We take a look back at our stories and videos posed since Honeybee Killer Gary Amaya was gunned down at an Orland Park L.A. Tan. One of his victims got back on his feet, a former cop sued attorneys who wrongly accused him of Amaya's attacks and more.
Lynwood cop Brian Dorian, of Crete, has filed a federal lawsuit seeking $10 million in damages for being arrested and accused in the 2010 shooting spree. The actual shooter was later killed in Orland Park.
The police officer charged with murder and jailed last year amidst a media circus following a string of shootings in Will County, later attributed to the "Honeybee Killer," is suing Will County officials, saying they conspired to falsely arrest and imprison him. Brian Dorian, the Lynwood cop who lived in rural southeast Will County and found himself caught up in the investigation because he resembled the Honeybee shooter, is suing Sheriff Paul Kaupas and State's Attorney James Glasgow, along with Dean Morelli, an investigator in Glasgow's office, for $10 million, reports Patch editor Joe Hosey. Dorian was arrested a year and five days ago in connection with a shooting spree on both sides of the Illinois-Indiana border. The gun attacks …
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Josh Garza might have died after he was shot in the head by Gary Amaya, but instead he exceeded doctors’ expectations in his recovery.
Josh Garza is able to laugh now. The 20-year-old can also sit up, dress himself, walk without help from other people and sing. Garza said he laughed at the doctors who at one time told him that he may not even live through the night, after he was shot in the head about a year ago. Garza was attacked by Gary Amaya, the man police linked to shootings and attempted robberies in Illinois and Indiana, and was often described as the honeybee killer. On Oct. 5, 2010, Garza was rehabbing a house in Beecher with his longtime friend Matt Burton, now 21, and 45-year-old Rolando Alonso, when Amaya walked up to them and made idle small talk, mentioning honeybees before opening fire. Garza was hit by a bullet near his right eye. While Burton dodged the …
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12:38 pm on Sunday, December 11, 2011
Thank you, Rene. I certainly want to do more follow ups like this, so if you hear of anything in such a regard, please let me know. more ›
After months of speculation, Gary L. Amaya, killed in December as he tried to rob an Orland Park tanning salon, was named the man behind the murder of an Indiana man in October.
In an announcement Tuesday, the Will County Sheriff's Office ended months of speculation by naming Gary Amaya, who was killed in December during an attempted robbery at an Orland Park tanning salon, as the "Honeybee Killer." The office named Amaya, 48, of Rankin, as the murderer of Rolando Alonzo, 45, of Hammond, IN, and the man who shot and robbed Lowell, IN, farmer Keith Dahl, both on Oct. 5. Alonzo was killed as he and two co-workers were at a job site in Will County. Dahl was shot in rural Lake County, IN. Dubbed the "honeybee killer" because he asked at least three people about honeybees before firing on them, the gunman was hunted throughout the south suburbs and Indiana without success. On Dec. 11, Amaya entered an Orland Park L.A…
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2:30 pm on Saturday, September 10, 2011
O.K. since we're bringing up the past let's not forget what happen to 5 women at Lane Bryant a few years back, 5 women were murdered in Tinley Park just a few miles away from Orland Mall. more ›
The tanning salon's management said owners have installed new surveillance cameras and panic buttons to make staff and customers feel safe.
L.A. Tan reopened its doors last Wednesday, only four days after an armed robber who could be connected to a murder and other shootings was thwarted by a dexterous customer. Assistant manager Danielle McKeown said the tanning salon's owners have beefed up security systems to make the "shaken-up" staff feel more comfortable as they put the attack behind them. "We got new cameras, we got new panic buttons," she said. "We're feeling a lot more safe now than we did before." Rankin resident Gary Amaya walked into the Orland Park L.A. Tan on Dec. 11, pulled out a handgun and calmly announced he was robbing the salon. In surveillance footage, a young female clerk behind the counter can be seen reaching for a phone but stopping as she'd …
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Between Jason McDaniel stopping Gary Amaya from possibly hurting him and two women at L.A. Tan, and Orland Park police seizing $22,000 worth of sexually provocative merchandise from Spencer’s Gifts, we look back on 10 wild days in Orland.
Gary Amaya said he was at L.A. Tan to rob the place, but signs pointed otherwise. He fired a gun at a woman who ran from him after he tried to handcuff her the morning before he came to Orland Park. While pointing the same Colt .38 Special revolver at a clerk at L.A. Tan, he said he would "make it comfortable" for her and ordered her to tie her hands and legs. Jason McDaniel walked in the door less than a minute after the ropes were tied. Amaya aimed the gun at the 29-year-old father and told him to tie himself as well. But when Amaya put the pistol down on a counter, and bent over to pick up an item that dropped, McDaniel charged him. A few minutes later, Amaya was dead, shot by the same gun he brought to Orland Park. Shortly thereafter…
4:23 am on Monday, December 20, 2010
The MS criminal justice program has been a true blessing to me and assisted me with a better understanding of the fundamental basis and objectives of criminal justice systems. Search the internet "United Forensic College" more ›
Ballistics on the gun used in the foiled L.A. Tan robbery match those in the "honeybee" case. And a witness says Gary Amaya is the man who shot at him.
