| Nicknames | Rolling Ghettos |
|---|---|
| Settled by | Provide info |
| Year infiltrated | 1981 |
| Crime impact | Part |
| Worst areas | Algonquin Road and Weber/Old Wilke Road apartments and condos |
Rolling Meadows has some of the oldest, if not THE oldest Chicago gang settlement in the northwest Cook County suburbs. Rolling Meadows had previously struggled with crime and gang issues, but most of the gang activity was suppressed over the decades. Rolling Meadows is one of the lower crime and safer suburbs in the Chicago area and has been for many years. I found myself desiring making a Rolling Meadows page to address some of the darkest years in Rolling Meadows and to help understand which parts of Rolling Meadows are rough or have had a storied past. It could be possible that Chicago gangs first discovered the northwest Cook County suburbs as they settled the Rolling Meadows apartments decades ago. Despite having such an extensive Chicago gang influence, it should be understood that the people of Rolling Meadows, local government and the Rolling Meadows police had worked very hard to reduce and eliminate crime over the decades.
In the year 1836, Orrin Ford made history by becoming the first landowner in what would become Rolling Meadows. Orrin purchased land in the Plum Grove area. Once Orrin put the area on the map more scattered farming families from mostly Vermont settled in this area. By the early 1840s all the Plum Grove area was purchased land. German immigrants were the next to join in settlement and leading to the area being annexed into Palatine Township in 1850 (Fact source: www.Encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org).
The area remained mostly underdeveloped through the rest of the 19th century and early 20th century. In 1927, H.D. Brown bought 1,000 acres of land with the intention of building a golf course and a racetrack. These projects never happened, and the land remained vacant. In the early 1950s, the land for the golf course was sold to Kimball Hill who wanted to build homes on the land. In the year 1953, the first home buyers moved into the subdivision that was now called “Rolling Meadows” which was named after the rolling terrain that attracted original settlers. Hill did a lot to develop Rolling Meadows by building the first elementary school, donated land for parks, and funded Clearbrook Center. As this development soared the village of Rolling Meadows was officially incorporated in 1955. Rolling Meadows continued to develop heavily in the later 1950s and 1960s as a large business park was built and several businesses (Fact source: www.Encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org).
With the development of the community came the need for apartment complexes that would mostly be located near major roads and highways that run through the village. My focus is on four rental developments/condominium developments in Rolling Meadows. Two of these apartment complexes are located along the Algonquin Road corridor at the intersection of Algonquin Road and Old Wilke Road. On the west side of Old Wilke Road is two apartment complexes with a storied history. Nearest to the main intersection is the Park Meadows Apartments that consists of four buildings in a strip right behind the shell gas station and the strip mall, these buildings have white top levels which is the distinguished look apart from the East Park Apartments right across the street of Algonquin Parkway. East Park Apartments is the bigger complex just north of Parkway Apartments. I have tried to look up the year these two complexes were built but I found nothing on the internet, they look like they were built in the 1960s.
The Preserve at Woodfield located at 4700 Arbor Drive is tucked away at the village’s borders with Schaumburg and Elk Grove Village. The complex sits between Algonquin Road and the Jane Addams Tollway (I-90) and next to the Route 53 and 290 Expressway interchanges. This makes for easy access for residents to use the major highways and for visitors to drop by easily. This complex was built in the year 1966 by International Development Corp out of Chicago. According to an Arlington Heights Daily Herald article I found from 1982, the complex was first purchased by Sam Pancotta who named the complex “Ramlin Rose” (Fact Source: Arlington Heights Daily Harold Feb 12, 1982). The first residents moved into Ramlin Rose in 1967.
The Preserve at Woodfield, as it is known as today is the very site where Chicago gangs originally infiltrated the suburb of Rolling Meadows. Since the 1980s this complex has mostly been gang free with low crime. I have perused several news articles after the early 80s and there has been nothing further on this complex but initially this was the hell hole of Rolling Meadows. Please understand that this was all in the past several owners ago and should not reflect on how the Preserve at Woodfield currently operates. I am honing in on this complex simply to show how Rolling Meadows originally got infiltrated by Chicago street gangs.
