| Nicknames | Hangover Park |
|---|---|
| Settled by | Provide info |
| Year infiltrated | 1985 |
| Crime impact | Part |
| Worst areas | Provide info |
Hanover Park is another suburb in the northwest Cook County area often mistaken as a rough town and bad place to live and raise children. The reputation is not horrific, but it is a little negatively embellished over the decades ever since the 1980s. Many others will say the town is super safe and super clean and that there is no crime and gangs. Both viewpoints are inaccurate to say the least. Hanover Park is a safer community and very livable; however, one just needs to be aware that there are certain areas of town that are rough and sometimes dangerous; however, most of the danger happened in decades past. Much of what I am reporting is old news; however, I feel it necessary to report on this old news to clarify any lingering negative perception based on the past and to share that what happened in Hanover Park should not be forgotten and needs to be clarified on exactly when and where the crime and gangs took place.
Hanover Park’s history in not much in depth in the 19th century as one of the highlights took place in 1836 when Lake Street (previously Lake Trail and Grant Highway) was dug for stagecoaches to pass through to Galena. Edwin Bartlett was the first owner of property in this area when he arrived in 1840 from Massachusetts. Bartlett would donate some of his land for the Chicago & Pacific railroad to build a depot in 1872 which led to his planning for a town to be built in 1874 that was named “Ontarioville” named after the train station that was called “Ontario.” Ontarioville started as a small subdivision. After Bartlett’s settlement and donations, this area sprouted into a small town that now had between 100-150 people living in it that had a creamery, a blacksmith, a general store, a lumber yard and a train station (Fact sources: www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org and https://hanoverparkillinois.org).
This sleepy village remained small, never exceeding a population of 350 people heading into the 1950s decade. When larger highways were built, they diverted away from Ontarioville and even the train ceased stopping directly in the village due to lack of interest and a lack of business. The nearby village of Streamwood was growing rapidly by the 1950s and was consuming much of the vacant land in the area and this meant Ontarioville needed to act fast and incorporate in 1959 with a new name “Hanover Park” (Fact source: www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org). Following incorporation, the village began growth and the building of multiple subdivisions and businesses beginning in the early 1960s.
Between 1963 and 1964, The Hanover Square condos and apartments were built exclusively along Pine Tree Street from Walnut Avenue to Maple Avenue. These were ideal for residents on a more fixed income.
Beginning in 1969 and continuing into 1971, the notorious Glendale Terrace apartments were built near the border with the suburb of Bartlett with Lake Street separating Bartlett from this apartment complex. This complex is in the area surrounded by Lake Street, Walnut Avenue, Hickory Street, Larch Avenue and Mark Thomas Lane. The Glendale Terrace strip mall with a convenient store was built in 1972 just outside the complex on Walnut Street to serve residents and many residents have used this strip mall and the convenient store for decades. African Americans were among the first residents in this complex in the 1970s into the early 1980s along with several white families. This complex is now called the Blu apartments.
In the year 1971 until 1972, the Prairie Station apartments were built from Ontarioville Road on the north to County Farm Road on the south and Church Road on the west. This was an apartment complex for lower income families, it now called West Line apartments in present day.
A townhouse complex located along Catalina Drive was built in 1972 designed to be for families on a budget, these are the Greenbrook Tanglewood townhouses. Another complex I heard about was located at approximately 2100 Laurel Avenue at Laurel and East Avenue but I am not sure about that, from what I heard it was torn down long ago and was supposedly a rough complex with gang activity but I have no further details as I found nothing on the internet or anywhere; therefore, if it existed it was long torn down in the early 2000s or earlier.
In 1972 until 1977, the Larkspur townhouses were built for budgeting families. These townhouses were built by the 3H Building Corporation and are located on Kingsbury Drive on the north to Bristol Lane on the south and from Kingsbury Drive on the east to Bristol Lane on the west.
From 1972 until 1973, the Parkside apartments was built along Astor Lane from Briarwood Avenue to Narcissus Avenue. These were apartments for lower income families.
Now that I have introduced the main subdivisions that once had gangs and higher crime in Hanover Park, we can now isolate the rest of the village as being rather gang free and low crime since the early 1960s up to present day. The rest of this town is mostly houses, higher income apartments/townhouses/condominiums complexes; therefore, any gang activity or crime has been so minor it is equal to any other suburban town in the Chicago area, hopefully this will now narrow down the reputation and rumors about Hanover Park’s crime and gangs.
