MAN BURNED WHEN FIREWORKS IGNITE
A contractor was injured when the fireworks display he was setting up for the village of Bridgeview ignited Sunday afternoon.
About 1 p. m., the contractor was setting up fireworks for the village’s Fourth of July display planned for Sunday evening in Commissioners Park, 8110 S. Ferdinand Ave., according to village spokesman Ray Hanania. The contractor was loading aerial firework shells into a launch tube when one of the shells ignited.
Friction could have caused the firework to ignite, Hanania said. It caused a chain reaction, setting off the rest of the display. The contractor severely burned his hand, but his injuries were not life- threatening. He was the only person injured, and his condition was not immediately known.
About $ 12,000 in fireworks ignited, Hanania said.
“That’s a big fireworks display,” he said.
The fireworks were being set up inside a safe zone, according to Hanania, and they posed no risk to the public. Minimal damage, except a small fire near where the display ignited, was reported.
Sunday’s scheduled fireworks performance was canceled, Hanania said. The village and Bridgeview Park District will discuss whether it will be rescheduled. Matthew Hendrickson
Officers hurt; firecracker thrown at squad car
Two Chicago Police officers were hurt when a person tossed a firecracker at their squad car late Sunday afternoon in the South Shore neighborhood.
The officers were on patrol in the 7400 block of South Exchange when a vehicle pulled up alongside them about 4: 20 p. m. and someone inside it threw the firecracker toward the windshield of the squad car, according to police.
It exploded, and the officers suffered injuries that weren’t considered life- threatening. They were taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in good condition, police said. No one was in custody. Mitchell Armentrout
Man shot in IHOP lot
A man was shot multiple times in an IHOP parking lot in north suburban Evanston Sunday morning.
The 25- year- old Beach Park resident was shot three times about 5: 05 a. m. in the 100 block of Asbury Avenue, according to Evanston police. He walked into the emergency room at Presence Saint Francis Hospital with gunshot wounds to the torso, arm and leg.
Police said the victim was approached by a man and asked his gang affiliation. The Beach Park man said he was not a gang member. Matthew Hendrickson
Cops: Drunk driver kills woman in crash
Chicago Police say a man was drunk when he caused an Auburn Gresham neighborhood crash that left a 30- year- old southwest suburban woman dead Sunday morning on the South Side.
About 4: 15 a. m., a minivan smashed into the truck Barbara Pettis was driving at the intersection of 78th Street and Loomis Boulevard, according to police.
The collision sent her vehicle into a car parked on the block, authorities said. Pettis, of the 5100 block of State Road in Burbank, died at the scene. The 29- year- old man at the wheel of the minivan was in serious condition. Alcohol was thought to be a factor in the crash, and he was expected to be taken into custody at the hospital, police said Sunday evening. Mitchell Armentrout
Officer to be released from hospital
The second Chicago Police officer injured in a chase Friday was expected to be released from the hospital Sunday, after the high- speed pursuit from suburban Tinley Park that ended with two robbery suspects dead in a crash on the Far South Side.
Another hospitalized officer was released Saturday. Two more were treated and released after the crash that happened about 11: 30 a. m. in West Pullman, according to Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.
Two people inside the suspects’ car died after the crash. Two other men in the vehicle suffered injuries that weren’t considered life- threatening and were expected to face criminal charges in Will County, Guglielmi said Sunday.