Chicago Accident Lawyer BlogPlainfield police say a 12 year old boy is responsible for 5 area fires that occurred during the Christmas season. The boy originally came forward to police as a witness but investigators decided to keep an eye on him after realizing his story didn’t hold up. Police caught the boy on Monday allegedly breaking into a car. After bringing him into the station the boy confessed to setting the fires. Plainfield Police Chief John Konopek said the boy was motivated to see how big the fires would get. The boy has been in foster care for several years with the same family since his mother died of cancer. The boy is being held for starting five fires on the same block from December to January. Police say the boy entered unlocked cars that were either in the driveway or in attached garages and started the fires with whatever he found inside the vehicles. The boy who has no prior criminal record but now faces five counts of arson, three counts of burglary, and two counts of criminal damage to property. Although there was extensive property damage, there was no personal damage and no one experienced burns because of the fires. If you or someone you know is the victim of a fire and experiences burn injuries it is important that you know your legal rights. Experienced attorneys Zneimer & Zneimer can help you know your legal rights. Call and schedule a free personal injury consultation.
Articles Posted in Personal Injury
TV’s and Dressers: A Danger to Your Children
A 2 year old Aurora girl was hurt in her home over the weekend when a TV fell on top of her. Unfortunately such stories have been in the news much too often recently. The toddler, Aurora police said, had a boxlike TV fall from a bookshelf onto her in the 100 block of South Union Street. The girl’s 18 year old uncle was babysitting her and 3 other children at the time. The uncle was also looking after an 18 month old boy, a 17 month old girl, and a 6 year old boy said Police spokesman Dan Ferrelli. The uncle was looking after the 17 month old in the living room while the other children were in another room. He then heard a loud noise and went to check on the children, he found the 2 year old lying under a 20 inch TV. The TV was on top of a cabinet and was not bolted to the wall. The girl was taken to an area hospital around 2:50 p.m. and was later airlifted to Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. Thankfully the hospital determined she had no fractures and her injuries were not life threatening. Police do not suspect foul play and will not charge the uncle. Thankfully this child was not seriously hurt but it’s an incident that has become too common. Although accidents such as these are preventable victims should take the time to learn their legal rights. Experienced attorneys at Zneimer & Zneimer can guide you through learning your legal rights should you experience a similar situation. Contact Zneimer & Zneimer p.c. for a free personal injury consultation.
There have been other victims of falling TV’s including Gianna Hadjis, 4, the girl was killed in January after a television in her home fell on her head. A 1 year old boy from the Roseland neighborhood also died when a TV fell on him the afternoon of February 7th. Arvey Levinsohn of A&H Childproofers said TVs and dressers can be dangerous no matter how sturdy they appear to be.
Grandfathers Not Safe in Nursing Homes
Over the weekend 80 year old Anibal Calderon was beaten to death at an Oak Park nursing home. Police said that another resident of the Oak Park nursing home is responsible. Police are still investigating the incident which occurred at the Oak Park Healthcare Center located at 625 N. Harlem Avenue in Oak Park. A nurse found Anibal Calderon lying unconscious Sunday night in the nursing home’s Alzheimer’s and dementia ward. He was taken to Rush Oak Park Hospital and was later transferred to Rush University Medical Center. He later died early Tuesday. Police believe a 66 year old man, who is also a resident at the Oak Park Healthcare Center, beat Calderon in the head with an object. Police say the incident began with an argument between the two residents and the 66 year old man ended it by beating 80 year old Calderon. An autopsy report determined Calderon died from head injuries and blunt trauma from an assault. Anibal Calderon’s death has been ruled a homicide by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office. Incidents such as these can be prevented if nursing homes take the necessary precautions to keep their residents safe. Victims should understand their legal rights. Our expert attorneys Zneimer & Zneimer p.c. can help victims know their rights. If you or a loved one experienced a similar situation please call our office and schedule a free personal injury consultation.
Children’s Safety Will Hit Your Wallet
Earlier this week Governor Pat Quinn signed a bill allowing the City of Chicago to use cameras to catch speeding drivers near schools. The bill known as S.B. 965 will go into effect on July 1 and allows speed enforcement cameras within 1/8 of a mile, or one city block, around schools and parks between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. each weekday. The speed enforcement cameras are to be used within 1/8 of a mile around parks from one hour before the parks open to one hour after they close, which means cameras will be shut off only between the hours of midnight and 5 a.m. It also allows using existing red light cameras and mobile cameras to catch speeders within 1/8 of a mile of schools and parks in Chicago.
