Rear View

Week in Review: Escaped Bank Robbers and Joke Text Gone Wrong

In the past week, you may have missed stories about an ongoing murder case, home sales and prices up, stores cutting down on guns, a plea deal turned down and election candidates in Orland Park and nearby.

MONDAY Who is Running For Village, Fire, School and Library Boards in April 2013? Hopeful candidates for five Orland Park boards have started submitting petitions to get on the ballot. Find out who they are as they join the races. Ashford House 5 Leaves Plea Deal on the Table, for Now Five Indiana men charged with assault in the Ashford House brawl have decided not to take a plea agreement offered by a Cook County judge and will instead move forward with a motion to suppress the vehicle stop where they were arrested. TUESDAY Scenes From a Manhunt (Photo Gallery) Patch captured the images from Tuesday's search in Tinley Park and the surrounding area by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies for two men who escaped a downtown Chicago …

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Court Watch: Trial Reset for Two Men Accused of Hate Crime and Robbery

Also, Kustok pretrial investigations move from prosecutors to defense attorneys. Judge extends protection order filed against the vice president of the New Lenox District 122 Board of Education.

The Southland's major criminal and civil cases heard in Cook County and Will County courts this week. OAK LAWN — Oak Lawn Bank Robbery Suspect Charged in Federal Court Police said a man connected to Saturday's robbery of the Bank of America branch in Oak Lawn has been charged with one count of robbery. Bank employees say they heard what sounded like the robber talking to another person outside the bank on a cell phone. ORLAND PARK — Dennis Dodson’s ruddy hair and beard and neon-yellow jumpsuit provided the only color Tuesday in an otherwise quick and routine court appearance. Dodson was charged last year with the daylight kidnap and molestation of an 83-year-old woman behind the Orland Park Home Depot. He remained in jail on a $1.5 million…

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Court Watch: Judge Refuses to Put 'Gag Order' On Possible Murder Trial Witnesses

Evidence comes in against man accused of soliciting sex from children through the Internet. Trial was set for one of two men, the search for whom caused a lockdown of Frankfort-area schools and neighborhoods last year.

The Southland's major criminal and civil cases heard in Cook County and Will County courts this week. NEW LENOX — A judge on Thursday denied Rodney Julun’s request to put a “gag order” on two men who could be called to testify against him during trial. Julun is accused of murdering Dwight Jones of New Lenox Township with a lamp and then enlisting David Reed and John White to rob his home and property over the next several days. Evidently unaware that court hearings are open to the public, Julun said he does not believe he can get a fair trial because Reed and White have been leaking “their stories” to the media. The two men remain in jail, awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to residential burglary, and have never spoken directly …

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Kustok Murder Hearings Continued to April

A year and half later, investigations continue into the death of Allan Kustok's wife, Jeanie.

Pretrial hearings against an Orland Park man charged with murder were continued to April 16 as the state waits on a blood-splatter opinion and a single Orland Park police report. Nearly 17 months ago, in the early hours of a September morning, Kustok brought his wife, Jeanie, to Palos Community Hospital wrapped in a bed sheet with a gunshot wound to her head. He claimed he awoke to a gunshot and found his wife dead, her arms folded with a pistol in one hand. Orland Park police charged him with first-degree murder. Assistant state’s attorney Jennifer Gonzalez told the court on Tuesday that she hopes to have a forensic report ready soon for the defense. Conclusion of the state’s investigation will free defense attorneys to begin their own …

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Court Watch: Former Oak Forest Attorney Indicted on 22 Charges Related to Sex Assault, Kidnapping

Also, a new judge is presiding over Granat murder trial, and burglary defendants connected to New Lenox homicide get separate cases.

Judge Seals Kustok Murder Documents from Public View New Judge Presiding Over Granat Murder Trial OAK FOREST—Charges against David Baitman — a former Village of Oak Forest attorney who has been accused of handcuffing and sexually assaulting a woman — were expanded. Court records show he is now charged with: Pretrial hearings have been continued to Dec. 15. ORLAND PARK—An ongoing case involving the armed robbery of an Orland Park jewelry store, in which four men allegedly tied up an employee and the store owner and took off, was continued until Dec. 9. Antoinne C. Kelly, Charles Harper, Darrin O. Carter and Lance P. Vaughn have been indicted for armed robbery and are scheduled to be arraigned at the upcoming hearing. —  Orland Park Patch …

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Judge Seals Kustok Murder Documents from Public View

Three-week lull in pretrial hearings devoted to State's Attorney's push to keep investigation of the death of Jeanie Kustok from getting out.

With approval from defense attorneys, a Cook County judge ruled Monday that all files pertaining to the Allan Kustok murder trial be sealed from public view. In late October, state prosecutors entreated Associate Judge John J. Hynes to keep police and other reports about the death and investigation of Jeanie Kustok out of the public’s hand following attempts by reporters to obtain them by legal request. Allan Kustok is accused of murdering his wife after she died from a gunshot wound to the head in September 2010. Hynes was expected to announce his decision last week, but delayed it to give Kustok’s defense attorneys time to review a draft of the ruling. Kustok's lead defense attorney, Rick Beuke, would not elaborate on why the defense …

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Judge Gives Attorneys Time to Review Upcoming Ruling in Kustok Trial

Judge's decision on whether to seal the documents related to the murder trial was delayed until Monday.

A Cook County judge will allow defense attorneys in the Alan Kustok murder trial several days to review a written ruling regarding the release of documents before it’s officially announced and filed next week. Last month, Judge John J. Hynes was asked by state prosecutors to approve an emergency protective order to seal all documents related to the death and investigation of Jeanie Kustok following attempts by news media to obtain those documents by legal request. Alan Kustok is accused of murdering his wife after she died from a gunshot wound to the head in September 2010. Rick Beuke, lead defense attorney, gave no objections to the state’s emergency request last month, but has since asked the court for more time to review the proposed …

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In the Rear View: Robbery and Drunk Driving Charges

We look back at a week of DUI death, area crime stats, fire staffing delays, mental center thoughts, armed robbery reckoning, volleyball, cross country and credit union transfer.

MONDAY Judge to Consider Sealing Kustok Murder Investigation from Public Prosecutors said they're close to finishing their investigation more than one year after the death of Kustok's wife. Crime Stats 2009-2010: Retail Thefts Rose in Orland Park, But Fell In and Near the Mall Prompted by September's mall shooting, Orland Park Patch analyzed retail theft and other crime statistics in a major traffic area of the village. TUESDAY UPDATE: Four Men Now Charged in Armed Jewelry Store Robbery Two men had sped away east on I-80 after the robbery, but were found a few days after. Crime Stats 2009-2010: Hit and Runs Up, Total Crimes Down Patch also analyzed batteries, drug arrests and other crime statistics in a major traffic area of the village. …

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