The woes of the Arbor Drive apartments began in July 1968 when the owner San Pancotta was charged with filing a false and Fraudulant loan application according to the Arlington Heights Daily Herald. In 1968 Pancotta sold the complex or it was seized. The article did not mention if the conditions were bad in the complex yet besides debris from a leaking roof being left in hallways, but it is foreshadowing the chain of events that led to the complex falling into disrepair over time. These were supposed to be affordable apartments for lower income families and senior citizens, at the time, the complex was not populated by section 8 or families flocking from the city. I personally assess that during original ownership or perhaps from original construction there were shortcomings on the upkeep and maintenance because in January of 1971 one of the buildings burned to the ground, the complex had been renamed “Meadow Trace.” These owners were Kassuba Development Company who bought the complex in 1968, renamed it, and decided not to pay taxes that amounted to $40,000 of debt. The village threatened complex owners with disannexation and further claimed $500,000 of back taxes were owed. In January of 1974, the village went after the owners again and sued them for failing to make several repairs, this is when the complex began to fall apart and started to become sketchy. This lawsuit pushed Kassuba out of ownership and ownership was taken over by Little Stone Company in 1974. Little Stone renamed the complex “Whispering Glen.” Right after the new owners took over a nasty fire broke out that left 20 residents homeless and during the fire eleven firemen were injured (Fact Source: Arlington Heights Daily Harold Feb 12, 1982). In another article from the Arlington Heights Daily Herald, I forgot to save, that fire was observed by many residents hanging out on their porches drinking beer after beer while cheering on the destruction, this shows to me that the complex was beginning to move in some rather crazy people from the low-income scale.
In June of 1977, a two-year-old girl named Tammy Morrow was attacked by a grown man in the laundry room basement of the complex. The little girl was beaten and nearly raped, the attacker got away. Little Tammy Morrow was hospitalized but recovered, but according to the Arlington Heights Daily Herald 1977 article residents, especially little children were still frightened two week later (Fact source: Arlington Heights Daily Herald June 26, 1977.) This is what happens when apartment complexes and neighborhoods fall into disrepair, predators and other criminals tend to scope places like these out because they expect disfunction in these communities and take advantage. This attempted attack caused more damage to the children in the complex. According the 1982 Arlington Heights Herald article, another attack came in July of 1977 when a six-year-old girl was molested at knifepoint along with other little girls. Surprisingly, the attacker was a ten-year-old child! Perhaps the child learned this behavior from the previous attacker’s stories and decided to act upon them (Fact Source: Arlington Heights Daily Herald Feb 12, 1982).
Whispering Glen had become a mess by the late 1970s as the complex fell into disrepair and disorganization. According to a December 19, 1979, Arlington Heights Daily Herald newspaper, “Undesirable” residents were living in the complex that failed to pay rent that were noisy and made messes. Overcrowding of apartments caused excessive damage to units. New ownership took over, Curtiss-Dodd Group Limited of Chicago. These new owners took over in August of 1979 and were trying to not only evict bad tenants they were trying to move in more senior citizens because they are usually better rent payors. The article mentioned six fires between 1971 and 1975 and cited continuous problems with “fights” and vandalism (Fact Source: Arlington Heights Daily Herald December 19, 1979). These articles do not mention gang activity, but I theorize Chicago gangs started here in the late 1970s, I just can’t prove it yet. One fact is that Latin Kings settled Chicago suburbs in the O’Hare/Cook County suburban area in 1976 so I would not be surprised if they were here in the late 70s and involved in these fights. The new landlord was struggling to clean up the complex in 1979 and in the midst of it a rape happened when one of the residents 19-year-old John K. Mufata raped a 16-year-old girl in Palatine Township, according to the Arlington Heights Daily Herald1979 article police were talking to residents about his whereabouts (Fact Source: Arlington Heights Daily Herald September 1, 1979).
