| Settled by | Provide info |
|---|---|
| Year infiltrated | 1985 |
| Crime impact | Part |
| Worst areas | Provide info |
Ah yes, the suburb of Glendale Heights, one of the nicer Chicagoland suburbs. A great place to raise a family and a safe community. By no means is Glendale Heights a rough or dangerous place to live or visit and I want to make that crystal clear before proceeding. The gang issues of Glendale Heights have always only impacted a portion of this community and not the whole town since the 1980s. Rumors have spread and labels were given to many Chicago area suburbs, and I am here to clarify this and to refrain from any sugar coating and to share the legendary gang activity that should not be ignored. It is important to understand it and know where and when it was instead of just acting like it doesn’t exist, no need to downplay or overhype.
The earliest history of Glendale Heights is farming, farming and more farming. This was rural land with nothing more than scattered farms ever since Hiram Blanchard Patrick arrived from New York in 1843 and bought 1,000 acres of land in this area. Within the 30 years Patrick lived here he helped his brother move here and buy for land for farming. Milton Smith was another early farmer that also opened his home for an underground railroad for fleeing enslaved southern African Americans. In the 19th century farmers found this land to be ideal as they processed milk, butter and cheese daily in large volumes. In 1888, when railroad tracks and depots were built, the farming industry really boomed. Army Trail Road was dug in the area in the early 1830s and as time passed this road developed further into the 20th century making this town exciting…that is…if you are into farming (Fact Source: Http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org).
It was not until 1951 that this area had a subdivision and began its earliest part of the journey toward becoming an actual town. The subdivision was called “Glen Ellyn Countryside.” This subdivision was very small and even when Midland Enterprises purchased more farmland and built more houses the population was only a mere 104 residents in 1959. 1959 was the year this area was officially incorporated as “Glendale.” The name was chosen to honor the two neighboring towns of Bloomindale and Glen Ellyn by combining the “Glen” from Glen Ellyn and the “Dale” from Bloomingdale, this stood for the fact that Glendale was located between both towns. The name lasted until March of 1960 when it was discovered there was already a southern Illinois town named “Glendale” and they had the name first. Village officials simply added “Heights” to the name as “Glendale Heights” in 1960. The “Heights” was chosen because of the village’s unique topography as it rests on two distinct elevations (Fact source: https://www.glendaleheights.org) Glen Ellyn Countryside had houses being built prior to 1951. As I Googled the building years of the houses in this subdivision, I found some houses built in 1949 or sooner. I also found houses built in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and even some newer homes. This is a freestyle subdivision where the homes are not always the same layout, and many have ventured here through the decades to build random houses for themselves. It is important to note that this part of Glendale Heights is unincorporated and residential homes often have Glen Ellyn addresses making this a very confusing part of town, this would later cause problems in this community that I will delve into later.
Beginning in the early 1960s, Glendale Heights boomed with several housing developments as new subdivisions roared and a new era was born until the population of this community would eventually reach around 35,000 residents which is worthy of praise for a newer community to grow so much.
One of the highlighted subdivisions is Glen Hill which began construction in 1962 and roared by 1963 with several homes being built between Joseph Lane/Jacobsen Avenue to Glen Hill Drive and from Bloomingdale Road to just east of President Street. Glen Hill is a series of single-family houses on the south side of the village.
In the year 1970, construction began near the main intersection of Fullerton Ave and Glen Ellyn Road just east of Glen Ellyn Road as the Spanish Court Condominiums and the Emerald Hills condos were built around Fullerton Ave to Marilyn Ave and from Jill Court to Floyd Brown Lane. The Spanish Court condos were for higher incomes and had more features while the Emerald Hills condos were for a cheaper budget. These were overall built for new residents with more fixed incomes in the 70s into the 80s.
At the busy intersection Glen Ellyn Road and North Avenue, a condominium complex was built between Sidney Avenue to James Court and from Glen Ellyn Road to Pearl Avenue. This lower income condo complex was built just north of the North Avenue area shopping that included the Brunswick Bowling Alley (now known as Bowlero). This was convenient for lower income residents on a budget to venture on foot to shopping.
Most of the lower income housing was being built on the south side of town in the early 1970s but in 1978 another complex was built on the north side of town at the busy intersection of Army Trail Road and Bloomindale Road. This apartment complex was built on Gladstone Drive next to Black Hawk Elementary School. This was a larger complex of apartments and was a set of affordable apartments for lower income families.
