Crime & Safety

Regional Police Report: Evanston Man Murdered; Serial Plane Groper Gets 9 Months in Prison

The following police-related information was pulled from area Patches. When an arrest is referenced it should not be considered a conviction.

Evanston

Man, 21, Shot and Killed

A 21-year-old man was fatally shot Tuesday night near Evanston Township High School, according to Evanston Police Cmdr. Jason Parrott.

Parrott said police found Cardereon Preister shot in the 1700 block of Leland Avenue around 11 p.m., after someone called to report hearing gunfire.

Preister worked at Bryn Mawr Country Club in Lincolnwood as a seasonal employee with the grounds and greens department from May through July, according to controller Richard Scarlata.

He obtained the job through the city’s Youth & Young Adult Program Division, according to a testimonial on the site. The program helps provide workforce development, networking and housing to residents age 14 to 26, among other services.

NBC Chicago reported that he had a newborn baby girl.

Find out what's happening in Des Plaineswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Find out what's happening in Des Plaineswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

An Aurora man was sentenced tonine months in federal prison for sexually groping a Chicago area woman during a flight, the U.S. Attorney's office said. It was the third time he had been convicted of touching women during flights.

Srinivasa S. Erramilli, 46, was seated next to the woman during a flight from Las Vegas to Chicago in June 2011 when he groped the woman's inner thigh. Erramilli was convicted of abusive sexual contact.

The woman, who is now 65, had been celebrating her 34th wedding anniversary and was on her way back to Chicago with her husband when the incident occurred. The victim testified at trial that she awoke to Erramilli groping her, yelled at him and struck him.

Erramilli previously had been convicted in a 1999 incident in which he fondled a woman's breast on a flight from Detroit to Chicago, and was convicted in 2002 of groping another woman on a flight from San Jose to Detroit.

The software consultant also was fined $5,000 and placed on court supervision by federal Judge Joan Lefkow.

Skokie police have announced charges against Jim DiJohn, who resigned Monday from his post as director of security at Niles North High School after he was charged with a felony. DiJohn had worked at the school for 13 years.

DiJohn, 56 of Chicago, was charged with felony. Police said DiJohn numerous pieces of electronic equipment from School District 219.  These items included portable radios, earpieces, chargers and radio accessories. DiJohn reportedly sold some of the equipment via his personal eBay account.

Geneva

Life Sentence in Murder of Geneva Man

Fifteen years after he killed two men in a car in an alley on Aurora’s near east side, an Aurora man had his fate sealed when he was told by a judge that he would spend the rest of his life in prison.

Jaime M. Diaz, 36, formerly of the 1600 block of North Marywood Avenue, Aurora, was sentenced today by Circuit Judge Karen Simpson to life in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Diaz was convicted Jan. 31, 2013, by a Kane County jury of two counts of first-degree murder in a case that was unsolved until he was charged in 2008.

The life sentence is mandatory because Diaz has been convicted of two murders.

Around midnight March 16, 1998, Diaz went to the Aurora home of his girlfriend and found her and her sister in a car with 21-year-old Brendon P. Anderson of Geneva and 21-year-old Elias Calcano of Aurora. The car belonged to Anderson. Diaz’s girlfriend previously had had a relationship with Anderson, and she testified that she was friends with Calcano. Diaz knew Calcano and possibly knew Anderson.

Several hours later, Anderson, Calcano, Diaz and a fourth man were in Anderson’s car, parked in an alley off the 700 block of East New York Street in Aurora. Diaz and the fourth man were in the backseat, Anderson was in the driver’s seat and Calcano was in the front passenger seat. Diaz pulled out a semi-automatic handgun and shot Anderson and Calcano once each in the back of the head.

The fourth man immediately fled.

A beer bottle that was in Anderson’s car at the murder scene was found to contain Diaz’s DNA. The fourth man testified at the trial that Diaz was drinking beer at the scene before the murders took place.

Diaz has been held in the Kane County jail since his arrest.

For more on this story click here.

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