Dancing gives Mike first boot of the season

PAIGE WISERS REVIEW, PAGE 28

SHOWCASE

POW!
GET A KICK OUT OF STREET OU MARTIAL ARTS
FIND OUT HOW IN

YOU GOT GAME?

easy

SEE INSIDE FOR DETAILS

75 CITY & SUBURBS $2 ELSEWHERE | LATE SPORTS FINAL | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011 | SUNTIMES.COM |

STAGNANT

450 290 Page 37

DEADLY

WHO KILLED DAVID KOSCHMAN? A WATCHDOGS INVESTIGATION

SHOVE
Church deacon dedicated to homeless dies after iPhone thief pushes her while escaping from L platform PAGE 2

| RICH HEIN~SUN-TIMES

City inspector general looking at homicide involving Daley nephew PAGE 5

Koschman killinggets newprobe

HEALTH CARE APPRECIATION

INSIDE TOMORROWS PAPER!

DONT MISS

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2011 | CHICAGO SUN-TIMES | 5

NEWINVESTIGATION OF KOSCHMAN CASE

City inspector general reviewing police probe
BY TIM NOVAK AND CHRIS FUSCO
Staff Reporters

WHO KILLED DAVID KOSCHMAN? | A WATCHDOGS INVESTIGATION

The Chicago Police Departments handling of a 2004 homicide case involving Richard J. R.J. Vanecko a nephew of Mayor Daley and White House Chief of Staff William Daley has come under scrutiny by a second outside law enforcement agency. City of Chicago Inspector General Joseph Fergusons office began seeking documents about the case from the police at least two weeks before the Illinois State Police agreed Friday to do its own review at the request of Cook County States Attorney Anita Alvarez, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned. Both the inspector general and the State Police are examining the Chicago Police Departments investigation of the death of David Koschman. Koschman, 21, of Mount Prospect, died from brain injuries he suffered after Vanecko, then 29, punched him in the face and knocked him to the street during a drunken confrontation outside a Di-

vision Street bar. Its not clear whether the two agencies will work together, nor whether Alvarez was aware the inspector general already was involved. Ferguson released a written statement Tuesday saying he cannot provide comment on whether his office is investigating. The State Police did not respond to a request for comment. Alvarez spokeswoman Sally Daly referred questions to the appropriate city agencies. The flurry of law enforcement attention follows a Sun-Times investigation that raised questions about the Chicago Police Departments handling of the case. Koschmans friends as well as a bystander have disputed police reports from the original 2004 investigation in which detectives said they told them the 5-foot-5, 140-pound Koschman was being physically aggressive toward a group that included Vanecko when he was punched in the early-morning hours of April 25, 2004. Koschman died 11 days later. The police determined that the 6-foot-3, 230-pound Vanecko threw

the punch and that he and one of his friends then ran away. But taking a new look at the case early this year, they decided Vanecko had acted in self-defense and formally closed their now-seven-year-old homicide investigation. Vanecko has declined to talk to police, who say witnesses couldnt pick him out of a lineup held 25 days after Koschman was punched. In Sun-Times interviews, Kochmans friends denied they told the police Koschman was being physically aggressive. And all told detectives earlier this year they would take lie-detector tests if asked. Responding to the Sun-Times reports, Alvarez called Thursday on the State Police to examine the handling of the Koschman investigation, saying an outside, independent police agency needed to step in. The next day, the State Police agreed to do that, even as Gov. Quinn announced he was appointing Alvarezs chief investigator, Hiram Grau, to head the State Police. At the time of Koschmans death, Grau was a deputy police superintendent with

The Chicago Police investigation of David Koschmans death has prompted the citys inspector general to begin seeking documents about the case.
the Chicago Police Department, overseeing the departments detectives. According to the State Police, Grau had no role in investigating the Koschman case but, out of an abundance of caution, Mr. Grau will be recusing himself from the State Polices review of the matter. As the citys inspector general, Ferguson, a former federal prosecutor, has worked with federal authorities in investigating corruption at City Hall. One joint probe, Operation Crooked Code, has led to convictions of 21 people in a city Building Department bribery scheme. The Chicago Police Department has declined to discuss the case. In response to a public records request earlier this month seeking any and all correspondence its had with Fergusons office, Alvarezs office and the FBI regarding Koschmans death, the Police Department said it had no correspondence with the states attorney or the FBI and that it could not release any correspondence with Fergusons office.

Cab companies to pay $1 mil. in fines for wrecks

BY FRAN SPIELMAN AND TIM NOVAK
Staff reporters

After seeking $17 million in fines, the Daley administration on Tuesday settled for a $1 million penalty from taxicab companies accused of endangering riders by turning wrecks known as salvaged vehicles into cabs. The biggest chunk of the settlement $839,320 in fines and court costs will be paid by Chicago Elite Cab Corp. and 63 related companies tied to Symon Garber, the citys undisputed taxicab kingpin. Garber is a Russian businessman who was in the cab business in New York when he befriended Mayor Daleys son Patrick Daley. A few years

later, he was at the top of the taxicab city against all cab owners accused heap in Chicago. He operates two of similar offenses approached $17 fleets of maroon-colored cabs: Chi- million. The settlement announced Tuescago Carriage Cab and Royal 3 CCC day calls for more than 600 Chicago Taxi. standard fuel vehicles Garber, his partner Alexowned or managed by sandr Igolnikov and their asGarbers taxi empire to be sociates were accused of ilreplaced with a hybrid or legally using 183 salvaged or alternative fuel vehicle at rebuilt vehicles as taxicabs. the time of the next vehicle Since 2005, it has been replacement. illegal to use salvaged or The fines represent a rebuilt vehicles as taxicabs significant amount of monon the streets of Chicago Symon Garber ey and the overall settlealthough its not illegal for ment will have a positive impact on everyday motorists to drive them. The Sun-Times reported last fall the taxi industry in Chicago, said that Garber and his partners were Norma Reyes, commissioner of the facing $9 million in fines and that citys Business Affairs and Consumthe total fines being sought by the er Protection Department. Six hun-

dred new hybrid taxis on the road would reduce CO2 emissions and save taxi drivers on gasoline costs. The settlement also calls for expanding taxi service to people with disabilities, she said. Garber was represented by the law firm of Chico & Nunes, whose partners include former mayoral troubleshooter turned failed mayoral candidate Gery Chico. A second group of cases involves Chicago Taxi Medallion Management and 12 related companies owned by Kahlid Mahmoud. They have agreed to pay $243,901 in fines and court costs after being accused of using 68 salvaged or rebuilt vehicles as taxicabs. A third group of cases involves

Adrian Tudor, who operates Medallion Leasing and Management. The company had 87 salvaged vehicles, most of them part of Globe Taxis fleet, according to the city. His cases are still pending. Last year, nearly 6 percent of Chicagos 6,800 taxicabs more than 400 vehicles were yanked off the streets because they were salvaged. The city probe was launched in the wake of a Sun-Times investigation and after a city inspector noticed during a regular, semiannual inspection that a cab was in very poor condition for its age and mileage. Since then, the city has added two new vehicle requirements: an original title and a Carfax report. including vehicle history.