Now that I have highlighted and shown the history of the most storied complexes in Glendale Heights let’s now dive into how Chicago street gangs infiltrated this community. I was unable to find any street sources on the exact dates and years Chicago gangs came to Glendale Heights accept for the fact that Latin Kings were the first gang, this is not only street knowledge, but also documented in the Arlington Heights Daily Herald newspapers. Multiple 1989 and 1990 Arlington Heights Herald newspaper articles stated the Latin Kings came from “Chicago’s West Side.” I don’t know if they are saying a Latin King faction from the west side infiltrated the suburb or if they are saying the whole gang is from the west side. By the time those articles were written Latin Kings were all over Chicago on the west side, north side and south side. I have heard from the streets that Raul “Baby King or BK” Gonzalez’s son lives or lived in Glendale Heights in the Glen Hill subdivision, but I am not sure, for now it is just a rumor, but I honestly believe it based upon some facts I will lay out in correlation with the news articles.
According to the Arlington Heights Daily Herald May 21, 1990, article, a resident named Dan Killeen recalled five years prior (five years prior to 1990) that there was an incident between Latin Kings and neighbors that resulted in a big fight. Dan said a 28-year-old Latin King that resided on Windsor Lane punched him in the face and broke his nose and the fight was so bad that police needed to arrive in riot gear to put down the fight. The same article pinpoints a certain house that a May 30, 1990, Arlington Heights Herald article says was located at 105 Windsor Lane which is frustrating because there is no such address, the newspaper made a type O either deliberately or accidentally, previous articles just stated, “100 block on Windsor Lane.” The May 21, 1990, article shows a picture of the house with a Glendale Heights cop car in front and house looks strikingly similar to 103 Windsor, so that is likely the exact house where “20-25 people” were living in the house according to the May 21, 1990, article. A May 18, 1989, Arlington Heights Daily Herald article stated that the Latin Kings on Windsor Lane that Latin Kings from the 100-block area of Windsor Lane were threatening neighbors if they called the police while they made drug deals. The article brought up a name, Eddie Martinez, who was 18 years old at the time admitted to police he is a Latin King and was arrested for aggravated assault after threatening a neighbor’s son, Ricky Pedregal, with an aluminum baseball bat, this caused the police to patrol with two unmarked squad cars and one marked car. Residents complained of seeing up to 30 gang members walking down the street at night. The main Latin King house was targeted for drive-by-shootings and in one incident rivals tossed a Molotov cocktail made from a Cognac bottle, but the bottle instead set a neighbor’s bush on fire. According to the same article, in the summer of 1989 a drive-by-happened and shooters fired 5 bullets into the Latin King house. In the article Richard Pedregal stated him and his family were threatened because his wife kept calling the police on these Latin Kings. It is fact that is further backed up by an older August 20, 1986, Arlington Heights Daily Herald article that Glendale Heights was listed as having one of the highest amounts of Chicago gang members residing in the village alongside Aurora, Bensenville, Lombard and West Chicago. 35 to 75 of the gang members were in Du Page County alone which would mainly have been between West Chicago, Bensenville, Glendale Heights Lombard. In 1986, the most active Du Page County gangbanging suburbs were Glendale Heights and Bensenville from this list, according to my own research complied from so many articles over time. According to the May 21, 1990, article police tried foot patrols in the later 1980s. The article further states that residents dreaded every summer, and that Latin Kings would gather at the Latin King house in the driveway, shout, play loud music until 3 in the morning. In a May 30, 1990, Arlington Heights Daily Herald article 20-year-old Daniel Flores of Glendale Heights was charged with attempted murder for shooting three rival gang members in Bloomingdale and it was said he hung out at the Windsor Lane house. Flores’ address is not in any gang-controlled area of Glendale Heights which further proves when suburban gangs take one area of town, they can recruit regular middle-class kids from other, more affluent parts of town to do some serious crimes. In the May 21, 1990, article police suspected the Latin Kings of Windsor Lane had police scanners because gang members would scatter right before police would always arrive after responding to a call. With all this considered, I still could not determine if all this Windsor Lane gang activity was part of Raul “Baby King” Gonzalez’ family or not but Eddie Martinez could have easily been his son’s age because Baby King was born in 1950, and Martinez was born in about 1972. Martinez could have been born out of wedlock, hence, the different last names. A 28-year-old Latin King in 1985 could also give clues that hardcore members were on Windsor Lane and being that age, the man may have been one of BK’s main guys. In any case, there was a major element of Latin Kings here at the time; however, lots of this behavior is the usual activities of younger Latin Kings that do not represent the true Latin King beliefs because Latin Kings are supposed to protect their communities, then again, we only heard from one side of the story with these articles. From all my studies of Du Page County Chicago gangs and all over the Chicago metro area, mostly Hispanic youths attached to Latin Kings because of racial discrimination and/or violence inflicted on them. It could be possible Hispanic kids got picked on in 1985 and this brought the Latin Kings in.
