(STMW) – The former general manager of a west suburban chemical company was sentenced to six years in prison Tuesday for stealing more than $2 million from the Melrose Park-based business.

Kathleen Barth also was ordered to pay $1.5 million in restitution to Kraft Chemical Corporation after she pleaded guilty to theft, according to the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.

Barth, 56, of Chicago, had worked at Kraft Chemical from 2005 to 2012.

During her last six years with the company, she fraudulently padded her salary by giving herself unauthorized bonuses and commission checks, prosecutors said.

Barth, of the 1700 block of North Rutherford, also transferred funds from the company’s checking account into a personal checking account.

Some of the money Barth stole went toward remodeling projects at her house, prosecutors said.

Officials at Kraft Chemical declined to comment about Barth’s sentencing Tuesday.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

(CBS) – A judge denied bond for a Melrose Park used car dealer whom prosecutors say wanted a hit-man to keep his uncle from testifying against him.

The wiretap transcript quotes Hani Samed Hamden as saying that they wouldn’t have gotten the indictment if it wasn’t for his uncle’s testimony.

Asking Hamden be held without bond, prosecutors said he discussed a $10,000 hit on his uncle, through Hamden later backed out of the idea. The hit-man turned out to be a secret service agent.

Hamden owns Hamden Auto Group in Melrose Park but is charged with helping customers file fraudulent loan applications when he worked at dealerships in Libertyville, Saint Charles, Arlington Heights and Skokie.

Judge Milton Shadur termed the transcripts troubling and ordered Hamden held without bond pending trial at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse

CHICAGO (CBS) — Six students at a west suburban school were sent to the hospital on Wednesday after another student gave them a prescription antidepressant medication.

A 13-year-old girl at Joseph Academy in Melrose Park gave the students Latuda–a drug used to treat bipolar disorder, according to Melrose Park spokesman Andrew Mack.

The six students, between the ages of 10 and 14 years old, were taken to Gottlieb and West Lake hospitals, Mack said.

The children were taken to the hospital as a precaution and are expected to be fine.

Joseph Academy, 1100 N. 22nd Ave., serves the needs of young people with severe behavioral, emotional, and learning disabilities, according to the school’s website.

(CBS) — Sixty people rallied in Melrose Park for an end to deportations that split families, and said they want the President to make the policy change by executive order.

Many were undocumented, or have family members who are in the United States illegally.

One was Denise, who chose not to give her last name. She is 16. Her parents brought her into the U.S. when she was one year old. She said she is not afraid to say publicly that she is undocumented. But she said she is afraid for the rest of her family, including younger siblings who were born in the U.S., and are therefore citizens.

“Put yourself in our shoes,” she said. “What would you do without your parents or your siblings? What would you do if anyone in your family was to b e deported under any circumstances? Would you start living in fear and anger and sadness like we are? Help us!”

Speakers in English and Spanish said they believe federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel are lying when they say they only seek to deport violent criminals and drug dealers. One Elgin woman said she was targeted for deportation after a simple traffic stop.

CHICAGO (STMW) – A South Side man convicted of robbing a west suburban Melrose Park bank last year has been charged with fatally stabbing a woman in Roseland the same day as the robbery.

Eric Murchinson, 44, was charged Thursday with one felony count of first-degree murder in the July 2, 2013, stabbing death of a 64-year-old woman at her home about 10:15 a.m. in the 10800 block of South Calumet Avenue, according to a statement from Chicago Police.

Officers responding to a well-being check on July 5 found the woman lying in a garage unresponsive with a stab wound to the throat, police said.

Aurelia Wilborn was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:35 a.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office. An autopsy performed the next day found that she died of an incise wound to the neck and her death was ruled a homicide.

Murchinson, of the 10900 block of South Edbrooke Avenue, is scheduled to appear in bond court Friday, police said.

The alleged stabbing happened the same day Murchinson robbed a bank in Melrose Park, authorities said.