As far as I know, besides an African American population in the Glendale Terrace apartments, the village was mainly a white community in the 1960s and 1970s and Hispanic migration did not seem to arrive until the early or mid-1980s. Beginning in the late 1970s and continuing into the mid-1980s the Glendale Terrace apartment buildings were being sold to landlords that were renting to individuals with criminal backgrounds and were not upkeeping the complex as well. This would lead to gangs and crime in the complex making it very difficult for the new Hispanic community to live in this complex peacefully. It is a fact that the Black Gangster Disciples (Gangster Disciples) were once located in Glendale Terrace apartments and were likely the first Chicago street gang to move into Hanover Park as far back as maybe the early 80s. They were for sure here by the mid-80s at latest as they lived among the African American community in these apartments. I do not know why GDs were here, but it could have been due to racial differences with this mostly white community as was experienced in several Chicago area suburbs.
The most legendary arrival was that of the “Boulevards” Latin Kings. These were big time Latin Kings from Little Village that had chosen the Glendale Terrace apartments to settle in by 1985 at the latest. These Latin Kings had family members that moved into the complex that were connected to the Mexican drug cartels. Cartel members and Mexican Mafia members were residing in these buildings doing heavy drug trafficking business with the Latin Kings and the Black Gangster Disciples were not happy about it. Among the African American community came the Los Angeles based gang the Bloods. There were not many of these Bloods, but they were from a hard-core element. The Maniac Latin Disciples moved to Hanover Park around 1985 as they settled in the Greenbrook/Tanglewood townhouses. Maniac Latin Disciples and Black Gangster Disciples became tight allies as they were both aligned with the Folks alliance. When rivalry heated up in the mid-80s between Black Gangster Disciples and Latin Kings in Glendale Terrace the BGDs called upon the assistance of the Maniac Latin Disciples while Latin Kings enlisted the help of the Bloods and the cartels. This resulted in big gang fights involving knives and bludgeoning weapons.
I am not completely positive on the exact year Chicago gangs came to Hanover Park, but I can confirm 100% that they were here by 1985 at latest. Not only do street legends back up that Hanover Park had gangs by 1985, but it was also documented in the Arlington Heights Daily Herald in two 1985 articles, one of which mentions the Latin Kings in particular. In April of 1985 a village election was held for the village president position. During his campaigning, candidate Matthew Fels criticized the current administration for not noticing Chicago street gangs entering the village and he specifically named the Latin Kings as a Chicago gang that had invaded. Fels lost the election, but paranoia grew in the village because of his claims. As I read the May 2, 1985, Arlington Heights Daily Herald, I read how Hanover Park Police Chief Robert Sauer felt about the topic. Sauer almost completely denied Fels’ claims and stated, “many of Fels’ charges were unfounded.” From what I have learned from street legends and the comments on Mikie Da Poet’s YouTube videos of him driving around in the storied apartment and condo complexes in Hanover Park is that the gangs were here by 1985 or sooner; therefore, Fels was correct all along and Sauer was in denial or did not do enough police work to document gangs. I don’t know much about Sauer, but I can only imagine it was denial/downplaying on his behalf to protect the reputation of the village. Sauer was not so much in the wrong though because it is very true that panic would spread and good tax payors would move out quickly fearing Chicago gang takeovers. For that reason, we cannot criticize Sauer too much, he may have also been refraining from mentioning gang names and giving them attention. All I will say is that Sauer’s statements to the May 2 interview were false, Fels was correct (Fact source: Arlington Heights Daily Herald May 2, 1985). The topic of Chicago gangs in Hanover Park came up again in the Arlington Heights Daily Herald on August 17, 1985. Sauer did not change his stance on gangs much and still blamed the crime and graffiti on groups of troubled teenagers gathering near shopping centers. The May 2, 1985, issue pointed to teens hanging out at the Tradewinds shopping center located at Irving Park Road and Barrington Road which is the main intersection near the Larkspur townhouses and near the Parkside apartments. Gang members from both apartment complexes could hang out at Tradewinds and there were mainly gang encounters in the past. The 1985 article also pointed to teens hanging out at the shopping center at Olde Salem Circle and Irving Park Road. This shopping center is also located near Larkspur and convenient for Larkspur youths and gangs. Greenbrook shopping center was also indicated in the article as a teen hangout which is in front of Tanglewood townhomes which was also a gang infested area. Glendale Terrace shopping center was mentioned as well as this the convenient store and strip mall outside of Glendale Terrace apartments. The article mentions graffiti being sprayed on buildings in these shopping complexes after teens had been hanging out there. Sauer continued to blame most of the more serious crime in the village on travelers coming in from the city (Fact sources: Arlington Heights Daily Herald May 2, 1985, Arlington Heights Daily Herald August 17, 1985). Sauer’s information is quite contrary to the legends I heard of that speak of violent gang fights and hard-core gang members in these neighborhoods.
