribune.com

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Magical run for Irish ends in rout

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — On a flawless South Florida night, Notre Dame players saw a legend emerge in present time. To their bone-deep disbelief, it was not them.

The eruption of confetti and joy surrounded them, and their shock and desolation filled the spaces in between. A program lost for a quarter-century might not be directionless, but the top looked far away from here.

A moment the Irish believed they were meant to have, a perfect season driven toward this, ended in a quiet walk out of sight and into another year of what might be. Alabama is the national champion, again, the SEC's marauding run extended to a seventh straight year with a 42-14 humiliation of Notre Dame on Monday, the Irish's first loss also their most excruciating.

Twenty-four years since that last title in 1988, and 24 years spent wandering through losses and death and empty promise. The light at the end of it all was that crystal football hoisted skyward. It remained far, far beyond their grasp at Sun Life Stadium and claimed by a different reborn college football dynasty.

It was an oppressive deluge of unprepared and nerve-racked play from the start, the most yards surrendered by Notre Dame (13-1) all year and the most points surrendered by Notre Dame in a bowl game ever. Eddie Lacy rampaged for 140 yards, AJ McCarron threw for 264 and four touchdowns and Alabama (13-1) did, basically, whatever it wanted.

Alabama players called a meeting shortly after their arrival in Florida, and some mused that it reflected a fracture in the focus of the defending champs. But the stoicism the Crimson Tide demonstrated all week turned out to be determination to kick the ever-loving tar out of the Irish on Monday.

It required Alabama only five plays to find the end zone. Lacy was the sledgehammer — and the Irish helped by leaning into the swing with two penalties — and it was 7-0 after the longest touchdown drive and the first first-quarter touchdown allowed by Notre Dame all season.

The Irish's answer was a three-and-out. Then it was more Lacy and more evisceration, with the junior's 20-yard run setting up a 3-yard McCarron touchdown pass to tight end Michael Williams to make it 14-0. Then another punt, then more curb-stomping, this time 25-yard and 28-yard McCarron completions setting up a T.J. Yeldon touchdown run.

One play into the second quarter, Alabama had evacuated nearly all hope from the building for Notre Dame. It was a 21-0 lead, arrived at brutally, with special indifference to destiny and fortune. Alabama was destroying everything Notre Dame built over a brilliant season, stomping validation into a million little pieces.

Just before halftime, McCarron clinically moved Alabama down the field, lofting a 27-yard pass to Christion Jones and then dumping one off to Lacy, who spun and spun and rumbled into the end zone for a 28-0 lead. The resilient Irish had no answers, the stout defense had no chance.

There was a flicker of promise to begin the second half, and Alabama safety HaHa Clinton-Dix snuffed it out with an acrobatic interception. From there, a bad night for the Irish defense got worse. Alabama started a 92-yard march that ended with McCarron hitting a completely uncovered Amari Cooper for 34 yards and a 35-0 lead.

Notre Dame finally responded with an 85-yard drive to an Everett Golson 2-yard option keeper for a touchdown to make it 35-7, ending the Tide's 108-minute shutout streak in BCS championship appearances. When McCarron answered with another scoring toss to Cooper, all that was left was getting out alive and figuring where to go from here.

After that last title in 1988, won by another unlikely champion in the third year of an energizing coach's tenure, the pall descended. After Lou Holtz, it was Bob Davie and George O'Leary's resume and Tyrone Willingham and Charlie Weis' decided schematic advantage, and it was nothing but false positives and failed plans.

Then Brian Kelly arrived in the winter of 2009. If the cloud lifted, it was still hazy at times. There was Matt James and Declan Sullivan and Lizzy Seeberg and sideline tirades and temporary fractures in the locker room amid two passable eight-win seasons. There was no definable reason to expect a title run to happen this year, and then it did.

It seemed, regardless of the outcome Monday, Notre Dame might be a fully functional college football leviathan humming along. Then came the mighty Tide and a dent in the validation. The Irish making it this far proves a great deal. The Irish absorbing such a bracing setback means they must prove much more.