In the year 1980, Curtiss-Dodd LTD changed the name to “Arbor View” to wash away the past woes of this once troubled complex. I read in two 1980 articles that the company rehabbed the complex and made it much better. Residents were not complaining as much and all seemed to go well heading into the new decade and many new residents moved into the buildings. By 1981, issues were already beginning once again in this complex as complaints came in from residents mainly about other tenants. I went over a few 1982 articles from the Arlington Heights Daily Herald and discovered a list of issues in this complex early in the year. The complex faced closure and failed inspections causing a 120 page long list of violations. There were violations of leaky roofs, open wiring and even animal and human excrement found in buildings, cockroaches and stagnant pools of water was cited as violations. This led to a possible eviction for several residents until the complex could be cleaned up. The evacuation was for safety reasons as the complex was declared uninhabitable for humans. Among the three 1982 articles I read between Feb 12, 1982, to Feb 27, 1982 residents were divided on this issue as some were stating that their buildings were clean and safe while other claimed the area was so dangerous that they didn’t let family members be home alone and wouldn’t let their children play outside at night. The articles pointed to the vacant apartments at the corner of Route 53 and the I-90 Expressway area. Many of the violations were in vacant apartments instead of active apartments. The complex manager was backlogged on evictions because of the courts which allowed non-paying seedy types to continue to live in the buildings. One married couple claimed that Imperial Gangsters, Spanish Cobras and Latin Kings were active in the complex. Many residents feared the groups of teenagers roaming these streets with guns in hand and fighting in the streets. One man said you could see gang members hanging out at the White Hen Pantry (located in the strip mall in the north side of the complex) from the tollway. Rolling Meadows police stated they were not aware of gangs in the complex but said gang members may live there but seemed to doubt any factions were there (Fact sources: Arlington Heights Daily Herald Feb 12, 1982, Feb 13, 1982, Feb 27, 1982) I wholeheartedly believe Imperial Gangsters, Latin Kings and Spanish Cobras were in this complex in the early 80s and maybe even late 70s. The articles showed that all started in 1981 and that is the latest year Chicago gangs infiltrated this suburb. It is a known fact on the streets that Imperial Gangsters and Latin Kings settled nearby suburbs of Stone Park, Bensenville, Franklin Park in the late 1970s, especially Imperial Gangsters and Latin Kings. Suburban police and residents had tended to downplay gang presence in suburbs for the interests of the community. The residents interviewed in the article that said nothing is wrong is because they didn’t want to face the evictions! Think about it, if you were facing an eviction, many out there would lie or downplay it too. Police and village officials are not going to be forthcoming because they don’t want flight out of the neighborhood and for the community to look bad. No one wants people to make fun of them for living in a high crime or dangerous area, so why not lie? There is 100% no doubt the stories of these gangs infiltrating the complex in the early 80s are completely true. The articles even stated that Arbor View had the most police calls of the entire town, and they had to consider getting additional officers to patrol the complex. I strongly believe the gangs arrived in the summer of 1979 when new ownership took over the complex. Curtiss Dodd were aggressive about filling vacancies and since these were hard economic times in our country it was perhaps tough to fill vacancies leading ownership to possibly allow gang members into the complex. 1979 was the debut year of Imperial Gangsters moving to the suburbs and Latin Kings were settling in multiple communities in the northwest Cook County suburbs nearby so their arrival in 1979 would make sense.
Arbor View apartments hatched the permanent legacy of the Rolling Meadows Latin Kings; however, the ones in Arbor View left the area when the complex closed and was renamed “Arbor Village.” The complex changed hands again but always had good tenancy since and low crime. This complex used to be a scary one way in, one way out complex but now seems to be a private isolated little community with low crime and clean streets. It seems like Curtiss-Dodd LTD had the best intentions but faced desperation with filling vacancies during a hard economy which led to neglected vacant apartments and the renting to shadier individuals from the hardened streets of Chicago.