More signs point toward foiled L.A. Tan robber Gary Amaya as the man responsible for an October shooting spree, but investigators are still reviewing evidence before making a final call. The gun used by Amaya while trying to rob an Orland Park tanning salon last weekend matched the weapon used in the "honeybee" attacks, Will County Sheriff Paul Kaupas said Thursday. "The weapon, projectiles from Lake County, Will County and Orland Park were then prepared by the lab," Kaupas said. "The projectiles were all found to come from the same weapon, the Colt .38 Special found at (L.A. Tan)." The "honeybee killer" is responsible for three attacks in October that left one man dead and two others injured. Dubbed the "honeybee killer" because he asked …
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1:20 am on Monday, December 20, 2010
After seeing Amaya’s picture, I can see how people could have thought that Brian Dorian was the killer, especially if you put a baseball cap on his head. I’m just glad that the real “honeybee killer” is dead and that Dorian’s name can be cleared. A lot of people in NE Illinois and NW Indiana were living in fear knowing that a random killer was on the loose. Jason McDaniel is a true hero. more ›
The robber watches, gun in hand, as the clerk fumbles with the rope, surveillance footage released Tuesday night shows. Then a customer seizes the moment and saves the day.
Gary Amaya went into L.A. Tan in Orland Park Saturday night with a .38-caliber pistol in his pocket. Less than 10 minutes later, the rotund gunman was on the floor, beaten and shot. Jason McDaniel told reporters that he decided on a whim to stop by the L.A. Tan, at 15633 S. 94th Ave., about 6:30 p.m. Amaya, 48, had already tied up the clerk. He ordered McDaniel, 29, to tie himself as well. Amaya then put the pistol down on a counter and bent over to pick up an item he dropped. McDaniel rushed Amaya with a good 10 feet between the two men and they struggled. Within a minute, McDaniel grabbed the gun, struck Amaya in the head with it and fired. The clerk called 911 and tried to untie herself. Amaya was shot in his side, and died an hour …
11:44 am on Saturday, December 18, 2010
Next time you see him or his family, let them know Chris from high school has never been more proud of anyone before. His instincts, his read of the situation, his strength, and speed all made him the perfect person at the perfect time. God truly used him in this situation to stop a serial killer who had been terrorizing my neighborhood back in October. I hope his family is well. more ›
A Chicago woman was able to flee from the blue pick-up truck driven by Gary Amaya the morning before he was shot while trying to rob L.A. Tan in Orland Park.
A Chicago woman survived an encounter with Gary Amaya Saturday morning when she fled from his truck and he fired at her – with the same gun that would be turned on him as he tried to rob L.A. Tan in Orland Park later that day. The woman told police she met Amaya at West 47th Street and South Kilbourn Avenue, near Archer Park, around 1:40 a.m. Amaya induced her into the pickup and propositioned her for sex before trying to put a pair of handcuffs on her, Orland Park Police Chief Tim McCarthy said. "She resisted and he tried forcing himself on her," McCarthy said. "She ran from the truck and she said he fired a round, though she didn't see if he fired at her or up in the air." Orland Park police found a purse belonging to the woman in the …
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As police pursue leads that may tie the slain stickup man to the "honeybee killer" case, L.A. Tan thanks the customer who disarmed and shot the would-be robber, calling him "our Superman."
The .38-caliber pistol held by a man in an attempted robbery Saturday at L.A. Tan in Orland Park Saturday — who was then shot with the gun when a customer took it from him — might be the same weapon used in a series of October shootings in Indiana and Illinois, sources have told several news outlets. But authorities have not confirmed on the record information about test results on the weapon. "Will County detectives are actively working on the investigation and until it is completed there will be no further information/comments released," Kathy Hoffmeyer, spokeswoman for the Will County Sheriff's Office, wrote in an email Tuesday. Gary Amaya walked into L.A. Tan Saturday night with a gun and rope, intent on robbery. But when Jason …
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6:55 pm on Wednesday, December 15, 2010
I WAS COMING HOME FROM WORK WHEN I SAW CONGESTION AND A SQUAD CAR IN FRONT OF KINKOS SO I DECIDED TO TAKE A SHORTCUT THRU THE ALLEY. I SAW AN OFFICER WAVING A SPOTLITE TOWARD ME BUT THOUGHT NOTHING OF IT. I'M DRIVING THRU THE BACK AND I SEE A ORLAND SQUAD WITH AN OFFICER WITH HIS GUN PULLED LEANING ON TOP OF THE CAR POINTING IT TOWARD THE BACK OF THE BUIDING. HE SAW ME , TOLD ME TO GO, THEN SAID … more ›
William
10:49 am on Saturday, November 5, 2011
Well I can understand sympathy for Fox & Dorian, but please don't put that puke "Drew" Peterson in the same catagory. He's an egotistical jerk that has gotten away with 2 murders, and probably will end up suing the county, but he is no more a victim than the Stebic character in Plainfield more ›