So off they went, dazed and empty-handed. All around them the new college football dynasty celebrated. All around them, Notre Dame saw what it desperately wanted to become.

Off they went, into the tunnels, a brilliant season ending well short of legend. And the Irish would do what everyone before them had done for a quarter-century, and wake up in the morning just waiting to get back.

bchamilton@tribune.com

Twitter @ChiTribHamilton

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Chicago Ridge fire official put on leave after attack charges

A Chicago Ridge fire official has been charged in a Tinley Park home invasion that has rattled neighbors. CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports.

A Chicago Ridge deputy fire chief Sunday evening was being held on $150,000 bond after prosecutors alleged that he broke into a neighbor's home wearing a ski mask and carrying a knife.

Gary Swiercz, 49, of the 8100 block of West 168th Place in Tinley Park, has been charged with attempted murder, home invasion, aggravated unlawful restraint, aggravated attempted criminal sexual assault and residential burglary, authorities said.

Cook County Circuit Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. also ordered electronic monitoring if Swiercz posts bail.

Swiercz, who has been with the department for about 24 years, was placed on paid leave Saturday, Chicago Ridge Mayor Gene Siegel said. Swiercz started in the department as a firefighter, earning the rank of deputy chief about five years ago, the mayor said.

"I am surprised and shocked and do extend our best wishes to the victim," Siegel said. "That was an awful thing that she had to endure.

"There was never anything in his history that would make you think something like this would happen," he added. "I don't think there was any indication that something was wrong … It's really weird and hard to believe that this happened. That he could have done something like this."

Swiercz allegedly broke into the home of a woman in his condo building early Saturday while wearing a ski mask and carrying a folding knife. He also had duct tape, rope, a sex toy and lubricant, Assistant State's Attorney Dan Calandriello said in court.

Prosecutors alleged during a bond hearing that Swiercz put his hand on the woman's mouth while she was sleeping, then put a 3-inch blade to her throat and threatened to slash it. He held her hands together and forced her into the kitchen, where he pushed her against a cabinet, Calandriello said.

He threw her to the ground, grabbed her by the hair and slammed her to the ground multiple times, authorities allege. She suffered a swollen lip and a knot to the back on her head, Calandriello said.

Swiercz fled through the rear door of the home, and witnesses saw him throwing items into a Dumpster, Calandriello said.

Swiercz's attorney, Colleen McSweeney Moore, called the incident "out of character" for the deputy fire chief. She speculated in court that a medication error could have played a role in the incident, but in an interview outside court she could not elaborate.

Swiercz served as the fire chief in Worth between 2005 and 2008, his attorney said.

Police were called to the condo building about 2:35 a.m. Saturday on a report of a home invasion, the Tinley Park police said. Upon arriving at the scene, police said they found Swiercz in the condominium parking lot and took him into custody. The woman was treated for minor injuries at the scene, police said.

nnix@tribune.com

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Englewood shooting victim dies

An afternoon shooting in the Englewood neighborhood has left a man dead on a day in which at least 10 people have been shot since 12 a.m., according to authorities.

At 3:10 p.m. someone shot a male victim multiple times in the abdomen in the 5500 block of South Loomis Boulevard, News Affairs Officer Daniel O’Brien said.

The victim, a man in his 20s, was taken from the scene of the shooting in the Englewood neighborhood to John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital of Cook County, where he was pronounced dead at 3:52 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Saturday night about 8:30 p.m., a male was shot in the West Town neighborhood, police said.

The male, whose age and condition were not immediately released, was taken from the 1800 block of West Maypole Avenue to Stroger with a gunshot wound to the buttocks.

About 7:10 p.m., two men were injured in a shooting in the 5100 block of West Oakdale Avenue, O'Brien said.

A 25-year-old man was taken in critical condition to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the back, O'Brien said. A 21-year-old man was taken to the same hospital in good condition with a gunshot wound to the wrist, O'Brien said.

The shooting happened in the Cragin neighborhood on the Northwest Side.

Late Saturday morning, a shooting in the Back of the Yards neighborhood left another victim shot in the abdomen and seriously wounded.