The Expired Meter website issued a Freedom of Information request on all calls, emails and letters from the public to the governor’s office to learn about the response to the legislation. So far it has been negative; of the 224 calls, letters, and emails about the speed camera bill, an overwhelming 91 percent were opposed to it. Governor Quinn’s response was, “You may get letters, perhaps emails. You know, you study each communication, but… I’m not sure that’s a scientific sampling of all the people of Illinois, I think there are some people who are for the bill and some aren’t for it and, you know, that happens in a lot of situations.”
Mayor Rahm Emanuel released a statement on Monday morning thanking Quinn.
Walking Under Historic Building Can Hurt You
As reported in CBS’ Historic Auburn-Gresham Building Torn Down After Partial Collapse, shortly after noon on Tuesday, January 31st, four people were injured when a three story historic building partially collapsed. The building, located on the northeast corner of 79th and Halsted, has been vacant for 20 years and was originally constructed in the 1880’s. It is owned by the city of Chicago. The debris falling from the building injured people on the street and caught two others under scaffolding.
Firefighters worked to remove the victims and searched under the rubble for an alleged fifth victim. According to the Chicago Fire Department it appears the top of the building’s brick façade collapsed along the roofline causing it to fall below. The scaffolding surrounding the building buckled as the roofline collapsed, trapping several pedestrians. Chicago Fire Department Commissioner Robert Hoff included that a tree had grown through the building’s roof and believes years of neglect, along with recent weather conditions, and the age of the building led to the building’s collapse.
Attempted Rescue: Police Officer and Tow Truck Driver
In relation to our last post about fire ordinances, there was a fire early Tuesday morning at an 3-story complex on 130th street, near the far south side of Chicago. Sergeant Mike Saladino, a veteran of 11 years, was on a routine patrol early Tuesday morning around 3:15 a.m. when he heard there was a fire about two blocks from his location. He responded immediately and arrived in a matter of minutes. A tow truck driver, who was originally there to repossess a car, was already on the scene and had just smashed open the jammed door of the first floor apartment. The tow truck driver had a fire extinguisher in hand and was attempting to put out the blaze. Two small children were reportedly trapped in the burning building. The American Burn Association state that there are approximately 1.1 million burn injuries in the United States each year severe enough that they warrant medical attention. Experienced accident and injury attorneys Zneimer & Zneimer p.c. understand the immediacy and sensitivity required in handling cases that involve burn injuries.
Unfortunately Officer Saladino and the tow truck driver were unable to rescue the two small children. The flames were too extreme, and the smoke too blinding. According to the Chicago Tribune, Officer Saladino was very distraught that he could not save the children. He said he could not stop thinking about his twin daughters at home, who were around the same age as the victims. He kept thinking what if it had been them in the fire. That’s what drove him to run into the burning building. The Tribune reports that Saladino was very emotional and could not bear to look at the two small bodies of the victims brought out once the fire was put out.
The fire was started by a 6-year old boy attempting reheat some pizza on the stove top in the kitchen. His pregnant mother was asleep in another room. She was a single mother doing the best she could with 3 kids and one on the way. She and the 6 year old boy managed to escape the fire, but it claimed the lives of her other two children Destiny Myles (3) and Jeremiah (1). She attempted to run back in and save the kids twice but passed out due to heavy smoke. The pregnant mother is currently in critical condition in the hospital. There is no word yet if the complex was completely up to fire code. If the building is older than 1975, it is not required to have a sprinkler system. The officer and tow truck drivers are definitely very brave men to have run into a burning building. Sadly fire fighters did not arrive on the scene in time. If you or someone you love have been involved in a fire, please contact accident injury attorneys Zneimer & Zneimer p.c. who can help assess the specifics of your situation discuss appropriate choices with you.
