BY MICHAEL SNEED SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
"Is there a terrorist cell in the 14th Ward?
Translation: Sneed hears a military-style rocket propelled grenade launcher (RPG) was found in the black bag of a man arrested Friday near the former residence of Ald. Ed Burke (14th), who moved away a week before!
The shocker: "This thing has the capability of bringing down a helicopter," Burke told Sneed. "And we are near Midway Airport. I certainly hope it doesn't indicate a connection with the al-Qaida on the Southwest Side."
The story: Sneed is told Chicago Police, who had been conducting a drug probe for the last three months, arrested a man near the Burkes' former home who was in possession of a rocket propelled grenade. It caused the CPD's Bomb and Arson Squad to seal off the block.
At last report, the police were trying to determine if the military weapon was an active explosive or a training device. "What we've been able to determine so far is that the RPG is a practice bazooka round which will shoot out but will not explode," said a police source. "But it hasn't been fully tested yet."
The suspect, Paul Bacasas, of the 4900 block of South Campbell, had the military-style weapon in a black bag he threw into the back of a pizza truck, according to the police.
The discovery of the weapon was a shocker. It was the offshoot of a three-month investigation of the 26th Street Gang, which led to the arrest Friday of an alleged gang-banger in the 7700 block of Merrimac, the seizure of $200,000 and 12 kilos of cocaine worth $5 million.
"Part of our surveillance led us to the house near Ald. Burke's residence," said John Risley, deputy chief of narcotics and gang intelligence.
"It's a rare recovery from a street gang, but there are occasional thefts from military bases," a source said."
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/17sneed.html
ON THE NET....
http://www.altavista.com/news/results?q=%22Paul+Bacasas%22&nc=0&nr=0&nd=4
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&lr=&tab=wn&ie=UTF-8&q=%22Paul+Bacasas%22&btnG=Search+News
http://www.altavista.com/web/results?itag=ody&q=%2226th+Street+Gang%22&kgs=0&kls=0
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ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The suspect, Paul Bacasas, of the 4900 block of South Campbell, had the military-style weapon in a black bag he threw into the back of a pizza truck, according to the police.
The discovery of the weapon was a shocker. It was the offshoot of a three-month investigation of the 26th Street Gang, which led to the arrest Friday of an alleged gang-banger in the 7700 block of Merrimac, the seizure of $200,000 and 12 kilos of cocaine worth $5 million."http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/17sneed.html
Thanks for the ping on this.
Still nothing else out there, except that one 'gossip' column article. Strange.