Someone shot the male in the abdomen at 11:48 a.m. in the 4500 block of South Marshfield Avenue, according to Chicago Police Department News Affairs Officer Michael Sullivan.

He was taken to John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County in serious condition, Sullivan said.

The circumstances surrounding the shooting were not known immediately but Sullivan said no one was arrested.

Earlier Saturday, four people were shot in two separate incidents before the sun rose, and a fifth man was killed in a West Side shooting.

chicagobreaking@tribune.com

Twitter: @ChicagoBreaking

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Escapee's mother: 'I'm glad it's over'

Chicago Tribune reporter Jason Meisner on the recent arrest of Kenneth Conley, a convicted bank robber who escaped from federal jail in December. (Posted on: Jan. 4, 2013.)

The second inmate who made a daring escape last month from a high-rise federal jail in the South Loop was captured today in south suburban Palos Hills, according to FBI officials.

Kenneth Conley, a convicted bank robber, was awaiting sentencing when he and cellmate Joseph “Jose” Banks scaled about 15 floors down the Metropolitan Correctional Center on Dec. 18 with a rope fashioned from bedsheets.

FBI Spokeswoman Joan Hyde said Conley was apprehended at an apartment complex at about 4 p.m. by Palos Hills police.

Palos Hills Police Deputy Chief James Boie said officers apprehended Conley with the help of two maintenance men working at an apartment complex in the 10200 block of South 86th Terrace, who called police at about 3:30 p.m. to report a “suspicious person.''

In 2004, Conley used to live on another street of the Scenic Tree complex where police were initially called, Boie said.

At least two officers who had been checking out the complaint were talking with the building maintenance workers in the basement of the building on 86th Terrace but did not find Conley. 

As they were leaving, they saw their lieutenant outside on the street about a half a block away, involved in a dispute with Conley, who’d been walking eastbound, Boie said.

Conley was dressed in an overcoat, pretending to use a cane and was wearing glasses. He had a dark hat pulled down low over his head and appeared to be trying to look older than he actually was, Boie said.

“Our officers stopped to talk to him and he said he was just visiting,” Boie said. “He gave them a phony name, and while they’re trying to run the information, he got wise that they were going to figure it out and he pushed one of the officers down and took off running.”

Before fleeing, Conley slugged the lieutenant, a 30-year department veteran, and the lieutenant had injuries including a possible torn hamstring. Boie said the lieutenant was taken to Palos Community Hospital for treatment.

Boie said two additional officers responding to the scene caught the man -- later identified as Conley -- about a block away as he was trying to force his way into an apartment at the complex.

He was wrestled down but did not offer any other resistance. Conley was also taken to Palos Community Hospital for observation, according to Boie.

When police were called about the suspicious person, the lieutenant, a sergeant and an officer initially went to check it out, said police Chief Paul J. Madigan.

When Conley could not provide identification the struggle broke out, with Conley taking a swing at one of the officers before fleeing into one of the buildings, Madigan said.

Conley was finally apprehended when he tried to break into someone’s apartment, Madigan said.

Conley told police he injured his arm during the struggle.  He remains in the custody of federal authorities, Madigan said.

The multi-unit complex is made up of clusters of 2-story, brick buildings, with a wooded area behind it.

Police found a BB pistol in Conley’s pocket. He had no money, ID or other weapons, Boie said.

Boie said that U.S. Marshals had been in the area days earlier after getting a tip that Conley had knocked on the door of a former acquaintance.

Boie said Conley was known to the police because he’d had multiple resisting and obstructing arrests in 2004. Even still, they were surprised when they realized who they’d just arrested.

“I’m sure they were a little surprised that they had the guy standing in front of them,’’ Boie said.

As far as what happens next, Boie said it was not up to their department.

“It’s been turned over to the FBI and I’m sure the next move is theirs,’’ Boie said.

Boie said Conley was charged with two misdemeanor counts of battery and resisting arrest for today’s incident.

Conley’s mother, Sandra, answered the phone at her Tinley Park home this evening and said she had heard of her son’s arrest but had no details or comment.

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