The wildness of Arbor View rubbed off on the rest of the village. I found another Arlington Heights Daily Herald article detailing a Rolling Meadows man from Carriage Way Drive (a nice private upper middle-class community) went on a rampage/police chase until he was gunned down by police. In the same June 24, 1982, article they interviewed John Roberts and his three roommates that lived in a nice house at 3960 Fairfax Ave. On the 4th of July, 1981, Roberts and his friends threw a party with 20 kegs of beer and a big sound system that attracted over lots of guests that caused traffic and made noise. They threw back-to-back parties in 1980 and 1981 but in 1981 over 100 complaints to police caused the riot gear police to show up. In 1982, Rolling Meadows sued the men to prevent them from throwing more than a 12-person party between July 2 to the 5th, the men decided not to do it. This all seems to me like the Arbor View madness got into young resident’s heads like the 10-year-old boy that sexually assaulted little girls younger than him.
Riots became a major issue in Rolling Meadows according to the Arlington Heights Daily Herald August 14, 1990, article. In the summers of 1981 and 1982 Rolling Meadows police broke up multiple riots wearing riot gear as racially motivated brawls between Hispanics and African Americans became common. According to the article there were several stabbings and shootings in the early 80s. The article does not specify which apartment complexes had these brawls and riots, but it was likely in Arbor View (Fact source, Arlington Heights Daily Herald August 14, 1990). This is the type of behavior that leads to the formation of Chicago gangs in communities. When racial conflicts, tensions and fights that are often alcohol fueled take place gangs end of being summoned from Chicago to aid groups of youths that feel targeted and/or treated as outcasts. I am not positive if these racial brawls were the direct reason for the infiltration of Latin Kings, Imperial Gangsters and Spanish Cobras but I would have my doubts because there were no African American gangs brought to the area. The gangs were likely moved in because the owners of Arbor View became lax at who they let move in. Many of the residents told the Arlington Heights Daily Herald in 1982 that they were happy in Arbor View and much of the blame for all the code violations was in the vacant apartments. From piecing together the articles it really seems like these owners tried but owned the buildings during a tough time in history and filling those buildings was an impossible task. I have no doubts that starting in the summer of ’79 Curtiss-Dodd LTD started renting to gang members whether unknowingly or knowingly, they likely cut corners with background checks.
The East Park apartments located near Algonquin Road and Old Wilke Road (Weber Road) between Algonquin Parkway to Birch Lane were likely built in the 1960s or early 70s (originally named Southgate apartments) were a safe neighborhood area in the 70s and early 80s when Arbor View was bad news. The Park Meadows apartments are a strip of apartments closer to the main intersection were likely built around the same time and were also decent in the older days. Beginning in 1985, families from other suburbs or Chicago began moving into these apartments along Weber Road. According to Rolling Meadows police when interviewed in 1990, they had increased “runs” to these apartments starting 5 years prior to 1990 which would be 1985, this is when the complex began becoming rough. The Latin Kings, Imperial Gangsters and Spanish Cobras likely all migrated here after leaving Arbor View.
