Drug Raid on Lincoln and Washington Last Night

Subject: Re: Drug Raid on Lincoln and Washington Last Night

crooklyn wrote: Finally! The cops have listened. I have watched as the drug dealers on my corner take over my street over the past 6 months. It seemed that nothing would be done. But finally, there was a raid on one of the main drug buildings on the block.

Last night, as I pulled into Lincoln Place to park my car after a night of grocery shopping, I was stopped by five SUVs blocking the road. I got out ready to scream at someone, and call the police to come and clear the traffic, when someone at the corner told me, it was the police. Woo Hoo!!!

This came as a much needed releif. I call 311 at least once a week to complain about the gang of hoodlums playing dice in front of my stoop. At night, I have to park on St. Johns, because all the dealer's friends and customers have taken up every legal, and illegal, parking spot. I am constantly walking around waiting for the gunshots to come out because I never know how bad it could get.

I know that this raid is not a cure all but, let me say, haleluhah! It's a step in the right direction.

brooklynleather wrote: Uhm there were just like 1203894739857984358798235 cops rushing down atlantic from flatbush headed east--whats up with that

DON'T B SMALL PEOPLE & CENSOR SMALL DICE GAMES-SOUTHSLOPESCRAMBLA

SevenOneEighty wrote: Dice games are fine -but why not do them in private - you know, like scrabble...in he comfort of your own home - or at least not on the busy corner of Wash+Lincoln. Dice games in broad daylight are usually a sign of other problems in the 'hood. The people having loud dice games on the street are not necessarily known for great judgment or temperment.
I likeOld E and St. Iides from my days in school, but seriously, do it in your own living room.

I know your post is slightly tongue in cheek but just a little bit of info:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20060731/ai_n16649776

Roll of dice may turn up deadly violence, cops warn
Chicago Sun-Times, Jul 31, 2006 by Annie Sweeney

When 24-year-old Carl Woods was found shot to death last week, the dice were just feet from his body.

He had been part of a large crowd of dice players in front of a home in the 4000 block of West Van Buren on a summer evening, neighbors said.

The game was likely what some call "happy-go-lucky dice shooting," where the stakes don't rise above $1,000. This is relaxed, compared with the more serious high-stakes games played in basements across the city.

To play, you throw in $20 or so and start rolling -- from a cup or your hand. Either roll a seven first and win, or keep trying to make your point -- by matching your first roll -- and win. Throw a seven, and you're done. As a group gathers around, side bets start, and the players also keep betting as the rolls keep going, quickly growing the pot to a couple hundred, maybe.
Related Results

But the fun -- this is a game played for years in hallways and on street corners -- not only skirts the law, it skates on the edge of danger, police say. The players are often street drug dealers with cash and guns. Throw in drinking and maybe a sore loser or a cheater with crooked dice, and the recreation can quickly give way to violence.

Detectives are still investigating Woods' shooting, and the motive is still officially unknown. But investigators are looking into whether the dice game Woods was playing led to a confrontation.

Chicago Police started cracking down on dice throwing last year after noticing how many shootings there were in and around the games.
Advertisement

'IT'S A DANGEROUS GAME'

"We're trying to tell our officers what you may see is just small gambling, but a lot of times it involves gang members who are carrying guns," police Supt. Phil Cline said. "That's why you need to pay attention. Not because people are gambling -- but there is a lot of violence that stems from those [games]."

In the first week of July -- just before Cline issued a reminder to the department to watch for the games -- there were two shootings at dice games. Last year, there were seven, including two fatalities.

Such violence has persisted over the years. Former Ald. Robert Shaw's son John Shaw was killed in 1997 after intervening in a fight that started at a dice game. And 10-year-old Stevie Perry was killed by a stray bullet in 2001 fired in a dispute over a dice game. Just last month, a 13-year-old was convicted of shooting a 26-year-old man to death at a late-night dice game.

Tio Hardiman, director of Gang Mediation and Community Organizing for CeaseFire, said he remembers the games being played in public- housing hallways. Today, they're more likely to be on the street.

The problem, he said, is there's just too much potential for violence.

Aside from fights over money, the games are also prey to thieves, Hardiman said.

Residents on the block where Woods was gunned down agree.

"Sore losers don't take that, if somebody takes their money," a woman who lives on the block said.

At the end of the street, a store owner who also didn't want her name used, said she shoos players off the corner all the time.

"Ain't nothing to it," said Jerome Richardson, a passerby. "It's a dangerous game. . . . It's about money. The root of all evil."

LeeHo wrote: They moved down a block to St. Johns Pl. btw Washington and Classon.

jdr55 wrote: I am moving to Washington Ave, a little further up than Lincoln. I feel safe there, but if there is serious drug action going on, it doesn't seem like a good idea to walk up Washington from Eastern Parkway at night. Can anyone recommend a route back to Washington from Grand Army Plaza that gets a lot of foot traffic?