Crime & Safety

Regional Police Report: Grandma Charged with Killing Baby; Fake Facebook Page Used to Solicit Minors

The following police-related items were pulled from area Patches. An arrest is merely an accusation, not evidence of a conviction.

Oak Lawn

Police: Grandma Killed Baby with Sledgehammer, Knife

Authorities have charged a 61-year-old Oak Lawn woman with murder in the death of her 6-month-old granddaughter.

Alfreda Giedrojc, 62, of the 6600 block of West 91st Street, is charged with one count of first degree murder, Oak Lawn police said Monday afternoon.

Oak Lawn police and the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force conducted an investigation into the death of a baby girl, named Vivian, on Sunday. 

The baby lived with her parents in Bolingbrook, police said. Her father and grandfather had stepped out of the grandparents' Oak Lawn house for a short while, during which time the baby died. Her grandmother does not have any prior criminal convictions, according to authorities.

Giedrojc was denied bail in a court appearance Monday.

For more on this story click here.

VIDEO: Prosecutor Speaks About Charges in Baby Homicide

VIDEO: Oak Lawn Police Chief

Naperville

Police: Man Used Fake Facebook Page in Effort to Seduce Minors

Bail was set at $1 million Thursday for a Naperville man accused of attempting to meet underage girls through the Internet for sexual encounters, officials said.

Eric Hakala, 37, of the 1100 block of Iroquois Avenue, appeared in court Thursday morning in front of Judge Anthony Coco, who set the bail. Hakala is accused of maintaining a fake Facebook account to solicit minors for sexual encounters, according to a news release from the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office.

Investigators from three police departments and the U.S. Marshals Service identified the account, which was under a 15-year-old boy named Mike Evans.

"It is further alleged Hakala used this account to have sexual conversations with and send sexually explicit photographs to underage girls," the news release said. "The investigation also revealed that Hakala allegedly possessed more than 100 images and videos of child pornography."

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For more on this story click here.

Police Ask Parents to Review Kids Facebook Pages

Skokie

Lawsuit: Police Officer Pushed Woman Across Cell, Broke Facial Bones

A lawsuit alleges that Skokie Police Officer Michael Hart pushed a 110-pound woman across a holding cell, face first into a cement bench.

Cassandra Feurstein was charged March 10 with DUI. She was in a holding cell for processing when the incident happened. The lawsuit states that she struck a cement bench and broke facial bones, which the lawsuit says resulted in surgeries, an internal titanium plate to hold bones together, difficulty in eating, loose teeth, severe pain and having her face shaped differently on one side.

Click here to see video of the incident.

Click here for the village's statement on the incident.

Lake Forest

Fatal Car Crash Investigated

Drugs and alcohol may have played a role in the single-car crash that claimed the life of the driver and injured two others early Thursday morning in Lake Forest, police said.

Lance A. Nazario, 20, had a blood-alcohol content of at least .08 and appeared to have tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in his system, according to preliminary tests by the Lake County coroner that were shared by Lake Forest Deputy Police Chief Karl Walldorf. Investigators also found cannabis inside the passenger compartment of the car, Walldorf said. 

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He said it appeared that Nazario, who was driving the vehicle, was not wearing his seat belt at the time of the crash.

For more on this story click here.

Patch reports on law enforcement activity, using information provided by official agencies. Persons charged with a crime, or issued a citation for violation of a local ordinance, are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.


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