According to a federal criminal complaint filed that day in U.S. District Court in Chicago, a robber walked into the Fifth Third Bank branch at 2501 W. North Ave. in Melrose Park at 10:38 a.m.

He approached a teller and inquired about purchasing a vehicle sticker, a statement from the FBI said at the time. He then demanded cash and indicated he had a weapon, although no weapon was shown. The teller handed over about $8,000 that he placed in a red bank bag before running out.

According to the complaint, three witnesses who were at the Hooters restaurant next door to the bank, saw a man run into the parking lot and approach a gray 4-door Lexus. The man was clutching a red bag to his chest and they saw a puff of red mist coming from the bag. He threw something from the bag, then got into the Lexus and drove away.

At the same time, the complaint said, a Melrose Park police officer at a Starbucks in the same strip mall heard about the robbery on his police radio. He met the witnesses, who pointed out the Lexus, which was stopped at the red light at 25th and North.

The officer ran toward the Lexus and drew his weapon. As he approached, he yelled through the open car windows for the driver to raise his hands. The driver raised his hands, but at the same time accelerated into the intersection, colliding with another car.

After the crash, police apprehended Murchinson, who was the only person in the Lexus, according to the complaint. Police found a red bank bag and cash on the floor, covered in red dye.

Murchinson pleaded guilty to the bank robbery in December, according to federal court records. He remains in custody at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, and is scheduled to be sentenced April 11.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

 (STMW) – A private school in west suburban Melrose Park was placed on lockdown for about half an hour Thursday morning after shots were fired nearby.

Witnesses heard gunshots coming from at least one vehicle in the 800 block of 11th Avenue at 11:35 a.m., according to Melrose Park police. No one was injured and no shell casings have been found.

A vehicle matching the description of one of the vehicles was found in Maywood and is being processed for evidence. A juvenile is being questioned, according to police.

Nearby schools, including Walther Christian Academy at 900 Chicago Ave., were placed on a soft lockdown for precautionary reasons, according to police.

Princial Jim Craven said the school was on lockdown for about 30 minutes after the shots were fired near the athletic fields, but normal activities resumed early Thursday afternoon.

Police are investigating. Anyone with information should call (708) 344-8409.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

(CBS) — A group of nuns say the strip club that opened just over their back fence in Stone Park has to go.

WBBM’s Bob Roberts reports they say the law is firmly on their side.

Nuns Protest To Close Strip Club Located Next To Convent

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The nuns, several local residents, and the village of Melrose Park intend to file suit Friday seeking to shut Club Allure, which is on the Stone Park-Melrose Park border.

About 60 people have joined the nuns at a protest vigil against the strip club Wednesday afternoon. The club, at 3801 W. Lake St., in Stone Park, is literally just over the fence from the Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo Scalabrinian Sisters convent and novitiate, at 1414 N. 37th Av., in Melrose Park.

Their lawyer, Tom Brejcha of the Thomas More Society, said state law is clear that adult clubs cannot operate within 1,000 feet of a school or house of worship. The nuns have both, and the club is just over their back fence.

Pat Zito is a 47-year resident of the area and is one of the local residents who are joining the nuns in filing the suit. She said Club Allure has been every bit as bad as she feared since it opened last fall, and then some.

“We do not feel as secure as we did before. There is garbage put on the streets that was not there before, things we do not like children to even question, and the noises in the middle of the night,” said Zito.

Screeching tires, loud music even women’s screams. Zito says she never feared men preying on local teens until now. She is joining the Scalabrinian Sisters in filing suit against the club.

Their lawyer says state law is clear that adult clubs can’t operate within 1,000 feet of a school or house of worship. The nuns have both and the club is just over their back fence.

Sean O’Brien, the owner of the strip club, told CBS 2’s Roseanne Tellez that he will leave the legal issues to the lawyers but he disputed claims of any rowdy customers.

