Reported gang member sought in Palatine Township slaying

An arrest warrant has been issued for a 20-year-old Wheeling man wanted in connection with Saturday’s fatal shooting of a 34-year-old man near Arlington Heights, Cook County sheriff’s police said Thursday.

Vidal Rodriguez, aka “Chi-Town,” of Carriage Hill Road, is wanted on a warrant for first-degree murder in the killing described by authorities as an “unprovoked murder.”

The allegations stem from the slaying of Abel Oliva, found dead Saturday morning at the Whispering Winds apartment complex in unincorporated Cook County southeast of Lake-Cook Road and Route 53. Oliva both lived and worked at the complex.

According to police, Rodriguez was armed with a .22-caliber rifle at the time of the murder and is still considered “armed and extremely dangerous.” He has a previous arrest record and is a member of the Maniac Latin Disciples street gang, authorities said.

Rodriguez is believed to be with his girlfriend, 17-year-old Corina Valezquez-Gonzalez of Wheeling. She was reported missing by her mother around the same time the murder occurred, sheriff’s police said.

Rodriguez was identified as a suspect through a canvass of the area, sheriff’s office spokesman Frank Bilecki said. Witnesses reported a disturbance between Rodriguez and Oliva, who investigators don’t believe had any prior association, Bilecki said.

Investigators are asking anyone with information on the whereabouts of Rodriguez and Valezquez-Gonzalez to call (847) 635-1188. Wheeling police are investigating Valezquez-Gonzalez’s disappearance as that of a missing minor, Bilecki said.

Cook County Crime Stoppers is offering a $1,000 reward to the individual who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of Rodriguez.

Oliva was married with two sets of twins.

A neighbor, Kristal Pitts, said the older twins are boys about 7 years old and the younger are a boy and girl about 2. All are too young to comprehend what’s happened, she said.