“Expect to see crews out there as early as today to knock down the building,” said Ald. Debra Silverstein, 50th Ward
A building in West Ridge has been marked for demolition after federal agents and Chicago police raided it Tuesday night, arresting a man who said he tended gambling machines inside.
Few other details of the raid at 6948 N. Western Ave. were released Wednesday, and it was unclear exactly why the building was being torn down.
Ald. Debra Silverstein, whose 50th Ward includes the building, would only say the raid was made “due to numerous citizen complaints of illegal activity over the past several months.”
She did not detail those complaints or say why the building has been condemned. “Expect to see crews out there as early as today to knock down the building,” she said early Wednesday afternoon.
The building had housed a barbecue restaurant several years ago, but in recent months it had come to be known as a “social club” and was a frequent target of citizen complaints, particularly after a shooting on the block earlier this year.
Chicago city records indicate a business license for that location was granted on Oct. 10 to JNG 1, Inc. NFP, a nonprofit that was registered with the Illinois secretary of state’s office less than five months earlier.
The license is for retail sales of general merchandise and non-perishable items. The nonprofit’s registered agent, Grace Fajardo, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Tuesday evening, Chicago police officers along with agents with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and at least one person from the city’s Office of Inspector General executed a search warrant at the building, closing off traffic on busy Western Avenue.
According to a police report, a “robbery burglary mission team” from the 24th police district assisted in the raid. A man arrested inside told authorities he was the “host” and that he “loads and unloads money from the gambling machines in the premisis [sic].”
The man said he gave the money to a woman, who was described in the report only as “Grace.” He was charged with gambling and a woman was charged with drug possession unrelated to the search warrant, according to police.
The report did not describe the machines or say how many there were.
Ald. Maria Hadden, 49th, said in a social media post that the building “is under investigation for multiple violations of local and federal laws, and I’m sure more details will come to light soon.”
By early Wednesday afternoon, with demolition equipment parked in front of the building, neither the city nor police nor Homeland Security would say what exactly those violations are.