“I don’t understand why they feel unsafe. I invite anybody that wants to accuse us of being loud and noisy and having lights everywhere to stop back here at 10 o’clock at night and see what you think yourself,” said O’Brien.

The lawsuit also names the village of Stone Park as a defendant, for allowing the strip club to open in the first place. The nuns hope to put more pressure on Stone Park to close the club by staging vigils every Friday night.

(CBS) – An order of Roman Catholic nuns filed suit Friday seeking to close a strip club that is just over the nuns’ back fence in west suburban Stone Park; then they took to the streets outside the club for a prayer vigil.

The nuns, several local residents and the village of Melrose Park filed suit Friday seeking to shut Club Allure, which is on the Stone Park-Melrose Park border.

The club, at 3801 W. Lake St., in Stone Park, is literally just over the fence from the Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo Scalabrinian Sisters convent and novitiate, at 1414 N. 37th Av., in Melrose Park.

The nuns prayed the rosary in English and Spanish and sang hymns in both languages on the sidewalk just outside the club’s parking lot. A west side Chicago minister joined them in offering prayers.

Those who back the effort to close Club Allure said its patrons have been every bit as bad as they feared since it opened last fall — and then some.

They said night after night they hear the screeching tires of cars entering and leaving the parking lot, loud music and arguments and have even heard women’s screams.

Their suit seeks to invoke a state law that bars adult clubs within 1,000 feet of a school or house of worship.  The nuns have both, and the club is just over their back fence. Stone Park village officials have said they consider the law unconstitutional and have said they are not bound by it.

The nuns said they intend to stage similar prayer vigils every Friday night until the courts shut down the club.

(STMW) – An elderly woman was found dead after a fire Tuesday afternoon in the Portage Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side, according to a fire official.

Firefighters responded to the blaze in a two-story home in the 5200 block of West Melrose about 2 p.m., Fire Media Affairs spokesman Will Knight said.

Shirley Ryan, 72, was found dead on the first floor of the home in the living area, according to fire officials and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

She lived in the same block as the fatal fire, the medical examiner’s office said.

No other injuries were reported and the blaze was extinguished. Firefighters did not hear any working smoke detectors when they arrived at the scene, Knight said.

An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday, the medical examiner’s office said.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

(STMW) — An Oak Park school board member who was found dead at a west suburban forest preserve on Saturday morning committed suicide, authorities said.

Peter Traczyk, 48, was found about 11:50 a.m. in Thatcher Woods near West North Avenue and Riverwoods Drive in Melrose Park, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office and sheriff’s police.

Traczyk, of the 300 block of North Scoville Avenue in Oak Park, was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.

He died of a shotgun wound to the mouth, according to an autopsy performed Sunday. Sheriff’s police had said no foul play was suspected.

Traczyk was a board member for Oak Park Elementary School District 97 since 2007, according to the district’s website.

“We are incredibly shocked and saddened by the tragic passing of our friend and colleague Peter Traczyk,” a statement from the district’s board said. “There are no words that can truly express the enormity of this loss for our district and community.”

“We will miss his brilliance and infectious sense of humor, which left an indelible mark on all who had the great honor and privilege of serving alongside him on the board during the past eight years. We will also always remember and be inspired by the strong work ethic, integrity and tireless commitment he displayed on a daily basis.”

Traczyk served as board president in 2010 and 2011, according to his biography on the district’s website. He had also worked in the financial services industry for about 25 years, the website said.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2015. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

(CBS) — A suburban cop just months away from retirement remains in jail as he stands accused of drug trafficking.

As CBS 2’s Mai Martinez reports, the feds say he stole drugs from police evidence and then sold them.

Ann Iusi says the arrest of her son 41-year-old Greg Salvi is, “the most devastating thing that’s happened in my life.”

He worked as a detective for the Melrose Park Police Department for 18-years, but last Thursday, Salvi was arrested by the FBI after an undercover investigation.

