A man followed a 14-year-old girl as she was walking home from her Northwest Side school Thursday and tried to convince her to get into his vehicle, police said today in a community alert. The girl was in the vicinity of Belden and Campbell Avenues about 2:30 or 3 p.m. when the man spoke to her in English and Spanish, telling her to get into his vehicle. The man was described in the police alert as Hispanic, about 25-35, wearing a navy blue sweater. He was driving a silver, older-model Jeep with a beige stripe at the bottom. Police said the vehicle had a flag hanging from the rear-view mirror, described as light blue with a yellow circle in the middle and containing white stars. Anyone with information about this suspect or the vehicle is asked to call Grand-Central Area police at 312-746-8282. — Staff report

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Police warn of child abduction attempt

Lech Walesa at NEIU

Lech Walesa, former president of Poland, used the opportunity today to call for world government during the dedication of a building in his honor at Northeastern Illinois University. The Northwest Side university named Lech Walesa Hall to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of Communism in Poland.  Walesa is generally credited with that accomplishment, which led to the collapse of the Soviet Union and its satellite empire. Walesa noted that years ago he called for a united states of Europe saying, “I had a copyright on the idea.” Today, he said the alternatives are chaos or increasing unity of countries across the globe. The university sits close to part of the Chicago Polish community. — Ron Grossman

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Ex-Polish president speaks at NEIU

Murder charges were approved against a second teen implicated in the beating and fatal shooting of a 15-year-old Southwest Side boy who refused to acknowledge his assailants’ gang, authorities said. The latest first-degree murder charges were filed against Edgar Silva, 18, of the 5100 block of South Albany Avenue, Chicago police announced this afternoon.  Police did not release further information, including how Silva was involved in the crime. He was scheduled to appear for a bond hearing Friday, police said. Bail was denied today for the first teen charged with first-degree murder, 15-year-old Jovanny Martinez, of the 3100 block of South Emerald Avenue. Authorities alleged that on May 1 the victim, 15-year-old Alex Arellano, of the 8900 block of South Escanaba Avenue, and several girls were walking to a friend’s home near Sacramento Avenue and 54th Place. “While walking there, the victim was confronted by two individuals on bikes who asked the victim what he was about, referring to his gang affiliation,” Assistant State’s Atty. John Dillon said in court. “The victim responded he was about nothing and the two individuals rode away.” A short time later, a Ford Mustang containing a group of Latin King gang members, including the two individuals on bikes, pulled up to the address at 3043 W. 54th Pl. The group, wielding baseball bats, demanded the victim to “throw up the crown,” or show the symbol of the Latin Kings, and when Arellano refused, the began to beat him with the bats. Arellano escaped briefly, but was run down by the driver of the Mustang, and his assailants caught up and resumed the beating, Dillon said. When Arellano escaped a second time, he fled into the back yard of a vacant home, where the offenders followed and continued to beat him before Arellano was shot once in the head, according to Dillon. A concerned citizen who witnessed the beating and saw Martinez walking away from the vacant home called 911, and officers found Martinez about 10 minutes later approximately two blocks from the scene. Dillon said Martinez fled, tossing a gun as he ran, but was caught by police and the weapon was recovered. He was arrested and cited in a juvenile petition for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. But Arellano’s body was not discovered until the following day. At about 2 a.m. on May 2, a person smelled something burning and believed someone was barbecuing at the vacant home. Later that afternoon, the victim’s charred remains were found in the yard, Dillon said. A shell casing recovered from the yard, and a bullet taken from Arellano’s body matched the weapon recovered from Martinez, and blood on Martinez’ pant was an exact match to a DNA sample from the victim, Dillon said. Martinez has been in custody at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center since May 1 on the gun charge, but that charge was dropped after he was charged Wednesday as an adult in Arellano’s murder. Martinez has a prior finding of delinquency for unlawful use of a weapon, for which he was sentenced to 18 months probation, Dillon said. His attorney, Tim Biasiello, asked that Circuit Judge Laura Sullivan deny prosecutors’ request for no bail. “He is a young boy, he comes from a poor family,” Biasiello said. “We would ask for a reasonable bond.” Dillon did not say whether any other suspects were known or in custody for the slaying. “We just feel a little relief that finally it’s coming together,” said Juan Tirado, Arellano’s uncle. “We’re over here, praying every day for these people to get caught and for justice to be served.” Tirado complimented the police. “It seems like they’re doing a very good job,” he said. Tirado said the family was told of the charges early this morning with a phone call from police.  They learned more details from the media as the day wore on and from friends who attended the bond hearing.  He said he hoped more information will come out that will lead to the arrest of the other people who may have been involved. Tirado again expressed disbelief that his nephew was involved in any gangs, saying the family knew nothing of any affiliations. A MySpace photo of his nephew appearing to throw gang signs was just a front, he said. “It was something he was doing on his own to look cool,” Tirado said. “We just asked ourselves, though, no matter what, nobody deserves what happened to him.  Obviously there has to be a greater motive, and hopefully the investigation will find that out.” Although the two are charged as adults because they are juveniles, authorities were not releasing mug shots of either teen charged in the case. — Matt Walberg , Angela Rozas