Glendale Terrace gang presence seemed to be one of the most hard core in Hanover Park as the Boulevards Latin Kings, also known as the “Convenient” Latin Kings were very large in this complex and it seems like the Black Gangster Disciples moved out after the 1980s because of how strong this group of Latin Kings was. The Latin Kings had this neighborhood sealed off from the outside world as they stopped and questioned anyone that came in or just attacked them without asking questions. They knew the residents and they were familiar with the cars the residents drove. Service vehicles could pass but any random people coming into this complex were stopped unless they were accompanied by someone that lived here. Latin Kings would park two Buicks near the entrances to the complex with keys always in them, this way they could easily block someone in that they felt didn’t belong there then proceed to attack them. Latin Kings watched this neighborhood day and night, 24 hours a day. Sometimes it was best for visitors to not even bother entering the complex and would instead pick up someone or drop someone off at the Glendale Terrace shopping center. The shopping center parking lot was storied as many fights and shooting happened there as Latin King enemies caused trouble in that strip. Life in Glendale Terrace was not all bad as many cookouts, break dancing, salsa dancing and drinking parties were a common site as the community had character. This complex was the place where the Virgin Mary was sighted in the complex in August of 1997 and reported in the Chicago Tribune. This community was referred to as “Spanish Harlem” due to the rich Mexican culture. One thing that needs to be understood about this gang related security the Latin Kings had is that this complex is a mostly isolated area of town and residents do not need to pass though here to get to other public places in town. There was no reason at all strangers needed to come around here and this is why Latin Kings were so protective and swarmed strangers. The most legit people that could wonder in here unattended by residents were those that were lost or those that were just curious but Latin Kings were not going to attend to that, they would just smash them. I have studied complexes like this in the city and suburbs and it is the same thing, these were built to be away from the rest of the community so these communities would not be bothered by lower income residents or really see them much. You reap what you sew, if you build a complex away from everyone else and provide few entrances gangs can take over and lock it down, this is a hard lesson Chicago area learned when the poor are shunned. Before you feel too bad for those that would wonder in this complex back in the old days, you must ask yourself why those people needed to come here as many were up to no good coming in here.
Another very old group in Hanover Park is the Gangster Disciples. The Gangster Disciples or “GDs” were originally called the “Black Gangster Disciples” or “BGDs” when they formed in Hanover Park. I am not completely sure how long the GDs have been in Hanover Park, but I know for sure they were here by 1985 at latest. The Larkspur townhouses were one of the older BGD territories. Many struggling families had moved into this townhouse complex that had larger families that were single parent, and the mother usually needed to rent or purchase a townhouse. This area was where a good portion of the African American Hanover Park residents resided. These townhouses either used to be called or nicknamed “Tradewinds” and was very close to the Tradewinds shopping center; therefore, many of the gang tied teens that hung out there were from the Tradewinds townhouses. These BGDs would also roam to Olde Salem shopping center to hangout as the shopping strip was frequented by Larkspur youths and BGDs.
In the year 1985, the Greenbrook shopping center became the sight of teenage gang members hanging out and other teens causing trouble. These youths were mainly from the Tanglewood townhouses that were a few blocks away. At the time, this complex was becoming increasingly Hispanic as many Hispanic families were moving in from Chicago. Among the Hispanic community came Chicago gangs. The Maniac Latin Disciples and Spanish Cobras moved into this complex. I have never heard any street stories about the Hanover Park Spanish Cobras but in 1988 the Arlington Heights Daily Herald reported on June 20, 1988, that “Spanish Cobra” gang tags were appearing in Hanover Park as was Latin King tags. The article did not say where in Hanover Park the Cobra tags were, but they did mention Spanish Cobra tags in Bloomingdale at the Stratford Square Shopping Center, this is close to the Tanglewood townhouses in Hanover Park; therefore, I theorize Spanish Cobras were in Tanglewood in the 1980s. Through the grapevine and what I read on the internet from those that lived in Hanover Park the Maniac Latin Disciples also lived in Tanglewood in the 1980s and were most concentrated by Pebblebeach Drive or Santa Cruz Drive. Greenbrook shopping center would be filled with teens, and many claimed Spanish Cobra or Maniac Latin Disciples. Both of these gangs would have arrived by 1985 at latest.
