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It’s Tuesday. Read an investigative feature from reporter Nick Blumberg and more stories from WTTW News. |
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Roseland Community Hospital is picture on Dec. 6, 2025. (WTTW News) |
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On Oct. 3, emergency responders came to Paul Patton’s Calumet Park home after he called 911 amid a heated dispute with his wife. Patton told the responding officer he was worried he’d harm his wife or himself. He was taken to Roseland Community Hospital, a safety net facility that’s faced years of serious citations from regulators, complaints of neglect and financial stress.
Because he was experiencing thoughts of suicide, experts and regulators say Roseland’s ER should have taken special care to ensure he didn’t harm himself — keeping him in a private room or hallway away from the waiting area and having a staff member monitor him at all times.
That didn’t happen.
After spending nearly 90 minutes in the emergency department’s waiting room, then outside the ER entrance, Patton left the hospital and returned home. It was there, prosecutors say, that Patton stabbed his wife, Gelola Patton, through the chest. Prosecutors say she managed to dial 911 to say that her husband had stabbed her. Police took Patton into custody and his wife was transported to Ingalls Hospital, where she died.
Patton now faces two counts of first-degree murder. He’s pleaded not guilty.
Roseland’s failure to properly treat Patton and prevent him from leaving the hospital while in crisis, documented by hospital regulators in a report obtained by WTTW News, was such a serious breach the hospital received an “immediate jeopardy” citation.
That warning is the most serious deficiency a health care facility can be cited for, according to federal guidelines, a failure that’s “clearly identifiable due to the severity of its harm or likelihood for serious harm and the immediate need for it to be corrected to avoid further or future serious harm.”
More context:
Since 2023, Roseland has received at least four immediate jeopardy citations, with one case involving the death of an adult and another where a pregnant woman was transferred to another hospital before Roseland properly stabilized her — after which she gave birth to a stillborn boy, according to state records.
Those failures follow a pattern previously reported by WTTW News and ProPublica documenting eight immediate jeopardy citations between 2017 and 2022, as well as a number of lawsuits alleging neglect.
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Sponsor Message |
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A simple act of kindness, just one flicker of hope, can make all the difference. Catholic Charities of Chicago brings warmth, meals, and hope to families right here in Cook and Lake counties. Learn more at catholiccharities.net. |
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(WTTW News) |
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Three Chicago police officers violated the constitutional rights of a Black man who was improperly searched during a downtown traffic stop and should be suspended, the agency tasked with investigating police misconduct and department leaders agreed, records show.
The Civilian Office of Police Accountability determined that three tactical team officers assigned to patrol the Near North (18th) Police District improperly searched Limorris Bell and his car on Sept. 1, 2024, according to records published Thursday.
The agency better known as COPA found that while the officers properly stopped 36-year-old Bell on suspicion that he was not wearing his seat belt and did not signal before making a turn, they should not have searched Bell after handcuffing him or his car near Bellevue and Michigan avenues in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood.
“Officers’ justifications for conducting the searches did not come close to meeting the standard required by law,” according to the conclusion of COPA’s probe.” Additionally, the officers failed to accept responsibility for their misconduct, and their constitutional violations against (Bell’s) civil rights did not align with CPD’s training expectations.”
The stop was part of what COPA identified as a troubling pattern of 50 undocumented and unprofessional stops of Black people in Lincoln Park, West Town, Old Town, River North, Streeterville, the Gold Coast and parts of Logan Square in 2024, records show.
More than 90% of the complaints investigated by COPA were sparked by officers’ decisions to pull over Black people, according to a letter sent by COPA to the district’s commander. Bell’s complaint is the first to be fully resolved by COPA, records show.
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(Page Light Studios / iStock) |
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Four more bus routes will be added to Chicago Transit Authority’s “frequent network” starting next week, amounting to a total of 20 bus routes this year aiming to provide service every 10 minutes or less.
The remaining four buses being added to the network starting Sunday, Dec. 21 are:
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#9 Ashland: 10% more service weekdays
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#12 Roosevelt: 15% more service Saturdays, 25% more service Sundays/holidays
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#72 North: 10% more service weekdays and Saturdays, 25% more service Sundays/holidays
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#81 Lawrence: 10% more service Saturdays, 25% more service Sundays/holidays
The frequent bus service network consists of 20 key bus routes throughout the agency’s service area that are scheduled to have service every 10 minutes or less between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends, according to the agency.
The CTA launched the frequent network in March, starting with eight bus routes and then adding more routes throughout the year. |
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Back in the Day: Dec. 16, 2000 - Ku Klux Klan Members Pelted With Snowballs During Skokie Hate March |
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As they are wont to do, 25 years ago today, members of the dwindling white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan organized a hate march in Skokie, Illinois. It’s a suburb known for its sizable Jewish community and for being home to several Holocaust survivors, but city officials still approved a permit for 20 or so racists to rally at Village Hall. They were met with hundreds more counter demonstrators standing up for their neighbors, who relentlessly pelted the robed yokels with snowballs and insults. Dozens of police officers in riot gear sought to keep demonstrators and counter-demonstrators separate, and they arrested about 10 anti-Klan demonstrators. The following day, Skokie organized a march for unity and on Monday, workers at Skokie’s Streets and Sanitation and Water Departments were horrified to find out the village allowed KKK members to use the public works restrooms to get dressed. |
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This Week’s Staff Recommendations |
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Every Tuesday, WTTW News staffers highlight their favorite things about Chicago. This week, it’s newsletter producer Josh Terry on Chicago pizza joints that don’t specialize in tavern-style or deep dish pies.
Josh Terry: The mark of a true Chicagoan is someone who has lived here long enough to become sick of the played-out debate between tavern-style and deep-dish pizza. Both have their benefits, and Chicago’s status as a pizza town isn’t exclusively because of our two most famous culinary exports. These establishments offer an alternative to the never-ending local pie wars.
Pi-Hi Cafe
I used to live in an apartment complex that shared an alley with Pi-Hi, which meant that I was ordering takeout from there almost weekly. Expect nearly-personal-sized, Neapolitan-style wood-oven baked pizzas that stand among Chicago’s best. 3539 N Western Ave.
Piece Pizzeria and Brewery
My first weekend living in Chicago, my aunt and uncle took me out to Wicker Park to try Piece, the New Haven-style mainstay and craft brewery. It was a mind-blowing meal and has been a staple of my diet for the past 16 years. Boasting lovely and thoughtful staff and impeccable, award-winning beers, it’s a neighborhood classic for a reason. 1927 W North Ave.
Pizza Lobo
This is a relatively recent addition to Chicago’s stacked pizza scene, but it’s one of the better New York-style pies I’ve ever had. Their offerings will remind you of the iconic Brooklyn eatery Roberta’s. With locations in Logan Square and Andersonville, check out their patios when the weather is nicer. 3000 W Fullerton Ave and 5457 N Clark St.
The Beer Temple
An even newer contender for best Detroit-style pizza in the city, Avondale craft brew destination, The Beer Temple, has partnered with Logan Square’s Middle Brow Bungalow for flaky yet substantial Midwestern square pies. 3173 N Elston Ave.
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What's your favorite Chicago-made or Chicago-themed holiday gift?
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published. |
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5:30 PM | 10:00 PM |
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Want more WTTW News content? Follow WTTW on Instagram to check in with us daily, go behind-the-scenes, and more. |
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry |
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