It Ain’t All Booze, Bullets and Babes…
(or “How Two Wrights Make a Wrong”)
Folks send me stuff all the time, but this clipping sent to me from John Larsen from the January 22, 2021 Chicago Tribune just really stuck in my craw. It’s one hell of a way for a hardworking gumshoe to start off the New Year (Like, surveillance in a parked car in Illinois? In January isn’t bad enough?). It’s also a slice-of-life that’s rarely covered in P.I. fiction–but opens up all sorts of possibilities for those of you would-be scribes thinking of assaulting the citadel.
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Father, son charged in Antioch Township beating of private investigator
BY CLIFFORD WARD
Lake County News-Sun
A father and son have been charged with accosting and seriously beating a private investigator who was working in their Antioch Township neighborhood, the Lake County sheriff’s office said Thursday. Russell S. Wright, 23, and his father, Steven, 62, both of the 24700 block of West Nicklaus Way, were being held Thursday in the Lake County jail for aggravated battery and other charges after the alleged attack, which authorities said took place Wednesday evening.
The victim, a 51-year-old Island Lake man, was reported in stable condition at a hospital with injuries that include “multiple” broken ones, the sheriff’s office reported.
Sheriff’s office public information officer Lt. Christopher Covelli said the man, who works as a private investigator was in his parked car around 5:30 p.m. near the intersection of Nicklaus Way and Harbor Ridge Drive,. The investigator, police said, was conducting surveillance as part of his work and had called police beforehand to alert them he would be there. While the investigator was parked, he was approached by the Wrights, who used their car to block the investigator’s vehicle, police said. The pair slapped a video recorder out of the investigator’s hands, and Russell entered the car and began beating the investigator, officials said. His fatherthen joined in, according to reports.
The investigator managed to call 911 before one of the men grabbed his cellphone; Covelli said, and smashed it on the ground. The call went through, though, and police dispatched officers. The father and son were apprehended at the scene, authorities said.
The investigator was not conducting surveillance on the Wrights, reports said, and there is no known connection between them. In addition to the battery counts, both Wrights were charged with robbery and criminal damage to property. They appeared in court Thursday, where bail was set at $40,000 for each. Both have court dates set for next week.
Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. Thank you, John.