The oldest gang element in Hanover Park by 1985 was Latin Kings, Black Gangster Disciples, Spanish Cobras and Maniac Latin Disciples. Since BGDs, MLDs, and Cobras were allies under the Folks they would come together to fight Latin Kings. Latin Kings would ask for assistance from the cartel/Mexican Mafia or the Bloods against the Folks when they pulled together allies. In one of Mikie Da Poet’s YouTube videos about the Monterey/Glendale Terrace apartments a former Latin Queen nicknamed “Shygirl” commented and told her story about being one of the few Latin Queens from that apartment complex in the 1980s and early 1990s. She recalled an incident where a big fight went down in the complex in the 80s. She described how the “Folks” and BGDs fought against Latin Kings, Bloods, “Cartels” and “Mafia.” She described they were lined up on two sides and fought with fists, knives, chains, and bats but no guns. Shylady stated the Latin Kings, and their allies won the fight and that the “GDs” and “more who claimed 6 point at the time,” which she is referring to other Folk nation allies. She didn’t say which allies were there, but it could only have been the village’s only other Folk allied gangs the Manic Latin Disciples and Spanish Cobras.
In the year 1989, Chicago gangs swept the suburbs at an alarming rate. Suburbs that once had no Chicago gang activity now had Chicago gang activity. Even suburbs like Hanover Park that had gangs well before 1989 now got a new wave of gangs in more parts of the village especially in low-income housing. Hanover Park received a new wave of gangs at this period that was highly visible by 1990.
Gang activity was now alive in the Prairie Station apartments (West Line apartments today) and many African American youths were caught in it. These apartments were colonized by mostly African American families from Chicago. On May 4, 1990, Andres Pierce was shot to death over a parking dispute that was tied in with gangs. I do not know what gang dominated this complex, but it had to be either Black Gangster Disciples or Conservative Vice Lords. I think the Vice Lords ran this complex at the time.
Vice Lords were forming in neighboring Streamwood, this brought in the scenery of young Vice Lords walking up and down McKool Avenue and drifting into Hanover Park. Prairie Station apartments is not far from McKool in Streamwood. I am not sure if the Vice Lords made their way into Tanglewood at this time, but Conservative Vice Lords would eventually conquer Catalina Drive from Carmel Drive to Arlington Drive that they have in present years. Perhaps they have always had this part of Tanglewood but I’m not sure.
Another faction of Latin Kings came to Hanover Park in 1989 in the Hanover Square apartments/condos along Pine Tree Drive. These Latin Kings were referred to as the “Pine Tree Latin Kings” and they were not governed or fully connected to the Latin Kings from Glendale Terrace. To sort out the difference the Glendale Terrace Latin Kings were referred to as the “Convenient Latin Kings” because they were by the convenient store and hung out at that strip. The Pine Tree Latin Kings could now be seen in and around Dino’s grocery store and were referred to as “Pine Tree Latin Kings.”
The Parkside apartments started to become rough around 1989 and became a target for neighborhood watch programs as mentioned in the February 28, 1990, issue of Arlington Heights Daily Herald. The apartments are also referred to by the street all buildings are located on at Astor Avenue as many call them “Astor apartments.” There was now gang activity one block away on McKool Avenue as Future Stones and Vice Lords walked those blocks on the Streamwood side and Maniac Latin Disciples were not far away. I have tried to dig up what gang was in the Astor Lane apartments, but I can’t find anything. It could have been Latin Kings, Spanish Cobras or Maniac Latin Disciples or maybe even Two Six. I heard weak rumor Two Six was in Hanover Park but not much more. Astor Lane had a gang presence prior to 2000 but I just don’t know who it was. I believe CVLs also were near Astor Avenue apartments or may have been in those. Astor Avenue apartments were both Hispanic and African American but mostly Hispanic. There are apartments on Narcissus Avenue and gang activity has occurred on that street over the years as well, the CVLs may have been there.
The early 1990s was perhaps the most intense and dangerous years in Hanover Park as the gang wars were intense. Near Astor Avenue apartments was a gang warzone between Hanover Park gangs that were especially on Astor Avenue versus gangs along McKool Avenue. Future Stones, Conservative Vice Lords and Maniac Latin Disciples were all in the McKool area in Streamwood and the Latin Kings in Hanover Park had severe issues with those groups especially Future Stones. Eventually the Future Stones became Familia Stones and the wars with Latin Kings only got worse. In a December 2, 1996, Arlington Heights Daily Herald article, the gang issues around McKool Ave and Astor Avenue were addressed. The article states that police and landlords were working together to prevent gang activity and landlords were receiving training (Fact source: Arlington Heights Daily Herald December 2, 1996). This is an important topic because back in the 80s and earlier 90s landlords were a lot of the reason Chicago gangs became so powerful in these suburbs. Laxed renting to felons and ex-cons brought a criminal and gang element to the area. It is of importance that communities keep landlords close and monitor these landlords not only because they can rent to criminals but also they tend to neglect properties leaving them in substandard conditions. In past years Chicago gangs were invited by family and friends to come to the suburbs and city neighborhoods to address issues with crooked landlords. Crooked landlords tend to breed gangs when poor conditions become welcoming mats for criminals then gangs would show up after to deal with criminals or to indulge in drug trafficking.
