Hoffman police lauded for efforts in manhunt

Hoffman Estates police were in the thick of it all Friday when fugitive bank robber Robert Maday made a stop in the village before his eventual arrest later that day.

A Hoffman Estates resident e-mailed the village a letter, and Mayor William McLeod read it during Monday's board meeting. The resident lauded police efforts to capture Maday.

The 39-year-old Elk Grove Village man disarmed two Cook County state's attorney's office investigators on his way to a sentencing hearing at the Rolling Meadows courthouse. That started a 26-hour crime spree in which authorities said he carjacked two vehicles - including one early Friday near Hassell Road - and robbed a bank before crashing the car he was driving in West Chicago, leading to his arrest.

"There was excellent coordination between agencies," Hoffman Estates Police Chief Clinton Herdegen said, also noting no one was hurt during the manhunt.

The letter lauded local school districts for keeping residents appraised of the situation through e-mail and phone calls.

"If I win the lottery, I'm sending you all on an all-expense-paid Caribbean cruise," the letter read.

That prompted Herdegen to reply: "I hope she wins."

If Herdegen's department is looking for any kind of award, perhaps it could be found in the form a grant for the new police station that could bring up to $100,000 for construction. The village is seeking the grant for the station's green roof, which would help reduce the building's energy loads and help regulate rainwater runoff.

The grant would pay for almost half the $211,900 cost of the roof, which is coming from a bond issue. The Illinois Green Roofs Program is run through the state's department of commerce and economic opportunity.

The 12,970-square-foot roof would have 6- to 10-inch Sedum trees covering one-third of the roof. Herdegen said it's similar to the green roof on top of the Elk Grove Village police station.

Village officials reason the new police station to be built at 411 W. Higgins Road is needed because the police department has grown the current facility. The building is supposed to be completed in July. The trees would be delivered to the station in the spring.

Lauded: Village seeking grant for new police station