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More charges in death of boy beaten, burned, shot

Authorities have charged a 15-year-old Chicago boy with murder in connection with the death of another teen found shot to death in a Southwest Side gangway earlier this month, police said this morning. The body of Alex Arellano , 15, was found in the 3000 block of West 54th Place on May 2. The teen’s relatives said at the time he had been severely beaten and burned by multiple attackers, but an autopsy later found that he died of a gunshot wound to the head. Jovanny Martinez, of the 3100 block of South Emerald Avenue, has been charged as an adult with one count of first-degree murder in the incident and is expected to make his first court appearance today. He was identified in a photo line-up, according to police. Arellano was reported missing a day before his body was discovered. A friend of the teen called his uncle, Juan Tirano, saying Arellano had been chased by a group of gang members who beat him with baseball bats and struck him with a car. Arellano last attended Chicago Discovery Academy on Sept. 9. Relatives pulled him out of school after he received gang threats. He was not enrolled at the time of his death. — Andrew L. Wang

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Teen held in slaying of boy beaten, burned, shot

Three people were arrested Wednesday night after a three-vehicle crash in the South Side’s Englewood neighborhood in which nine people were taken to local hospitals with injuries, authorities said. Police said that just before 10 p.m. Monroe District officers saw an occupant of a vehicle in the 1600 block of South Paulina Street open fire at a person on the sidewalk. When officers tried to stop the vehicle — which a fire department spokesman later said was a Nissan Pathfinder sports-utility vehicle — it sped away, eventually getting on the Dan Ryan Expressway and heading south. The Nissan exited and crashed into two other vehicles at 75th Street and Vincennes Avenue. Officers arrested three occupants of the SUV at the scene and recovered a weapon, police said. The crash involved the SUV, a BMW sedan and a church van, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said. At least three people, including the driver, were in the church van, he added, but it was unclear how many people were in the other vehicles. Two men who were in the SUV were taken to a local hospital in serious-to-critical condition, Langford said. Five other people were taken to a local hospital in fair-to-serious condition and two others were transported in good condition. No pedestrians were hurt in the incident. Robert Campbell, pastor of 1st Corinthian Baptist Church, 7500 S. Halsted St., said there were about a half-dozen people in the van, which was taking church choir members home after a rehearsal Wednesday evening. — Andrew L. Wang and Pat Curry

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9 hurt, 3 arrested after South Side crash

The Blackhawks lost to the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 in overtime Wednesday night, dropping the Western Conference finals series at Joe Louis Arena. The loss forces the Hawks to resume their quest for the Stanley Cup next season. Read the full story HERE .  Join the conversation on the Blackhawks blog on ChicagoNow HERE . Sammy Pahlsson stands behind Blackhawks teammate Patrick Kane who’s talking with Detroit goalie Chris Osgood after Game 5 Wednesday night. (Tribune / Nuccio DiNuzzo) MORE PHOTOS

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Blackhawks’ playoff run ends