In the summer of 1996, gang violence between McKool Avenue and Astor Avenue got so intense the villages needed to take more extreme measures to fight back. According to the Arlington Heights Daily Herald October 18, 1996, article Streamwood and Hanover Park began working together to put up a fence behind the Parkside/Astor Avenue apartments to prevent gang members and criminals from easily running back and forth between each town. Criminals could commit a crime in one of the towns then easily flee a block away into the other town and flee jurisdiction. During the summer a 20-year-old Carpentersville man was shot on Astor Avenue out in front of the 7400 building. Now a $19,943 chain link fence was built that divided Astor Avenue apartments from Woodland Heights townhouses along McKool Avenue. Each town paid about $10,000 each for the fence courtesy of homeowners’ association (Fact source: Arlington Heights Daily Herald October 18, 1996). This fence was built in wake of major drug and gun ring raids in Hanover Park and Streamwood in August of 1996. This raid was detailed in the August 5, 1996, Arlington Heights Daily Herald article.
Hanover Park and Streamwood were fighting back heavily in 1996 against gangs and crime, and it had a major impact that would last permanently. By the later 1990s crime and gang activity decreased heavily but gang activity still raged on in the two towns through the 2000s taking major decreases in intensity year by year until both towns became quiet by 2010. In 1999, a major drug raid happened in the Parkside apartments on Astor Avenue as several drug dealers were arrested in the 7400 and 7300 buildings. I found out about this when reading a May 8, 1999, Arlington Heights Daily Herald article that gave several names of people arrested, most of them were addressed on Astor Avenue in the Parkside apartments. Sometime after this the 7300 building was completely torn down, likely because it was in bad shape and had the worst crime. Whatever gang that was on Astor Avenue prior to 1999 became shut down and the Los Angeles based Sureno 13 gang moved in claiming the intersection of Astor Avenue and Narcissus. I am not positive on if Conservative Vice Lords were in the Astor area or where they were, but they were shut down by 2000 at latest.
The Tanglewood subdivision Maniac Latin Disciples and Spanish Cobras were removed from the village. Maniac Latin Disciples did not make it out of the 1990s but didn’t leave until the later 1990s, the Spanish Cobras left long before that and may not have even seen a day of the 1990s in Hanover Park. Conservative Vice Lords became a small presence in Hanover Park and quietly moved into Tanglewood in the area from Carmel Drive to Arlington Drive along Catalina. The Four Corner Hustlers took over former Maniac Latin Disciple area in Tanglewood as early as the early 2000s but were another quieter group. Hispanic residents moved out of Tanglewood heavily in the 2000s and were replaced by African American families. CVLs and Four Corner Hustlers are African American groups; therefore, they tagged alongside this new African American migration. Since the Maniac Latin Disciples and Spanish Cobras left Tanglewood crime was not as intense but that is much credited to the work of Hanover Park police instead of a gang change. Four Corner Hustlers and CVLs can be very violent organizations but they can also be very quiet money makers and that seems to be the case presently. Supposedly these two groups still exist here but Tanglewood is much safer than the 1980s and 1990s.
Larkspur continued to be a rowdy area into the new century and to this day Gangster Disciples still run it; however, the area is not nearly as dangerous or crazy as before. In a October 19, 2007 Arlington Heights Daily Herald article Larkspur was mentioned along with Westline apartments (formerly Prairie Station apartments) for having issues with gang activity that mainly centered around vandalism. Hanover Park simply installed motion activated lights in the neighborhood especially by Ranger Park and that seemed to slow down the crime issues.
The Latin Kings never died out in Hanover Park and continue to dominate Hanover Square and the newly named Blu apartments; however, they are not even closely as active as decades of the past. Although Hanover Park has retained the same three gangs since 2000, the Gangster Disciples, Latin Kings and Surenos are not nearly as pronounced as before. If you are considering renting or buying property in Hanover Park, please do so but just be aware that these complexes I mentioned can be rough at times but are not danger zones like they once were in the 20th century. Most of the hardened gang activity is long gone.