Crime & Safety

Regional Police Report: Murder Defendants Plead Not Guilty

Some of the following arrest information was supplied by local police Departments. It does not indicate a conviction.

By Brian Slupski

Highland Park

Murder Defendants Plead Not Guilty

Attorneys for three of the four defendants in the Colin Nutter murder case appear on different strategic paths as their clients pled not guilty at their arraignment in Lake County Criminal Court in Waukegan.

Benjamin Schenk, 20, of Highwood along with Philip Vatamaniuc and Michael Coffee, both 17 of Highland Park, were charged with first degree murder and other offenses in Nutter’s death June 7 and indicted by a Lake County Grand Jury June 26.

As each defendant appeared before Lake County Criminal Court Judge Mark Leavitt to enter their plea, Assistant Lake County State’s Attorney Reggie Mathews said he was seeking more severe punishment against all three which could be as long as life in prison.

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As each defendant appeared before Leavitt to plead not guilty, Nutter’s parents, Michael and Angie Nutter, watched. “As a mother, I’ve lost everything,” Angie said after leaving the courtroom. “We are his voice right now.”

For more on this story.

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Inverness


Police Reviewing Video in Shooting

Inverness Police are reviewing video surveillance footage from a guardhouse at the entrance of Inverness on the Pond, the subdivision where a shooting and robbery occurred June 28. 

Officials with the Inverness Police Department said in addition to a 63-year-old man being shot, an undisclosed amount of cash was taken from the single-family home in the 100 block of Crichton Lane. 

The victim, who is the homeowner's boyfriend, sustained non-life threatening injuries and is recovering. 

The couple came back to the home Friday night, and after 10 p.m., the boyfriend was confronted by one of two men in the home, and shot in the abdomen.

Des Plaines

Men Charged in Radio Shack Robberies

Three Chicago men have been charged with robbing the Des Plaines Radio Shack June 27. Police said two of the men also are suspects in seven other Radio Shack robberies in the Chicago area.

Police said that Antoine Adams and Tommie Parker, entered the Des Plaines store at 1587 S. Lee St. at 12:40 p.m., brandished pistols and locked the door to the store, police said. A third man, Ronaldo Crawford, acted as a look out and getaway driver. The men inside the store demanded cash and filled bags with cellphones and electronics, police said.

The investigation of the robbery eventually led to the south side of Chicago where Des Plaines Police and Chicago police confronted the suspects in a parked vehicle in the 8600 block of South Chicago Avenue.

Police said that all three men admitted their involvement, each has been charged with armed robbery. Police believe that Adams and Crawford also are responsible for at least seven similar armed robberies involving Radio Shack locations.

Evanston

Man Dies After Falling onto Third Rail of CTA Line

A 26-year-old Glenview resident died after falling onto the third rail at the Howard Street CTA station Sunday night, according to authorities.

A representative of the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed that the man's name was Jeffery Lavalle, and said he lived in the 1700 block of Harrison Street in Glenview.

The man was taken to St. Francis Hospital in critical condition, where he later died, according to the Tribune.

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