In the criminal complaint, the feds alleged Salvi stole drugs from police evidence and sold them while on duty, to different people who were working with federal agents.

He’s also accused of offering to sell those same people guns.

Today, Salvi’s wife along with family members and friends were at his detention hearing hoping he’d be released on bond.

But in court the prosecutor told the judge Salvi is a flight risk and poses a danger to the community.

“With all due respect to the government, I have seen absolutely no evidence of any threat to any individual,” said defense attorney Adam Sheppard.

But the feds say Salvi wasn’t honest about how many guns he owns, never mentioning a military rifle surrendered by his wife.

“He told the truth and the gun was an oversight,” said Iusi.

Salvi’s family says the undisclosed rifle was a gift given to his son and didn’t even work, but the prosecutors said federal agents said it is a functioning weapon.

Salvi’s bond hearing will resume on Friday.

(STMW) — The Archdiocese of Chicago is suing several members of a west suburban parish who, a new lawsuit alleges, took jewelry and other adornments from the church valued at more than $100,000.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Cook County Circuit Court against three members of the Society of the Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, based in Melrose Park.

The Archdiocese alleges that some time “prior to and during 2013,” dozens of gold rings, chains, crosses, crowns, broaches and several statue adornments were taken from the church by the three parishioners.

The combined value of the items taken “is not ascertainable; however, it is in excess of $100,000,” the suit stated.

Despite several verbal and written requests from the church to return the items, the property has not been returned, the suit stated.

A representative from the Society of the Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel could not be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.

The complaint is asking the court to order the return of the items to the parish.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2015. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

CHICAGO (STMW) — A looming, broad-shouldered Michael “Mickey” Davis sat across from R.J. Serpico in the office of a Melrose Park used car dealership in January 2013.

Months earlier, Davis had helped Serpico’s dreams come true. He loaned the suburban car salesman and his father $300,000, so they could open the dealership in the town where Serpico’s uncle is the mayor, according to court testimony.

But the dream soon turned into a nightmare.

Serpico testified he routinely saw Davis driving by the dealership with a reputed mobster. And as the unpaid bills began to pile up in January 2013, Serpico said Davis dropped a sheet of gambling debts down on Serpico’s desk and warned, “this wasn’t the f—ing agreement.” Serpcio’s father had lost a lot of money gambling, according to court testimony.

Serpico said Davis then leaned back and asked, “how my wife and my kids were, and if I still lived in Park Ridge.”

Serpico took it as a threat. A jury agreed Monday morning, convicting the 58-year-old Davis of extortion and attempted extortion. Dressed in a gray suit and tie, Davis glanced at his lawyers as the verdict was read and leaned back in his chair as the jury was polled. He is to be sentenced Oct. 6.

One of Davis’ lawyers, Christopher Grohman, even admitted Davis “looks like a mobster” as the trial got underway — but he said that didn’t mean he was guilty. It simply suggested Davis had no need to “hire a bunch of goombahs” to deliver a beating.

“He could do it himself,” Grohman said earlier this month.

Serpico testified that Davis asked him about the ages of his children and whether his “wife still owned a beauty salon in Schaumburg.” The encounter seemingly terrified Serpico, who said he apologized to Davis and later kept his distance.

“Because I’m afraid of him, sir,” Serpico explained to a federal prosecutor during Davis’ trial.

Prosecutors accused Davis of ordering a “break-both-legs beating” for Serpico in 2013 to collect on his $300,000 loan to Serpico and his father. They said he took control of Serpico’s dealership and even opened new bank accounts for the business. Eventually, prosecutors said, Davis paid a mob associate for Serpico’s “thorough” beating. The assault, though, never happened, thanks to the feds.

Serpico testified that his uncle is Ronald Serpico, the mayor of Melrose Park.

Prosecutors said Davis sought help collecting on his debt and offered to pay $10,000 for the beating with $5,000 up front. The job allegedly went to Paul Carparelli — an Itasaca man who pleaded guilty last month to three counts of conspiracy to commit extortion.

