South Cook News

Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau said the recent arrest of two men on weapons charges has raised more questions than answers.

“Last week, Orland Park police arrested two people, one of whom is a three-time convicted felon who was out on electronic monitoring at the time of the arrest,” Pekau said in a press release. “The most enraging part is both of these criminals are already out on bonds that cost them just $500. What is it going to take for politicians like Kim Foxx and Chief Judge Timothy Evans to realize that letting violent criminals walk is making our communities less safe?”

Orland Park Police took Nickolas Burch into custody on armed robbery and attempted murder charges. Arrested with Burch in the parking lot of the Orland Square Mall was Kelly Turner.

Pekau is blasting the state’s rising crime rate as an indictment of the entire system and the way he thinks Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx has handled the situation.  

“How many more people need to suffer from violent acts or lose their life from criminals out on bond from the Cook County judicial system?” he asked.

“It is time for them to listen to our local police officers, police chiefs, elected leaders, and residents and keep violent criminals off of our streets and out of our communities.”

In his own neck of the woods, Pekau said 85% of criminals arrested in Orland Park are previous felons and/or out on bail.

“We can thank Cook County for nearly every single one of them,” he recently posted on Facebook. “The arrest we made of Nickolas Burch, who one of our officers called one of the ‘baddest guys’ he ever arrested, was no different. You ask the average person what will happen if you let a career criminal with a long history of violent crime back onto the streets, they’ll tell you it’s obvious – they’ll commit another violent crime.”

While praising Orland Park law enforcement, Pekau, now running for the 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, admits the frustration is mounting.

“I’m frustrated that families, neighborhoods, businesses and our officers are put in harm’s way by the Cook County justice system that keeps freeing people who should be locked up,” he said. “Cook County is simply an extension of the justice system being championed by the Congressional and State Legislative majorities, President Biden and Gov. Pritzker. I’m running for Congress to stop these insane policies and to prioritize the safety of law abiding citizens and law enforcement over violent criminals.”

A Chicago Tribune report details since taking office, Foxx’s office has dropped all charges against 30% of felony defendants, or in the neighborhood of 25,000 cases overall.

“I am fed up with our Cook County State’s Attorney who lets these violent criminals walk free,” Pekau told The Reporter. “We’re seeing the outcome of these actions play out – it puts our community and police officers in danger.”

Pekau is issuing a stern warning to the lawless across the state.

“Criminals who come to Orland Park will not have a free pass,” he said. “The work done by the Targeted Response Unit and the Orland Park Police Department is admirable, and is the reason why our community feels safe, because we know we have outstanding law enforcement professionals cleaning up the Cook County State’s Attorney’s mess.”

In warning that the worse may still be yet to come for some parts of the state, Illinois Policy Institute President Ted Dabrowski recently pointed to the mayhem that recently hit Chicago’s downtown business district.

“When you start combining this crime issue that we're talking about and start adding that corporations are going to delay their office reopenings, it starts to all add up again," he told Chicago’s Morning Answer.

Dabrowski said Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office is mishandling the increase in crime.

“I think it’s a real issue,” he said. “I hear people say we don’t go down there anymore. People don’t walk around there anymore. They take an Uber everywhere they’re going. It’s really confusing when you hear (authorities) say how much better they’re doing managing felonies when this new report comes out and says just the opposite.”

Foxx has dropped charges against felony defendants at a clip that’s more than 10 percent greater than that of predecessor Anita Alvarez after being swept into office on a platform of criminal justice reform.

In a recent Tribune interview, Foxx defended her track record by claiming her office has made the decision to focus on violent crime. The report's analysis further details a pattern of Foxx’s office dismissing cases against suspects charged in murders, shootings, sex crimes and serious drug offenses.