Cook County Blog

But don't be alarmed about it. Here's the article-Counterfeit currency surfacing in area (Suburban Chicago news)

A rash of counterfeit money has hit the area in recent weeks, with police departments in Elgin, Algonquin, West Dundee and Lake in the Hills have all handling reports of the bogus bills.

All four area departments say they recovered the funny money -- including $5 and $100 bills -- during the month of September.

I'm not sure why this even hit the news. Every month, about $20,000 in counterfeit money is passed in the Chicago metro area--authorities aren't seeing, as pointed out in the article, any unusual pattern here - it's the amount they usually see. But when you buy gas or groceries and get cash back, make sure you take a close look at the bills before you put them back in your wallet. And for what it's worth, the secret service isn't involved in this yet. The Elgin police are doing a preliminary investigation hoping to nab the source of some of these bills, which reportedly are poor quality fakes.

Schools on lockdown because of disgruntled employee (My Suburban Life)

I was there; coming home from physical therapy and Lake Street was swarming with Bartlett and Streamwood cops. This is right on the border of Streamwood and Bartlett and it appears the man was hispanic. A fire truck had a ladder extended to the roof of one of the buildings in the strip mall, so I don't know precisely what happened and didn't stop to take pictures or ask what was going on.

But this is what My Suburban Life had to say about the incident.

Bartlett, IL -Eastview Middle School and Bartlett Elementary School were on lockdown Monday after a Streamwood man threatened an employee at a Lake Street business.

The Bartlett Police Department was the first to respond to reports of a disgruntled employee at a business near the 200 block of East Lake Street in unincorporated Cook County around 2:15 p.m.

A Streamwood man implied he was armed with a weapon and threatened a coworker, police said.

Eastview Middle School and Bartlett Elementary School were immediately notified of the situation and placed on a temporary precautionary lockdown until the Streamwood man was located.

The Cook County Sheriff’s Office later took over the investigation.

While Bartlett Police reported that the Streamwood man made the threat in person, the Sheriff’s Office said the threat was made over the phone.

Lisa Gordon, spokeswoman for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, said the man threatened over the phone that he had a gun and was coming there to take care of a money issue.

“The owner signed a complaint for disorderly conduct and phone threat,” Gordoncq said. “There was no reference to (the Streamwood man) being an employee of the business.”

Around 2:30 p.m., the man was taken into custody without incident at a business in the 5000 block of Valley Lane in Streamwood and turned over to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, Bartlett police said. It was later determined the Streamwood man was unarmed.

It was somewhat of an over reaction on the part of the schools to 'lockdown' as a result of this.

If it's the man I saw as we were driving by, waving his arms, with his eyes glazed over, it would appear they left out the part that he was not only disorderly, he was drunk.

A Markham man charged in a multiple-car crash in Crestwood last week that killed a man was on parole for a 2006 deadly car crash and should not have had a valid driver's license, a state official said Monday.

Bruce Dozier had a valid license at the time he caused the Oct. 1 crash that killed Frederick Anderson, 55, of Country Club Hills, police said. But he shouldn't have, according to the Illinois secretary of state's office.

Dozier's reckless driving conviction in Cook County for the 2006 accident in which a 28-year-old woman died should have resulted in the revocation of his license, said David Druker, a spokesman for the secretary of state's office.

But, Druker said, the clerk of the circuit court of Cook County never notified the secretary of state about the conviction.

From the Southtown Star. Another example of incompetence in Cook County. Who is the clerk of the circuit court in Cook County? Dorothy Brown.

Golf, Cocaine, and Cook County

It must be nice to be able to get away to a golf outing in Wisconsin. The sun, the cart, your best set of clubs, and... 2 small packs of cocaine? Kevin O'Brien, an employee of the Cook County Assessor's Office, accidentally dropped one pack at the office, and it was caught on DVR before his golf trip. See story.

An employee with the Cook County Assessor's Office was charged with possession of a controlled substance after a packet with a small amount of cocaine was found in an office hallway and authorities tied it to the suspect after reviewing video from a security camera.

Doh!

This poor guy was just trying to "sniff a little coke" and work on his chip shot. But he will have to find a better place to keep the small packs. According to recordings and his confession, the pack popped out of his wallet unexpectedly. A bystander turned the package in and charges were administered. I hope his wife, 38th Ward Democratic committeeman, Patricia Cullerton, understands.

This story is from back in June, but I couldn't help but laugh out loud when I read it. This behavior is rampant in Cook County...Obama, after all, is reported to have smoked crack cocaine in the back of a limousine in 1999 while he was a representative in Springfield...and had homosexual sex. None of this should come as a surprise to anyone...but what's ridiculous is that they're supposed to be looking out for the taxpayer.

And don't get me started on the escapades of Jesse Jackson, Jr.