One of Carparelli’s associates, George Brown, turned out to be a government informant. And prosecutors wrote that Brown recorded conversations with Carparelli and others. But in one key recording, Davis’ lawyers claimed Carparelli only said he learned the person who ordered the beating was “Mickey.”

“This statement is uncorroborated triple hearsay,” they wrote.

Before leaving the courthouse Monday, Davis lawyer Thomas Anthony Durkin said he “truly thought” Davis had beaten the charges. And while Davis’ trial was filled with references to reputed mobsters, Durkin said Davis’ legal team was “straight” with the jury.

For example, Serpico said he noticed that Davis was driving by the dealership “pretty often” with reputed mobster Pete DiFronzo, the brother of alleged mob boss John DiFronzo.

“I just thought, ‘What did I get myself into?’” Serpico said.

But Durkin said Monday that Davis’ lawyers proved “beyond a shadow of a doubt” that Davis’ association with Pete DiFronzo was a business relationship.

“I don’t understand how they could see this as proof beyond a reasonable doubt,” Durkin said of the jurors.

Grohman earlier told the jury that Davis was an active investor in the father-son car dealership. And though prosecutors accused Davis of ordering a beating for Serpico, Grohman said it was Serpico’s father who lost the money gambling.

Serpico said his used-car dealership lasted from June 2012 to May 2013. Things were “pretty good” in the early months, he said. Davis’ loan agreement entitled him to $300 for every car sold plus some of the profits from the dealership, Serpico said.

Eventually, Serpico said things “went bad” at the dealership. He said he “owed everybody money,” and he realized his father had been gambling it away. After his encounter with Davis, Serpico said he did everything he could to raise cash to pay off the debt to Davis.

Prosecutors said they interrupted the extortion plot before things turned violent.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2015. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

CHICAGO (CBS) — Nine people were hospitalized early Wednesday, after suffering apparent carbon monoxide poisoning at a home in west suburban Melrose Park.

Someone in the home at 601 Rose Dr. called 911 at 6 a.m. to report a medical emergency.

Neighbors said one resident was getting up for work, and suddenly felt sick. He went to the bathroom, and found another resident was vomiting. That’s when someone called 911.

When firefighters and paramedics arrived, they found nine people, four children and five adults – suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Melrose Park Fire Chief Rick Beltrame said one adult was unresponsive, but was revived.

“He was unconscious when … our ambulance arrived. They gave him oxygen, and he came to,” he said.

All nine people were taken to hospitals, but were expected to survive. Beltrame says the four kids are all grade school age and one is handicapped.

The victims were in bedrooms above the garage, where a Ford Mustang had been left running. The attached garage was full of clutter, and the car was boxed in by four other vehicles parked in the driveway.

“You could get in off the passenger’s side to start the car, but why you would do that, I don’t know,” Beltrame said.

Melrose Park Police say this older model Ford Mustang was left running in the closed attached garage, to keep it maintained. The family member that started it, went upstairs, but fell asleep.

WBBM 780’s Mike Krauser

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Six Chihuahuas in the home also were rescued, and taken outside to the fresh air.

“They were okay,” Beltrame said.

The Melrose Park Department of Health has declared the home a health hazard. It’s unclear when residents will be allowed back inside.

Police were investigating why the car was left running in a closed garage.

CHICAGO (CBS) — A suspect was in custody Tuesday morning, after a shooting in the western suburbs left one man dead and a 14-year-old boy in critical condition.

Police said witnesses saw a gunman walk up to a vehicle in the 1100 block of 25th Avenue around 12:30 a.m., and fire several shots.

Francisco Diaz, 21, was taken to Loyola Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 1 a.m. A 14-year-old boy who also was in the vehicle was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

Police have not said if or how the two are related. It appeared one or both victims were targeted. Authorities have said the shooting was gang-related.

The suspected shooter, a 22-year-old man, was arrested within minutes of the attack.