According to a Arlington Heights Daily Herald August 5, 1987 article Latin Kings had infiltrated the complex in July and began aggressively recruiting. Now reports of increased vandalism and gang activity became an issue. A tow truck driver was attacked twice with beer bottles according to the article. All this prompted two-armed security guards to be hired to patrol the complex. The complex manager Harriet Dimitovski believed there was no serious crime even though police arrested a man wanted for attempted murder in Chicago along with 38 other arrests (Fact source: Arlington Heights Daily Herald August 5, 1987). Another Arlington Heights Harold article from 1988 interviewed Dimitovski again and this time she said she is aware of gang issues but said gang members “come in and out of town to recruit new members.” It all began in 1986 when there were multiple stabbings and shootings (Fact source: Arlington Heights Daily Herald June 6, 1988). So here is where things get confusing because the 1987 article made this all out to be a fresh issue that started in July of 1987, but this later 1988 article said it started two years prior which would be 1986 This goes to show police departments and village officials try to share as little as possible to prevent panic but later might go back on their old statements and become more transparent, especially when seeking bigger budgets for more law enforcement. I am now going to incorporate some street knowledge in with these articles. According to oral legends that were published on the internet by the son of Palatine Latin King founder, the Palatine Latin Kings were formed in 1986 then spread to Rolling Meadows from Palatine in 1988; however, those dates were not provided in the essay written by Emilio Balderas, I had to do research on the founder to connect the dots with dates. He said he formed Latin Kings that branched out from Chicago when he was 14 (1986) in a subdivision that is technically in Arlington Heights but his family moved to Palatine and he started the Latin Kings there two years later; however, he might be a little off on his dates because the 1987 Rolling Meadows article shows that Latin Kings were back in Rolling Meadows in 1987. It could be possible there were two different Latin Kings groups for Rolling Meadows, the older and the later group. When Dimitovski stated that Chicago gang members were coming in to recruit, I don’t doubt it at all because the Palatine Latin Kings are connected to 24th and Trumbull Latin Kings of Little Village. 24th and Trumbull Latin Kings and Palatine Latin Kings were very close which made 24th Street Latin Kings visit these suburbs regularly. Dimitovski thinks she saw 24th Street recruiting but realistically these Rolling Meadows Latin Kings belonged to Palatine. The 24th Street Latin Kings have been hanging out in these suburbs a long-time visiting family, this is street knowledge. No matter what the case is Rolling Meadows saw a Latin King return in 1987. I theorize the Spanish Cobras and Imperial Gangsters were still around and moved to East Park and Park Meadow after Arbor View changed. The Latin Kings likely moved alongside them but that chapter likely fizzled out making room for the “Palatine Latin Kings” to take over the complex. If this is not the case, Latin Kings were fighting each other. It is also very likely the Latin Kings were fighting Spanish Cobras and Imperial Gangsters.
According to public records Dimitovski sold the complex later in 1988 and Murray Weinberg purchased the complex until 2011 when it was sold to current owners. In 1988, there were 6 shootings and 15 stabbings in Rolling Meadows (Fact source, Arlington Heights Daily Herald August 14, 1990). East Park Apartments manager Phillip Kaufman told the Arlington Heights Daily Herald that he evicted about 60 gang members and criminals since he took over management in 1988 (Fact source, Arlington Heights Daily Herald June 26, 1990). I theorize it was those evictions that removed the Spanish Cobras and Imperial Gangsters. These evictions may have also removed the older faction of Latin Kings allowing the Palatine Latin Kings to settle these apartments. No matter what the case the Latin Kings seemed to have these apartments as the only gang there by the end of the 80s.
According to a November 6, 1989, Arlington Heights Daily Herald article, Murray Weinburg wanted to clean up the complex especially following many complaints from the nearby Coach Light Condominiums about dilapidated apartments, crime, gang activity and parties from the apartment to apartment and parking lot parties (Fact source: Arlington Heights Daily Herald November 6, 1989). The scene of East Park apartments and Park Meadows apartments was blighted apartment buildings with several people hanging out in the park and the parking lots consuming lots of alcohol all day and night. The news articles I read from the Arlington Heights Daily Herald from 1990 talk about new ordinances enforced to stop public drinking which led to fights, shootings and stabbings. Not all fights were gang related, the articles even pointed to a cultural clash between two Mexican cultures representing different parts of Mexico, this resulted in major brawls and stabbings.
