Two summers ago, Andre Bailey and his wife, Sharon Henderson, woke early one morning to find a cross burning in the front yard of their rented bungalow in south suburban Blue Island.
The culprit: Thomas Budlove Jr., a white neighbor who was disgruntled over a black family moving next door, according to court documents.
Budlove pleaded guilty to battery and to violating the Illinois Hate Crimes Act and was sentenced to a year’s probation and community service. The couple have a civil suit pending against him.
Now, the couple say they are being harassed again. This time, the culprit is the Blue Island police, the couple allege.
And, this time, recourse is unclear as the story revolves around the couple’s dog, Bingo, who police said bit a neighborhood child on the afternoon of May 30 and later tried to bite an officer. Because police killed the dog and destroyed its remains, the family of the injured child says they may never know whether the dog would have tested positive for rabies, and the Henderson/Bailey family say they are so frustrated by the incident that they are considering looking for a new home.
“I’m ready to leave Blue Island,” Bailey said. “I’m ready to drop everything and go.”
Blue Island Police Chief Joseph Kosman said officers arrived at the Henderson/Bailey home in the 12500 block of South Ann Street after neighbors called to say Bingo, a pit bull/Labrador, had bitten the 7-year-old boy on the leg. The boy, who had been riding his bike down an alley, was treated for a minor injury at St. Francis Hospital in Blue Island and released.
“The Blue Island Police Department is not out to harass anybody,” Kosman said. “We have to protect the community, including the Baileys.”
After seeing a photograph of Bingo, the boy later said it resembled the dog that bit him, but he wasn’t sure.
“I’ve never seen Bingo,” said the boy’s grandmother, Rita Cortez. “But there were enough people (in the neighborhood) that said it was Bingo.”
When police went to the Henderson/Bailey home to talk to the couple, Kia Henderson, 22, Sharon Henderson’s daughter, said the dog had been in the house all day.
The family said the dog was not allowed out unescorted.
Still, police told Kia Henderson that Bingo had to be confined to the home for 10 days. According to Cook County’s animal control ordinance, a dog that is suspected of biting must be confined, and the owner must show proof that the dog has had up-to-date rabies shots.
But later that day neighbors called police to say Bingo was roaming the streets again.
Kosman said that when police returned to the home, no one answered the front door, but the back doors were wide-open.
“For the safety of the community, yes, the police went looking for the dog,” he said.
The officers found the dog inside, muzzled him and took him to the police station. While there, Officer Gregory Kirpach attempted to unfasten a noose around the dog’s muzzle to place it in a cage, and Bingo reared up, Kosman said.
“When the dog attacks, do you expect the officer to get bit? This is a pit bull,” he said.
Kirpach fired two rounds from a .45-caliber handgun, striking the dog in the head.
Bailey and Henderson contend that police had no right to enter their home and remove Bingo without permission or a warrant.
And the couple denies that the back doors were left open.
“Do we look crazy?” Bailey said. “We’ve had a cross-burning incident. Why would we leave the doors open?”
They returned home late that evening to find blood stains on the floor. They went to the police station, where, Bailey said, while seeking answers, he argued with an officer, then pushed him.
Bailey was charged with criminal trespass and battery for allegedly refusing to leave the premises and pushing an officer. The criminal trespass case was dropped last week, but Bailey pleaded guilty to the battery and will be under conditional discharge through Dec. 30, according to the circuit clerk’s office at Markham.
Still unanswered is why police apparently failed to follow protocol in the handling of the dog’s remains. A county ordinance requires law-enforcement authorities to notify Cook County Animal Control about animal-biting cases.
Kirpach prepared a miscellaneous report documenting the shooting on May 30, which is on file at the Police Department. However, Animal Control did not receive a bite report until July 1.
“We just got this (report),” said Kris Ligon of Animal Control. “This was not a timely reporting of this situation.”
The report, dated June 29, states that the animal was destroyed but fails to mention what was done with its remains. Kosman has not returned calls requesting this information.
The dog should have been taken to a veterinary hospital, where a brain specimen could have been prepared and picked up by Animal Control for testing.
Cortez said that after her grandson’s wound became infected, her family became concerned. But when she called Animal Control days after the incident for test results, they had no record of the incident.
Ligon said she’s not certain what recourse the Blue Island couple or the biting victim’s family can take in this matter.
“This is pretty unusual for us too,” she said. “I don’t know what to say about this here.”
Cortez said that if it was Bingo that bit her grandson, she doesn’t condone allowing an animal to run loose. But she said she was sorry the dog was killed.
“That’s inhumane,” she said. “He didn’t deserve that.”
