Sam Charles

Sam Charles is a criminal justice reporter for the Chicago Tribune covering the Chicago Police Department. He was previously a staff reporter at the Chicago Sun-Times and an investigative producer at WGN-TV. He is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago.

City and state business records show the Wallace-Harrison Funeral Home is registered at 7751 W. Irving Park Road, shown here on May 13, 2026, where Rago Brothers Funeral Home has operated since 1990. Rago was not named in the lawsuit. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

CPD body removal contractor had license suspended in November, records show

May 15, 2026 at 2:44 p.m.

The head of a small funeral company tasked with transporting dead bodies for the Chicago Police Department had her funeral director and embalmer license suspended last year over a failure...

A body removal service works a scene on Dec. 2, 2024, after a person was fatally shot at the scene, where eight people were shot, three fatally, near the 3500 block of West 59th Street in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

City wrongly awarded lucrative CPD body-removal contract to small funeral home, suit claims

May 14, 2026 at 5:47 p.m.

A business formerly tied to a small funeral parlor on the Northwest Side was improperly awarded a city contract last year worth millions of dollars to transport bodies for the...

Chicago police officers salute during ceremonies at the conclusion of funeral services for slain 17th District police Officer John Bartholomew at St. Andrew's Greek Orthodox Church on May 8, 2026. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

‘A cop’s cop’: Mourners gather to remember slain Chicago police Officer John Bartholomew

May 8, 2026 at 7:17 p.m.

Chicago police Superintendent Larry Snelling called fallen Chicago police Officer John Bartholomew a "cop's cop," remembering a photograph of the patrol officer wearing a helmet while working hard during the...

Blue ribbons are hung and red roses are left at the front door of the 17th District station, April 26, 2026, in Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood after police Officer John Bartholomew was fatally shot and another officer wounded April 25 at Endeavor Health Swedish Hospital. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Two officers face internal affairs probe over search of suspect before shooting of cops at Chicago hospital

May 1, 2026 at 4:39 p.m.

The Chicago Police Department’s Bureau of Internal Affairs has opened an investigation into two officers who searched Alphanso Talley last weekend before he was taken to Swedish Hospital where he...

Police Officer John Bartholomew was fatally shot at Endeavor Health Swedish Hospital. (Chicago Police Department)

Funeral services for slain CPD officer John Bartholomew set for next week

April 30, 2026 at 7:46 p.m.

Visitation and funeral services for slain Chicago police Officer John Bartholomew are set for next Thursday, May 7, and Friday, May 8, at St. Andrews Greek Orthodox Church in Edgewater.

Bartholomew family members and a Chicago police special activities officer walk following a detention hearing for Alphanso Talley at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago, April 30, 2026. Talley is accused of killing Chicago police Officer John Bartholomew and critically wounding his partner while escaping from Endeavor Health Swedish Hospital. (Josh Boland/Chicago Tribune)

‘If you are out, you are dangerous’: Judge again orders detention for man accused of shooting officers at Swedish Hospital

April 30, 2026 at 5:22 p.m.

The man accused of killing a North Side police officer and critically wounding his partner while escaping from Endeavor Health Swedish Hospital will continue to be detained.

Sam Charles

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CPD body removal contractor had license suspended in November, records show

City wrongly awarded lucrative CPD body-removal contract to small funeral home, suit claims

‘A cop’s cop’: Mourners gather to remember slain Chicago police Officer John Bartholomew

Two officers face internal affairs probe over search of suspect before shooting of cops at Chicago hospital

Funeral services for slain CPD officer John Bartholomew set for next week

‘If you are out, you are dangerous’: Judge again orders detention for man accused of shooting officers at Swedish Hospital

Hospital shooting of 2 Chicago cops shows gaps in Cook County’s electronic-monitoring system

Questions swirl around handling of prior cases against defendant in double police shooting at Chicago hospital

Authorities allege gun illegally bought, hidden under hospital blanket before man shot two cops

Harrowing video of Officer Krystal Rivera’s partner fatally shooting her during a foot chase is made public