Bridgeport: Teen Youtube Beating
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roK2XIZKn8Q
By now, many of you Chicagoans have heard about the 7 teenagers that beat up and robbed an Asian high school senior this past Sunday. This is mainly because one of the teens recorded the beating with their cell phone and the video has gone viral via Youtube. The teens involved in the beating were all under the age of 18. There was one 17 year old boy, two 16 year old boys, three 15 year old boys, and a 15 year old girl. The girl allegedly lured the victim into the alley on the 2700 block of South Shields, where the boys waited to beat him. All the teens, except 17 year old Raymond Palomino, are being charged with juvenile delinquencies. While accident injury attorneys Zneimer and Zneimer do not typically handle these types of cases, they do handle personal injury cases caused by assault. Typically, insurance companies will not cover these types of acts unless the act is forseeable
Raymond is the only one of the teens being charged as an adult. His dad actually turned him in after seeing the video of the beating on the news. This viral video ended up backfiring on these teens, since many of their peers identified them via the comments on the Youtube page. Raymond is being charged as an adult with robbery and aggravated battery. His bail is set at 100,000 dollars. It seems as though Raymond is being made out as the ring leader of the group. This could be because in the video, he shouts “get him,” when the victim becomes visible. Raymond is also seen in the video removing a gym shoe from the victim’s backpack and striking him in the face repeatedly with it. He then took the victim’s wallet, removed the cash, and then dropped it into the sewer.
Dollars for Doctors
It is not a secret that pharmaceutical companies use doctors and other medical professionals to promote certain drugs. The idea of a doctor receiving dollars from a drug company for prescribing its pills raises a lot of ethical questions, and one wonders whether in prescribing a certain pill, the doctor has the patient’s best interest in mind. The drug companies have long been rewarding doctors with fees for speaking engagements (promoting the drug), consulting fee, or research grants. However, until recently, what goods and dollars were exchanged was not public information.
According to ProPublica reporters Dan Nguyen, Charles Ornstein, and Tracy Weber, some of the drug companies have begun publicizing the details of payments they make to physicians, hospitals, in other health professionals for promoting their drugs. The payments are usually in the form of consulting fee, speaking engagement fees, or research fees. Most of the money goes to physicians, however, nurses and pharmacists also work with pharmaceutical companies. ProPublica has pulled the disclosures made by the pharmaceutical companies into a searchable database. Check if your doctor has received benefits from the drug companies.
Many patients suffer personal injuries from defective drugs. The list of recalled drugs by the FDA is rather long. A lot of the drugs on this list were recalled after many patients have suffered personal injuries.
Dangerous conditions in child and adolescent psychiatric hospital
Chicago Tribune Deborah L. Shelton reported that experts from the University of Illinois at Chicago issued a scathing report about the dangerous conditions of pediatric and adolescent psychiatric hospital Hargrove. This report is eerily similar to the one released on March 30, 2009, slamming the conditions at Riveredge Hospital and other psychiatric facilities owned or run by Psychiatric Solutions, and to another report released in May 2011 documenting inadequate care in Lakeshore Hospital. Back in 2009 as well as in the current reports, the UIC experts reveal that the most vulnerable patient population, pediatric and adolescent psychiatric patient are subjected to sexual assaults, physical attacks, threats, and unacceptable conditions.
According to the current report between December 2010 and mid-June 2011, there were over 100 cases of children and adolescent psychiatric patients subjected to physical attacks, threatening behavior, and sexual assaults at Hartgrove. The report on psychiatric care in 2009 on Riveredge and Psychiatric Solutions identified a similar longstanding pattern of egregious quality failures, failure to protect patients from sexual abuse, failure to provide patient care in a safe environment, failure to ensure patients are adequately monitored, failure to ensure adequate staffing for patient care, failure to adequately train and supervise staff. The current report on Hartgrove paints a similarly unacceptable picture of vulnerable population placed at unacceptable risk. The reports also reveal that the hospitals are understaffed or are staffed with unqualified personnel. Most of the children in these facilities are there because they are danger to self or others and need specialized care. When the hospitals hire personnel with lack of qualifications the hospitals put the children and staff at risk. Our law firm represents victims of psychiatric and hospital negligence in cases involving sexual assaults or inadequate supervision in psychiatric facilities. Sexual assaults are usually a result of inadequate staffing, improper supervision, or failure to follow physician-ordered precautions and observation levels. Personal injuries that result from inadequate staffing are easily preventable. Keeping psychiatric patients safe should be a priority to any mental health hospital. Patient safety is a prerequisite of any therapeutic environment for a psychiatric patient. Failure to prevent assault and abuse of psychiatric patients represents gross negligence and should not be tolerated.