Three people are in custody after a local news crew was attacked by suspects yelling racial slurs Monday afternoon near the Adler Planetarium, according to a law enforcement source. A short time later, a police pursuit ensued miles away on the city’s Southwest Side.
Just before 4:30 p.m. in the 900 block of East Solidarity Drive, a reporter and photographer with CBS News Chicago were preparing to go on air when the incident unfolded, according to police and a report from CBS. An original call for service indicated that suspects pulled up to a CBS media vehicle and began shouting racial obscenities at a CBS cameraman who is Black, a law enforcement source said.
Multiple male suspects exited a white truck, Chicago police said, citing preliminary information. One of the suspects directed a dog to attack a 54-year-old man while yelling slurs, police said. The dog, however, didn’t attack, prompting one of the suspects to “become irate” and start damaging the 54-year-old’s property by throwing it on the ground, police said.
All suspects re-entered the white truck and fled the scene in an unknown direction, police said.
Early Monday evening, a CBS news van could be seen along the sidewalk outside the Adler Planetarium. The van’s windows were smashed and a lone orange traffic cone sat on the hood. An evidence marker had been placed next to the cone.
Across the street, camera equipment lay strewn along a section of grass. Police tape had been strung up around the equipment.
Officers later located the truck on police observation device cameras and observed the suspects with the dog near the Richard J. Daley Park Boat launch in Little Village, the law enforcement source said.
Beat officers monitoring police radio observed a tow truck matching the description of the white truck near 4300 South Western Avenue, the source said. Police sped up to catch up with the truck. As officers came close, the tow truck slammed on its brakes, causing the squad car to collide with the rear of the truck, the source said. Police activated their emergency lights and a short pursuit ensued, during which the fleeing tow truck crashed into a metal box in an alley near 3600 South California Avenue in the Brighton Park neighborhood on the city’s Southwest Side, the source said. Those inside the truck then fled on foot.
Three suspects were taken into custody, and a high-powered rifle was confiscated from the truck, the source said.
“We are shocked and horrified by this crime and we are grateful that our journalists are safe,” a CBS spokesperson said in a statement.
Police said no injuries were reported as Belmont Area detectives investigated.
Chicago Tribune’s Jeremy Gorner contributed.