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Alleged drug dealers, others caught By JILLIAN DUCHNOWSKI jduchnowski@shawmedia.com A 32-year-old Chicago man police sought for five months for his alleged role in a DeKalb County crack cocaine ring was arrested Wednesday, a day after authorities arrested 12 other people accused of street-level drug dealing and other crimes. Terry M. Griffin had eluded authorities since May, when charges were filed
County sheriff ’s deputies arrest alleged crack cocaine ringleader against 15 people allegedly involved in dealing crack cocaine in the area. Griffin ran the operation with two others running drugs from Chicago to DeKalb County, where they met with users and low-level dealers, police said. Griffin was arrested without incident about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday near West 87th and South Peoria streets
on Chicago’s south side, according to a news release from the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Terry M. Griffin Office. Sheriff’s deputies brought Griffin to the DeKalb County Jail, where he was held on $1 million bond. Grif-
fin was charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance, unlawful delivery of a controlled substance and criminal drug conspiracy-delivery. One of the men arrested in Tuesday’s warrant sweep also was convicted on charges in connection with Griffin’s crack-cocaine ring. Christopher Riggs, 37, of
DeKalb, is on probation for possession of a controlled substance, a charge he pleaded guilty to in June after serving jail time, court records show. Riggs was arrested Tuesday on a charge of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance near a senior facility, DeKalb police said. Also arrested Tuesday on a charge of unlawful deliv-
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ery of a controlled substance were: Samuel U. Jones, 39, of DeKalb; Christian M. Elliott, 19, of DeKalb; Zachary J. Dion, 27, of Sycamore; Kevin L. Hunter, 22, of DeKalb; Joseph R. Hannon, 18, of DeKalb and Bryan M. Wiersma, 20, of DeKalb. Kevin C. Florczak, 20, of Westmont was charged with unlawful possession of controlled substance.
See DRUGS, page A4
DeKalb park board interviews search firms By JILLIAN DUCHNOWSKI jduchnowski@shawmedia.com
Photo Illustrations by Rob Winner – rwinner@shawmedia.com
Police: New cellphone laws will be enforced By NATHAN WOODSIDE nwoodside@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Local law enforcement officials are ready and more than willing to enforce an expanded traffic law cracking down on behind-the-wheel cellphone use. The provision banning drivers from all handheld chatter takes effect Jan. 1. Fines for gabbing on the go start at $75 and increase with each subsequent citation. Three tickets in a year could result in a suspended license. Illinois is the 12th state to pass such a law, but the first in the Midwest. “We’re going to be pretty strict with the enforcement,” Sycamore police Lt.
Voice your opinion How often do you use a cellphone while driving? Vote online at Daily-Chronicle.com. Darrell Johnson said. “I think it’s been an issue, a problem and a distraction for a number of years. It’s at a point that it needs to be addressed, and this is the solution.” Texting while driving already is illegal, but the law is nearly impossible to properly enforce, according to Johnson. Phones can easily be hidden from view of police and even if they’re caught, it’s difficult to prove unless a driver admits to it.
“Quite honestly, as an agency, we would have loved to crack down on this sooner,” Johnson said. “However, with the language and nature of the statute, enforceability was pretty much nonexistent for us, and we recognize that.” That’s all about to change. Johnson said he’s sure there’s been accidents to be blamed on distracted driving, but the culprits rarely confess that to police. DeKalb police Lt. John Petragallo noted that it’s already illegal to talk on cellphones in construction and school zones. He said his department has done regular details targeting talkers in those areas.
See HANDS-FREE, page A4
DeKALB – DeKalb park commissioners are expected to discuss forming a new committee on the community pool and hiring a firm to search for a new executive director. Both topics are slated to be discussed at 7 p.m. today at the Hopkins Park Community Center, 1403 Sycamore Road in DeKalb. DeKalb Park District’s last executive director, Cindy Capek, resigned in May after leaders negotiated a separation agreement in which the district would continue to pay her salary for six months. Three new commissioners were elected to the five-member board in April and soon reached a consensus that they wanted a new director. Park commissioners interviewed three search firms Wednesday. Representatives from the search firms offered an array of services, from meeting with other local community leaders and auxiliary program leaders to see what they wanted in a new park district leader to checking references. One firm suggested two rounds of interviews, with the second round involving time to socialize and visit parks. Another firm simply proposed leaving the interviews to the commissioners. The search could take anywhere from six weeks to three months. Commissioners could vote to hire one of the firms tonight. As far as the pool, the commissioners are going to discuss forming a committee to discuss the options more extensively, park board President Phil Young said. Leaders decided against partnering with the Sycamore Park District on new pool, leaving them to discuss repairing the aging Hopkins Pool or building a new community pool.
If you go n What: DeKalb park board meeting n When: 7 p.m. today n Where: Hopkins Park Community Center, 1403 Sycamore Road in DeKalb
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