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| Stuporindendent Jody Weis |
Incredible. Reports of icy conditions on Lake Shore Drive at the time of Sgt. Alan Haymaker's death early Monday morning are now being denied by Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis. This stinks of political coverup.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports Weis's remarks today: Speaking after Sgt. Alan Haymaker was honored with a moment's silence at police headquarters, Weis said officers who were on the scene of Haymaker's death within minutes Monday morning found only "slush and standing water" on the road.
Okay, Then What About This...? Weis' comments appear to contradict those of Assistant Supt. James Jackson, who said Monday that "icy road conditions were a factor" in Haymaker's death.
Why Does This Stink? The stink is money and politics. There are many reports that a Streets and Sanitation dispatcher ordered plow crews to NOT lay road salt on Lake Shore Drive around 4:00 a.m. on Monday morning. That's about an hour prior to Sgt. Haymaker's fatal accident near the southbound Irving Park exit. Additionally, it is well known that Mayor Daley hates road salt because it contributes to pot holes and harms roadside vegetation, and Daley has been criticized in the past for not salting streets when needed.
As we noted previously, IF a dispatcher actually issued an order to not salt LSD, said dispatcher would probably have done so only if it was in compliance with standing policy or specific orders from above. IF that happened, it would open the City of Chicago up to a very embarrassing investigation and expose it to a multi-million dollar lawsuit by the late Sgt. Haymaker's family. It could also cause department heads to roll, and cost Daley any future bid at getting re-elected.
CPD Sgt. Alan Haymaker
Supt. Weis is often and widely criticized by his own troops as not caring about their safety and welfare. He is accused of being nothing more than an easily controlled political puppet of Mayor Daley. Weis' statement about a "lack of ice," even though "officers who were on the scene" said there was no ice, lacks credibility. Too many other people on the road at that time have reported that it was icy.
Why, for several days, did CPD keep attributing icy conditions as a factor in the crash? Why the sudden about-face by Weis?
Furthermore, any of the first responders at the Haymaker crash arrived after the car slid off the road and went over the curb. If there had been ice on the road, even just a patch of ice, at the moment Sgt. Haymaker lost control of his car, it could have melted before anybody got to the crash site.
Weis is guessing about ice or lack thereof, and we're guessing that he's doing so to help cover some high ranking asses. That pun, by the way, is fully intended.
