Three men are in custody after a CBS2 reporting team was threatened and their news van vandalized outside the Adler Planetarium on Monday afternoon, according to officials. According to an officer involved with the inquiry, the men are also accused of threatening other neighborhoods with rifles in neighborhoods before and after the lakefront incident.
A man reported to Chicago police shortly before 4 p.m. that four Hispanic men in a white pickup truck-style tow truck attacked him and his girlfriend while they were loading jet skis into the water at the Daley Park boat ramp, 3150 South Western Avenue, according to the source. The couple decided not to file a police report.
About 30 minutes later, authorities suspect the same truck approached the news van, which was parked on the lakefront as a reporter and photographer prepared to go live for the 4:30 p.m. newscast, according to the station.
The broadcaster stated that three males got out of the truck. One of them allegedly attempted to provoke a dog to attack the station’s Black news photographer while shouting racial obscenities. The dog did not bite, but the other two guys confronted the news crew, one shattering the station’s news camera and the other smashing the news van’s window with a traffic cone, the station reported. There were no bodily injuries reported.
Officers who arrived at the scene spoke with witnesses and the TV team before radioing descriptions of three males, all of whom were described as White.
About 20 minutes later, a Brighton Park 911 caller said that someone in a white pickup vehicle had threatened them with a firearm near the 4200 block of South Western Avenue. Police swiftly spotted a white pickup truck-style tow truck traveling erratically, crossing the median, speeding, and running red lights, and attempted to stop it near 42nd Street and Campbell Avenue.
The driver brake-checked the pursuing cop car, causing it to rear-end the truck, but the chase continued until at least three guys exited the vehicle and fled. According to a source, cops pursued the suspects on foot and immediately detained two Hispanic individuals. According to Ald. Julia Ramirez (12th), police ultimately detained three people. Officers also found a rifle at the scene. Charges were pending Tuesday morning.
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