NBC 5 Investigates

Public health experts say one crucial key in lifting stay-at-home orders and re-opening the economy is to identify all coronavirus cases and to trace contacts of each identified case. The practice is called contact tracing, and it is tedious work. “It is a very time-consuming, time-intensive process,” said Palak Panchal, the lead epidemiologist in the surveillance, control and prevention of…

As an Illinois state representative takes Governor J.B. Pritzker to court, challenging the governor’s stay-at-home order, an analysis by NBC 5 Investigates suggests that the representative’s own district is not ready to reopen, according to guidelines set out by the federal government. Rep. John Cabello, of Machesney Park, which is near Rockford, filed suit this week, challenging the constitutionality...

Uptown resident Alicia Hawley says she can’t believe how quick postal thieves got in and out of her condo building. “Three minutes, from start to finish,” said Hawley, the president of her condo association. “One person was carrying U.S. postal bins. The other person had the key. It tells me it was a coordinated effort..that it was planned, and...

Uptown resident Alicia Hawley says she can’t believe how quick postal thieves got in and out of her condo building. The NBC 5 Investigates series continues, Rob Stafford reports.

In the wake of a midday stabbing Monday on Chicago’s 606 pedestrian trial, NBC 5 Investigates along with Telemundo Investiga,analyzed all crime data reported by the Chicago Police Department since 2016 – the first full year that the 606 trail was open. We found that in 2016 police reported 28 total criminal incidents on the trail – to date, an…

Two storefronts in downtown Waukegan have been battling over a secondhand smoke conflict for years. Julie Contreras operates a community center and church in a building that LULAC has owned since 1974 on Genesee Street. A few years ago, ‘A Cuban Experience’ moved in next door, and according to Contreras, they promised to install the proper ventilation for their smoking…

A community activist alleges that city and county officials are not doing enough to protect her from the secondhand smoke that has migrated into her building. NBC 5’s Hilda Gutierrez investigates.

A small business owner in Aurora is speaking out to warn potential job seekers about fraudulent job listings posted online. NBC 5’s Chris Coffey Investigates.

A small business owner in Aurora is speaking out to warn potential job seekers about fraudulent job listings posted online. Brian Murphy is a certified public accountant who said he was surprised to hear about a job listing for an administrative assistant for his company posted to the job search website ‘Indeed.’ “My next-door neighbor sent my wife a text…

NBC 5 Investigates NBC 5 looked at crimes reported on CTA platforms, stations, and rapid-transit stations. See the top five most dangerous CTA stations for violent crime and the ones with the least.

NBC 5 found that violent crime in Chicago Transit Authority rapid transit stations, platforms and trains has doubled over the past six years, while thefts have increased by nearly two-thirds over that same period.  At the same time, the rate of arrests in these crimes has dropped. In 2019, police made an arrest in only a quarter of the violent…

NBC 5 Investigates created this interactive map from Chicago Police Department crime data, which reports every incident of crime reported to CPD by type and location. NBC 5 looked at crimes reported on CTA platforms, stations, and rapid-transit stations. We did not look at crime on CTA buses. This map shows every station within Chicago’s city limits, with the number…

An NBC 5 Investigation shows a dramatic increase in both violent crimes and petty thefts –while arrests are on the decline. NBC 5’s Chris Coffey Investigates.

The email was enough to stop any seasoned reporter in his tracks. “My name is Sheila Lockwood,” it began. “On June 10, 2018, I was sentenced to life without my oldest son, Austin Lee Lockwood.” Austin Lockwood was just 23 years old when he volunteered to help a friend of a friend spruce up his cabin in upstate Wisconsin. That…

Sheila Lockwood’s son Austin was killed in an accident involving a drunk driver who kept his license, and even got a new one, until he was convicted and sent to jail. NBC 5’s Phil Rogers Investigates.

The West Loop area in Chicago is considered one of the hottest neighborhoods on the edges of downtown, but a recent rash of burglaries at several apartments has residents alarmed. NBC 5’s Rob Stafford Investigates.

The Chicago police officer seen on video body slamming a man during a public drinking call last Thanksgiving is a trained mixed martial arts fighter who has been investigated for using excessive force in the past. Officer Jerald Williams, who is currently suspended pending the Civilian Office of Police Accountability’s (COPA) investigation of last November’s incident, was determined by...

The Chicago police officer seen on video body slamming a man during a public drinking call last Thanksgiving is a trained mixed martial arts fighter who has been investigated for using excessive force in the past, NBC 5 Investigates found. Chris Coffey reports.

Police documents obtained by NBC 5 investigates reveal a chaotic scene after an out-of-control vehicle careened into a packed Starbucks in McHenry last month. The reports revealed the smell of leaking natural gas in the air as police arrived to find a packed shop and suggest something of a miracle that more people weren’t seriously hurt. An arriving officer described…

A Chicago-area woman said when she posted her resume on job recruiting sites, she never expected that information would be disseminated across the web. “My privacy is of my utmost concern and importance,” said Lynne, who asked NBC 5 Investigates to change her name. “I’ve had a series of ex-boyfriend stalkers in the past.” Lynne’s ordeal began in the...