By the year 1989, Chicago gangs were heavily infiltrating the Chicago area suburbs and Glendale Heights was no exception. Latin Kings were already heavily entrenched in Glendale Heights and were busy fighting with neighbors on Windsor Lane between 1985 and 1989 but in 1989 another enemy would arrive in the village and that was rival city gangs. The Black Gangster Disciples (Gangster Disciples) was the biggest enemy arrival. This would cause more Latin Kings to not only arrive from the city but also build up more forces in other parts of town. I am not completely positive if these Latin King groups branched off Windsor Lane or if they were other factions from other parts of the city but articles, I read did not link them. In the May 21, 1990, Arlington Heights Daily Herald article they mentioned that Chicago gangs, mainly Latin Kings, had infiltrated the Westlake subdivision and townhouse owners were complaining about graffiti and threats to children in the neighborhood. Doug Hampel of Westlake said police told him that he lives by two Latin Kings who oversaw pee wee Latin Kings. By street definition “pee wee” gang members are gang members under 16 years old. Although the Latin Kings mentioned were living in those town houses, many resided in the apartment complex down the street on Gladstone Drive that was formerly the Westlake apartments and is now known as Flats at Gladstone. This apartment complex and the West Lake area was rough in the 1990s but that was it, now it is one of the safest parts of town. I am not sure if any other gangs were here besides Latin Kings but maybe those Conservative Vice Lords were. It is a solid fact, not only from street sources but also backed up in a May 26, 1990, Arlington Heights Daily Herald article that interviewed Detective Tony Mineo that listed the following gangs active in and around Glendale Heights: Latin Kings, Insane Deuces, Vice Lords and Black Gangster Disciples. The streets and other articles validate Latin Kings. Street knowledge backs this 1990 article up about Black Gangster Disciples and Vice Lords being here. The particular Vice Lord branch was Conservative Vice Lords, that is a detail the article does not have. As far as Insane Deuces are concerned that is likely all about Addison that was swimming with Deuces back then but I never heard anyone claim Deuces were in Glendale Heights. One piece of knowledge I am missing for the Conservative Vice Lords is exactly where they were located. Glendale Heights had a small African American population as of the 1990 census of less than 800, but of course, this is numbers counted in 1989 when African Americans were first arriving. Westlake is the one area I was not given street knowledge for and can only rely on this one May 21, 1990, article that only mentions Latin Kings, CVLs were somewhere in town, and I theorize they were in Westlake.
Regarding African Americans migrating to Glendale Heights in 1989, I do theorize some of those families moved into the Westlake area, but I do know, for a fact, that African Americans were living in the Emerald Hills condominiums and the Gangster Disciples moved in alongside these families. GDs were quite large in this area and some original Glendale Heights members were Damion Blalock, Malcolm Blalock, Dre Day, Tony, Billy, Richie, Joe Gizel, Chris Green, Luciano, Mac, Tron and Scooter. Emerald Hills apartments area was regarded as “Fullerton and Glen Ellyn” area, but there were two different sides of this area, the east side of Glen Ellyn Road was Gangster Disciples. These Gangster Disciples viciously battled Latin Kings that resulted in shootings and other forms of violence. Glendale Heights was once ruled by Latin Kings and Gangster Disciples. The GDs likely moved here because of trouble newly arrived African American youths were dealing with against Latin Kings. Latin Kings have a reputation since they were founded of giving African American youths trouble and it is likely this is what brought GDs here. It is also possible more Latin Kings came here because of trouble with GDs.
Gangster Disciples also had a decent sized presence in the Cambria Condos (referred to on the streets as James Court). This complex also became ripe with Latin Kings starting in 1989 and this was the site of some heavier gang violence in the 1990s that even caused a Filipino Latin King to be deported to the Philippines and for Detective McGrath to be stabbed by gang members in a bar next to the Brunswick Zone bowling alley. Latin Kings were eventually shut down in this complex at the end of the 1990s after they robbed a pizza man and killed him. Gangster Disciples left at the same time due to incarceration.
