JOE MOORE'S CHEAP STUNT

WHERE ARE THE MISSING TWO ACCOMPLICES? MOORE CRIME FIGHTER STORY LEAVES TOO MANY QUESTIONS TO BE BELIEVED. ABC-7 in Chicago reports that Joe Moore helped chase down a purse snatcher this morning, at "10:27 am," according to "witness" Robert Potenza. (Channel 7 misspelled his last name as "Potenze.") ABC-7's reporting on this was so sloppy that it must be taken with a shaker of salt. Mr. Robert Potenza claims to be an eye witness to the event this morning. He is quoted in the ABC-7 story. What ABC-7 reports and what Mr. Potenza told Rogers Park Bench do not jive. Potenza told RPB that he was at home at 1535 W. Lunt Avenue when he heard yelling outside his building. "The voice sounded familiar, I know that voice," Pontenza told RPB, "it was Joe Moore's voice. He was yelling, 'drop that! drop that!'" Pontenza said a neighbor, "Sam," called 911. Potenza told RPB that three young men snatched a woman's purse at the intersection of N. Glenwood and W. Greenleaf, which is one block due north of the Hateland Cafe at W. Lunt and N. Glenwood. According to Potenza, who says he was inside his home at the time, the three men ran south on Glenwood toward the Hateland, then turned right and continued running west on Lunt. Potenza's home is a block and a half away from the Hateland Cafe. He said the three men then ran south through the alley that runs along the western side of his building, and continued on to Morse Avenue. This does not jive with the ABC-7 report. Excerpts: ABC-7: "The alderman had just finished breakfast when he heard a woman scream." RPB Question: How did the alderman hear the woman scream a full block away? ABC-7: "I saw a guy running down the street carrying a purse," Moore said. "I knew it wasn't his because it didn't match his shoes." RPB Question: Pontenza says there were three guys running together. Did Moore really not see the other two? ABC-7: All kidding aside, Alderman Moore spotted the man with the purse coming at him and tried to stop him, but the man took off down the alley. Robert Potenze saw the incident from his 49th Ward home. RPB Question: If Alderman Moore had "just finished breakfast," as ABC-7 reports, he should still have been in the Hateland Cafe. Why would he, how could he, have seen the purse snatcher "coming at him?" Did the perp run through the restaurant? And how did Potenza see this from a block and a half away? Nowhere in the ABC-7 story is there mention of "three young men" as Potenza told RPB by phone at 5:25 this afternoon. Did Mr. Potenza forget to mention the two accomplices to ABC-7? Or did ABC-7 just leave out that important part of the story? According the the ABC-7 story, the purse snatcher has not been captured. He got away. But with all those witnesses, surely there must be a good description of the perp, right? If so, ABC-7 missed that part, too. The only thing approaching a description is a quote from Moore. "Alderman Moore was able to give police a description of the purse snatcher. He described him as a young man in his 20's who can run very, very fast." So we're all looking for a young man of no specified ethnicity, height, weight, hair color who can run fast. Oh, and two other guys, the accomplices that Mr. Potenza told RPB were running past the Hateland Cafe with the guy holding onto the allegedly stolen purse. You know, the guy who nearly ran into Joe Moore after stealing a purse. You know, from a woman a block north of where Moore was finishing breakfast. A full block away, but she screamed so loudly that Moore could hear her. And a guy a block and half away, inside his apartment, saw the whole thing. Right. Question: Will the 911 call be made available for the public to hear? This thing smells almost as bad as the food at the Hateland Cafe.