Crime decreases, suspect arrested

A suspect in four recent street robberies was arrested Wednesday, Jan. 27, by University police in the 5500 block of South Kenwood Avenue. Jesse Fairley, 34, currently is being held on charges related to Hyde Park robberies that took place Dec. 3 and Dec. 22, 1998, as well as Jan. 21 and Jan. 24.

In what Robert Richards, Assistant Director of Law Enforcement for the South East Chicago Commission, called “excellent police work,” University officers put Fairley under surveillance when they spotted him in a car described by one of the robbery victims. They later arrested Fairley, who was positively identified in police lineups by each of the four victims, Richards said.

While discussing the recent arrest, both Richards and Robert Mason, Executive Director of the South East Chicago Commission, noted the decrease in violent crime within the Hyde Park and University communities. “Violent crimes have steadily decreased in this area in five of the last six years,” said Mason. In fact, according to Mason, violent crime decreased 28 percent between 1997 and 1998 while robberies decreased 30 percent during this same period.