Person shot with paintball gun on IIT campus after days of attacks
A person was shot with a paintball gun Wednesday afternoon, after days of similar attacks, on the Illinois Institute of Technology campus in Bronzeville on the South Side.
A silver sedan was northbound in the 3100 block of South State Street about 5 p.m. when someone inside fired paintballs, striking one person, according to an alert from the IIT Department of Public Safety.
A male was hit in the neck but left the scene before officers arrived, Chicago police said. The car, possibly a Chevrolet Impala or an older-model Acura, then left the campus, school officials said.
An IIT security guard told investigators that people in a silver sedan have been driving around “for the past couple days” shooting paintball and pellet guns, police said.
On Tuesday afternoon, two men were shot with a pellet gun on the IIT campus in the 3400 block of South State Street. A 25-year-old woman was also struck in the eye by a paintball gun Tuesday in Mayfair on the Northwest Side, police said, about 4:10 a.m. in the 4600 block of North Lowell Avenue. Sun-Times Wire
Breakthru Beverage agrees to $950K settlement over employment discrimination allegations
Breakthru Beverage Illinois has reached a $950,000 settlement to resolve allegations that the alcoholic beverage distributor’s process for assigning sales employees is discriminatory.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced Wednesday that it found “reasonable cause to believe” that the Wirtz family-owned company offered its Illinois sales employees accounts and territory assignments that “when accepted, resulted in national origin or race discrimination.”
Breakthru Beverage denied practicing discriminatory conduct but agreed to settle the investigation instead of going to court, according to a news release from the EEOC. The company declined to comment but referred to a statement provided in the news release.
“We are proud of our diversity and our record of providing equal employment opportunities to all of our employees and applicants, irrespective of their demographics,” Erick Sytsma, Breakthru Beverage Illinois’ vice president of human resources, stated. “In this instance, rather than litigating, we were able resolve our differences with the EEOC in a manner that is entirely consistent with our inclusive philosophies and our commitment to equal employment opportunities to all individuals.”
Breakthru Beverage Group formed in a 2016 merger of Wirtz Beverage and Charmer Sunbelt. Rocky Wirtz, a Breakthru Beverage co-chairman, has an ownership stake in Sun-Times Media.
The company agreed to pay the $950,000 to its affected employees, as well as conduct anti-discrimination training for its Illinois sales force, establish systems to encourage diverse applicants and revise its antidiscrimination policy to prohibit making assignments based on race or national origin. Jake Wittich
Police dog finds cocaine stash during Gresham traffic stop: CPD
A man is facing a felony drug charge after police found more than 10 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a vehicle during a traffic stop Tuesday in Gresham on the South Side.
A Chicago police gang enforcement team pulled Jose Garrido Dominguez over at 6:36 p.m. in the 7600 block of South Damen Avenue, according to Chicago police. The officers were responding to a tip about a drug deal when they stopped him for not wearing a seat belt and having an expired vehicle registration, police said. They learned that Garrido-Dominguez, 46, had no valid driver’s license.
A police dog indicated there could be narcotics in the car, and officers noticed the framework of the floorboard in the back seat was “irregular,” police said. Officers found more than 10 kilograms of cocaine in plasticwrapped packages under the floorboard.
Garrido-Dominguez, who lives in West Englewood, was arrested and charged with a felony count of possession of more than 900 grams of cocaine, police said.
Judge Charles Beach set his bail at $50,000 Wednesday.