On the west side of the “Fullerton and Glen Ellyn” storied area was the unincorporated oldest section of town known as Glen Ellyn Countryside. In 1989, this area was infiltrated by, not a Chicago gang, but a suburban born gang. This gang was founded in Melrose Park and hardcore members were moving into this subdivision, this gang was the Los Be Be Kings. The Be Bes had just taken the new name of “Los Be Be Kings” in 1989 after tying up a tight alliance with Latin Kings and moving into the suburbs of Addison, Villa Park, Westmont, Cicero and right here in Glendale Heights. The Glendale Heights chapter became legendary and in the 1990s was their deepest chapter with scores of members. This was at first, given to me as street knowledge but I was delighted to find a newspaper article from the Arlington Heights Daily Herald in their June 28, 1990, article about residents in this unincorporated part of town battling with gangs especially Nick Kosiara and Deborah Loeber. Unfortunately, this article fails to mention gang names but a black and white photo of Deborah and Nick pointing to a gang tag on a shed is all I needed. The graffiti shows an upside-down pitchfork which is throwing down Gangster Disciples, an upside down three lines with three dots at the bottom which shows opposition to Villa Park Two Six and a cross with five dots around it. The cross with five dots is the old symbol of Be Be Kings that they adopted in 1989, in 1995 they became the “Los Be Be Stones” we know today. Legend has it that this chapter was not only one of the largest the Be Be chapters. In the June 28, 1990, article Loeber and Kosiara said the area was experiencing graffiti and car burglaries, this prompted them to start a neighborhood watch program. Since Christmas of 1989, neighbors noticed large numbers of “unwelcomed visitors” loitering in the park (Armitage Park), drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. Kosiara said they tried a neighborhood watch program and year and half prior (beginning of 1989) but no one was interested but by summer there were more teens roaming and gang graffiti, this says to me that the Be Bes got here by summer of 1989 or maybe early in the year but didn’t get heavily active until the end of 1989. Loeber, said this was “copycat” gang activity, but I beg to differ because I know from street knowledge that the Be Bes were big time here and what they witnessed was young members who were not big time members yet but just pee wees new to the gang that had not settled down yet, but I wouldn’t refer to them as “copycats” or wannabe types, just young ones, but the young ones can be a pain in the ass for many people including higher ranked older members. The Be Bes organization itself was not built upon neighborhood terror but young gangbangers often act this way when starting out. Loeber and Kosiara did drive home something very interesting when they stated, “Countryside is attractive to this kind of activity because of a deteriorated sense of community.” They believed that high turnover of neighbors was a problem. This is solid fact because I checked on real estate records from online real estate source Redfin and discovered several random houses, I looked up sold for the first time between 1989-1991 and seemed to mostly resolve after that. This is a real threat to suburban and city areas when any kind of flight happens. As these residents left they were replaced by some families from other towns and maybe even landlords renting house to low income families that often have children in gangs. This loss of interest in the community between 89-91 goes hand in hand with the street history of the Los Be Be Stones as oral legends tell of their tales on these streets from 1989-2002. It seems like the married couple made an impact at bringing this unincorporated community together because real estate sales leveled off after 1991, meaning residents felt more in tuned with the community; however, 1991 did not mark the end of the gangbanging in this little area, it would carry on a decade longer.
Gangs were crazy and gangbanging was intense in this suburb in the 1990s, especially early 90s as gangs were hard to stop. This was not just a Glendale Heights problem, this was not just a Du Page County problem, this was a Chicago metro problem in all suburbs around Chicago area. It is solid fact known by police, village officials, former suburban gang members that gang filled communities all experienced the worst between 1990-1995 that was even terrible for former gang members that once contributed to this in their youth, the Chicago suburbs were out of control until the decade/century ended. In other suburbs gang activity had a revival of intensity in the 2000s but not Glendale Heights. The police fought gangs heavily in the later 1990s and by 2000 most of the gang activity was gone. The Latin Kings, Vice Lords were eliminated by 2000. The Gangster Disciples tried to re-hatch in the early 2000s, but it was short lived. The Los Be Bes left in 2002. There was also the Unknown Assassins here in the 1990s but I have no idea where they were located but I personally know the big time 1990s leader and he shut all operations down in 1998 and now lives a normal life and is a hard-working man. Glendale Heights worked hard for their community and it paid off as I do not even hear about underground gangs in the village, even in the low income housing areas.