Chicago police were involved in a shooting that left one man dead on the West Side Wednesday night, authorities said. Police said the shooting took place during a struggle with a fleeing stolen-car suspect over an officer’s gun. Police said that about 7 p.m. police received a report about a car being stolen near the intersection of Laramie Avenue and Washington Boulevard. A police car with two police officers noticed the car being driving in the area and began to pursue it, said Lt. Maureen Biggane of Police News Affairs. When police began to pursue the stolen car it crashed near the intersection of West End Avenue and three people in the car tried to flee on foot, Biggane said. Witnesses said the car was speeding down West End with about three police cars in pursuit, and when it attempted to turn onto Kostner Avenue it knocked over part of a 6-foot-tall wrought iron fence and struck a brick three-story building on the southeast corner of the intersection. The 4-door sedan remained against the building Wednesday night. Witnesses said the car was traveling at a high rate of speed when it was being pursued. After the accident the three people left the car, apparently including a woman who was quickly apprehended, witnesses said. Two men who were also in the car fled and officers chased them on foot into an alley behind the 4300 block of West Washington Boulevard, Biggane said. In the alley, one of the people from the car, an unidentified man, began to struggle with a police officer and the man attempted to take the officer’s gun, Biggane said. During the struggle the officer fired, fatally shooting the man, Biggane said. “As one officer converged on and attempted to place one of the individuals in custody … that offender disarmed the officer,” Biggane said near the scene. “The officer and the offender struggled for the officer’s weapon. Fearing for his life during the struggle the officer discharged his weapon, striking and fatally wounding the offender.” The officer injured both his hands, a non-life threatening injury, Biggane said. He was transported to an area hospital. Police were able to apprehend the two other people who were in the stolen car, Biggane said. Witness said they heard 5 to 6 shots fired. Mark Payne, spokesman for the Independent Police Review Authority, said they are investigating. No weapon had been recovered from the slain suspect, he said. Police had the area along Washington Boulevard and and Kostner Avenue roped off during the investigation. — Robert Mitchum and Carlos Sadovi

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Police shoot man dead on West Side

Nine people were taken to local hospitals after a three-vehicle crash at 75th Street and Vincennes Avenue tonight, a Chicago Fire Department spokesman said. The crash occurred at about 10:30 p.m. and involved a church van, a BMW sedan and a Nissan Pathfinder sport-utility vehicle, spokesman Larry Langford said. At least three people, including the driver, were in the church van, but it was unclear how many people were in the other vehicles. Two men who were in the SUV were arrested by police before being taken to a local hospital in serious-to-critical condition. Five other people were taken to a local hospital in fair-to-serious condition and two others were transported in good condition, Langford said. All the injured were occupants of the vehicles involved in the crash. Chicago Police News Affairs confirmed that officers were on the scene investigating the incident, but could provide no other information as of 11 p.m. Check back for more details. –Staff report

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9 hurt, 2 arrested in South Side crash

Chicago police were involved in a shooting on the West Side tonight, authorities said. It is possible that the victim was a fatality, because the Cook County medical examiner’s office was called to send an investigator to the scene. The office said the call involved one person, but could not provide additional information. Mark Payne, spokesman for the Independent Police Review Board, said the shooting happened at about 7 p.m. on the 4300 block of West Washington Boulevard. He said a person was shot but he did not have any more information. Details to come. –Staff report  

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Police-involved shooting reported on West Side

Police and fire officials from 20 different municipalities joined their counterparts in Joliet as a sign of solidarity today to protest proposed layoffs. Representatives from the other departments, including Peoria, Oak Lawn, Kankakee, Naperville and Aurora, carried protest signs outside Joliet city hall as council members walked in to the building for a special meeting to discuss the city’s ongoing budget shortfall.More than 200 city workers packed council chambers and overflowed into the hallway to listen as council members reviewed ways to close a budget deficit that is projected to hit $66.9 million and completely drain the city’s reserve funds by 2012. City officials Wednesday said they are likely looking at laying off at least 52 of the city’s 1,057 workers if union leaders don’t make concessions on wage freezes or healthcare benefits. Union leaders already have backed a proposal to contribute to employee health insurance costs – a benefit that was entirely covered by the city in the past. However, a final vote has been put off until unions can negotiate other issues with the city. City council members are looking at other options to help close the budget gap including raising property taxes by as much as 25 percent, a one percent gas tax increase or raising water and sewer rates by as much as 30 percent. Other options include closing the Joliet Historical Museum and closing Bicentennial Park. Council members likely will take up those issues within the next month. — Alicia Fabbre

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Proposed Joliet layoffs protested