One neighbor said the area is typically quiet.

“It was about four to five gunshots, and that’s basically it,” Alex Morales said. “I was already up. It woke my sister up. She’s like, ‘Did you hear that?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, I heard that.’ In the morning, she’s like, ‘Um, you know those gunshots? They killed somebody down the street.”

Melrose Park Police Chief Sam Pitassi said he’s waiting for Cook County prosecutors to file charges before releasing any further information.

(STMW) — A man has been charged with murder for a shooting that left a man dead and a 14-year-old boy critically injured early Tuesday in west suburban Melrose Park, police said.

Ellezer Torres, 22, was charged Wednesday with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder, according to Melrose Park police.

A gunman approached a vehicle in the 1100 block of 24th Avenue at 12:32 a.m. and began firing into it, police said in a statement. A 21-year-old man and 14-year-old boy inside the vehicle were shot.

Francisco Diaz, 21, was taken to Loyola Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park, where he was pronounced dead at 1:05 a.m., according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. Diaz lived on the same block where the shooting happened.

The boy was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

Torres, of Westchester, is scheduled to appear for a bond hearing Thursday morning in Maywood.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2015. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

(CBS) — A 26-year-old woman died about 12 hours after she was run over by her own vehicle in what police are calling a “tragic accident” early Friday in west suburban Melrose Park.

The victim was pinned under a vehicle about 3 a.m. in the parking lot of the Burlington Coat Factory in the 2000 block of Mannheim Road in Melrose Park, according to Melrose Park police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Samantha Perez, of the 100 block of Golfview Drive in Northlake, was taken to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, where she died at 2:30 p.m. Friday, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Police believe Perez got out of her car, but accidentally left the vehicle in gear, according to Gary Mack, spokesman for the Melrose Park police.She then somehow tripped and fell under the vehicle, which ran her over.

An autopsy Monday found Perez died of complications of traumatic asphyxiation from a motor vehicle rolling over a pedestrian, and her death was ruled an accident, according to the medical examiner’s office.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2016. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

CHICAGO (CBS) — A Cook County judge on Tuesday said a sisterhood of nuns in Melrose Park can press on with their lawsuit aimed at shutting down a strip club that opened next door to their convent six years ago.

The Missionary Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo have been enjoying a quiet holiday season since the mayor of neighboring Stone Park last month revoked the liquor license of Club Allure, a move that apparently prompted the owners to shut down and stopped the late night sounds of music, motorcycles and fighting the nuns say the club attracts. At a hearing Tuesday, Judge Peter A. Flynn ruled that they can continue a legal battle aimed at shutting Allure down for good, though he said he will take no further action on the lawsuit until after the status of the club’s liquor license is resolved.

Flynn this spring turned back the nuns, claiming their complaints about noise and disturbances at the club were too vague to support a lawsuit, prompting lawyers for the Sisters to send forth private investigators into Allure to gather evidence.

In October, the Sisters filed a 57-page complaint including sordid details of doings inside the club, alleging that over the course of a dozen visits between 2014 and the spring of 2016, dancers treated the nuns’ investigators to full-contact lap dances and “simulated sex,” and outright offers of paid sex.

“Paid sexual contact, that was rampant on every occasion that our investigator visited the premises,” Scott Bergthold, attorney for the nuns, said outside the courtroom. “People were being paid to stimulate their sexual organs and engage in other paid sexual contact.”

Amy Hansen, lawyer for the club, said that there have been no arrests for prostitution or other criminal activity alleged by the nuns, and also noted that without a liquor license, Allure may never reopen.

“It’s obvious that a liquor license is vital to operators of this club,” Hansen said.

Robert Itzkow, an attorney who had been an investor in the club, said club owners would appeal a November decision by Stone Park Mayor Beniamino Mazzulla, who also is the town’s liquor commissioner, revoking Allure’s liquor license. Mazzulla ruled that the club, which had a license to serve booze since it opened in 2010, was within 100 feet of a “church” — the chapels on the nuns’ compound.