In the year 1973, the Coach Light condominiums were built just west of the East Park apartments and Park Meadows. For the first 15 years these condos were for the Rolling Meadows’ middle class. By the late 1980s residents of Coach Light began to move out because of the crime and violence from the nearby apartments. Residents of Coach Light had previously complained about the noise and drama of the apartments and according to the November 6, 1989, Arlington Heights Daily Herald, residents of Coach Light waged a campaign to get city officials to clean up the area (Fact source, Arlington Heights Daily Herald November 6, 1989). As many residents were protesting others were moving out and the condos became more affordable to rent or own for lower income families, alongside these families came the Latin Kings.
By 1990, Coach Light condominiums were now just as unsafe and problematic as East Park and Park Meadow. In all three complexes people were outside day and night drinking alcohol heavily and using drugs. All three complexes were completely conquered by Latin Kings and only Latin Kings. All other gangs like Imperial Gangsters and Spanish Cobras had been evicted. The Latin Kings were the only gang to move into Coach Light.
With the start of a new decade, Rolling Meadows would experience some of its worst gang activity in village history in 1990. Rolling Meadows police didn’t seem to have much denial about their issues with gangs. Even if Rolling Meadows police wanted to be in denial it would be very difficult to cover up. Rioting and massive brawls involving 100 or more people made the jobs of Rolling Meadows police very hard between 1980-1991. Another big brawl on Sunday June 24, 1990, started when 25 people were fighting in the East Park apartments that involved knives and someone fired a gun. Police broke up the fight and found blood on the ground, but no person was found injured. The fight was not gang related but then another fight broke out in another part of the complex and this one involved up to 150 people. Rolling Meadows police called for backup from Arlington Heights, Elk Grove Village and Palatine to put down this fight that had turned into a riot. When squad cars arrived at the fight the cruisers were pelted with beer bottles. The cause of the fight was excessive drinking in the parking lot. The conflict started out not involving gangs, but Latin Kings eventually joined to pick a side, gang members were shooting guns and brawling within the fight (Fact source, Arlington Heights Daily Herald June 26, 1990). This incident triggered law enforcement to toughen up on gangs during that summer but they struggled as this was probably the most violent summer in Rolling Meadows history. Rolling Meadows Latin Kings were mostly fighting rival gangs from nearby towns like Mount Prospect. There were apartment complexes like the Colonial apartments on Algonquin Road that always had rival gangs nearby that was part of Mount Prospect.
Rolling Meadows police maintained their transparency about gang issues and joined forces with law enforcement from Arlington Heights, Mount Prospect, Elk Grove Village, Des Plains and Wheeling to form a gang task force in 1990. Police were more present at festivals and carnivals watching for gang activity that often happened (Fact source, Arlington Heights Daily Herald July 31, 1990). Police set up surveillance in the East Park apartments in September of 1990 in the 2268 apartment and officers did shifts in this apartment watching the complex day and night. Another step toward calming the crime in the Algonquin and Weber apartment trio was to create new laws that forbid open consumption of alcohol in parking lots. This was law to stop the many parking lot parties that was common in all three complexes (Fact Source, Arlington Heights Daily Herald September 13, 1990).
During the earlier 1990s years these complexes were still rough with several gang clashes. Just as things were calmed by the later 1990s the notorious Surenos moved to the Colonial apartments in Mount Prospect and viciously battled with Latin Kings. In the early 2000s Surenos began to move into Coach Light condos, and this caused the war with Latin Kings to worsen. Surenos were in Coach Light a short time and may have been gone by the mid-2000s.
As time has passed gang issues continue in the village in the trio at Algonquin and Weber, but it is not close to being as crazy as the late 80s and early 90s. Rolling Meadows is a very safe community and much of it is on the higher end. It is only in the trio where all gang activity still happens, but it is far quieter, and the trio is much safer. The rolling Meadows Latin Kings remain a permanent part of the village in East Park, Park Meadows and Coach Light. Spanish Gangster Disciples settled somewhere in the community in more recent decades and may be active but I do not know where.