Briefs: Police capture escapee
Authorities have arrested a convicted murderer who escaped from an Elgin mental health facility last month. Police captured Tolbert Walls after he barricaded himself in a home on Chicago's South Side. No one was hurt when federal marshals arrested Walls after a stakeout at the home. Walls escaped from Elgin Mental Health Center's Forensic Unit after apparently switching name tags with a visitor. He was held there after being found unfit to stand trial on armed robbery charges in July. That's the same month he was released from prison after serving time for first-degree murder in the 1991 gang-related shooting of a 14-year-old boy in Chicago.
Daley plans to hire officers
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley says the city plans to increase the number police officers on the streets by 150 over the next two years, and will back them up with more surveillance cameras. Daley acknowledged the planned increases to the 13,600-officer department is meager, but he says the city has to live within its budget. Daley on Thursday said the city will acquire 100 additional surveillance cameras. That will bring the number to 559 citywide. Daley pointed out there was heavy criticism that the cameras were invasive when they were introduced in 2004. He said the critics underestimated the people who live in Chicago who have to deal with gangs, guns and drugs on a daily basis.
Two sick from beef
A person from Kane County and a person from Grundy County have confirmed cases of food poisoning, E. coli O157:H7, from frozen ground beef produced by Topps Meat Co. of New Jersey, the McHenry County Health Department said Friday. The two people became ill in early September. A ground beef sample from one of their houses is being tested at the Illinois Department of Public Health laboratory. E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause bloody diarrhea and dehydration and lead to death. Information on the meat's recall can be found at www.fsis.usda.gov.
Crash sends 5 to hospital
Five people were sent to the hospital after six-vehicle crash in Barrington, police said Friday. The crash happened after a black Mercedes didn't yield the right of way while turning left onto Bartlett Road from Route 59 and was struck by a single-axle dump truck at 7:16 p.m. Thursday, Barrington Hills police said. The dump truck overturned and landed on two vehicles, police said. No citations have been issued yet and the crash is under investigation. Route 59 was closed between Bartlett Road and Route 62 for more than three house so the dirt and crash mess could be cleaned up, police said.
New Dugan attorney
Attorney Matthew McQuaid was appointed Friday to help represent convicted murderer Brian J. Dugan, who is accused of killing 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico of Naperville on Feb. 25, 1983. McQuaid replaces an assistant public defender who left the office for private practice. McQuaid is the fourth member of the defense team, led by DuPage public defender Robert Miller. Dugan, in prison since 1985 for two later slayings, has pleaded innocent. On Nov. 2, lawyers will argue whether jurors at the trial will be allowed to hear about the former Aurora man's past sex crimes, which prosecutors say show Dugan's propensity toward that sort of violence.