Hansen declined comment as she left the courthouse, and Itzkow, who did not attend the hearing, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Tom Murphy, a lawyer monitoring the liquor license dispute for the nuns, said Tuesday that Allure had appealed Mazzulla’s ruling to the state Liquor Control Commission. Itzkow said if the appeal fails in front of the state commission, Allure would challenge the ruling in circuit court.

Flynn pointed out that most of the case law the nuns’ lawyers used to build their case against the club was based on court rulings of “lewdness” and nuisance laws that dated back to the Prohibition era, when, Flynn said “blue noses” in the legislature passed sweeping and prudish laws on decency. Flynn said the case could proceed under state nuisance laws solely because the nuns alleged prostitution was taking place at Allure.

But for the past few weeks at least, the music has stopped for Club Allure, and for the nuns, there is peace on Earth, Bergthold said.

“I’m sure they’re enjoying the Advent season without the loud thumping noise and revving Harleys at 3 a.m. and all the nuisance-type activities that they’ve complained of,” Bergthold said. “I’m certain that it’s a better circumstance now.”

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2016. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

CHICAGO (CBS) — A man and his parents have been charged in connection with a ruse burglary in November in west suburban Leyden Township.

About 12:30 p.m. Nov. 23, a man who claimed he was a construction worker fixing a fence lured a 76-year-old woman into the back yard of her home in the 3000 block of Rhodes Avenue in Melrose Park, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office.

While the woman was distracted, someone else entered the home and stole jewelry and cash, police said. The man who posed as a construction worker was identified by sheriff’s deputies and members of an Illinois State Police ruse burglary task force as Walter M. Reed, 29, of Arlington Heights. He was taken into custody Jan. 4.

Reed was charged with a felony count of residential burglary/false representation and ordered on electronic monitoring at a bond hearing Jan. 5 in Maywood, police said.

While at the hearing, detectives saw a white, four-door 2012 Nissan Altima with mismatched registration in the courthouse parking lot, police said. The vehicle was reported stolen from Lynn, Massachusetts, and it was identified by the ruse burglary victim as the one Reed left her home in after the burglary.

A man and woman inside the vehicle were taken into custody and identified as Walter Reed’s parents, police said. Michael J. Johnson, 50, and Apple Reed, 47, were each charged with misdemeanor counts of criminal trespass to a vehicle.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2016. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

CHICAGO (CBS) — Authorities have arrested three men while investigating a fatal shooting last Sunday afternoon in west suburban Melrose Park.

About 2:40 p.m. Jan. 15, a resident called police to report people dealing drugs near 12th Avenue and Winston Drive, according to Melrose Park police.

During an investigation into the reported drug dealing, a 911 call was received from a home in the 1200 block of Winston that a person had been shot inside the home, police said. When officers arrived they found two people shot.

Anthony Scott was pronounced dead at the scene with multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office. He lived in the 1200 block of Andover Circle in Aurora.

The other person suffered “a minor gunshot wound to the head,” police said. Detectives believe the victims were involved in a drug deal at the time of the shooting.

In the course of the investigation, 26-year-old Dante Ricciardi was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, police said. He lives in the 1300 block of 16th Avenue in Melrose Park.

Joshua Felton, 28, of the 400 block of Hyde Park Avenue in Bellwood, was also arrested and charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and unlawful possession of a controlled substance by a felon, according to police. He was ordered held on a $100,000 bond, according to the Cook County sheriff’s office.

A third man, 30-year-old Ulises Vences, was returned to the custody of the sheriff’s office to await trial for a 2015 charge of being an armed habitual criminal, police said. Vences was under house arrest and lives in the block where the shooting occurred.

The investigation into the circumstances of the shooting was ongoing, and investigators continued to analyze forensic and electronic evidence and follow up on leads, police said.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2016. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)