Apparent suicides of two unemployed men

By Jim SterneNews Editor

In the past week, two unemployed men died and it appears that both wanted to end their lives.

On Thursday, May 2, police responded to a fire in the 1600 block of N. Hudson Ave. where they met the Chicago Fire Department already fighting the flames. The fire battalion chief related to police that a 32-year-old male was found in a bedroom on a mattress with a bottle of alcohol between his legs. The victim was transported to Northwestern Hospital where he was stabilized and then transferred to the burn unit of Cook County Hospital.

The arson investigator reported that his preliminary investigation revealed that the fire was deliberately set, citing a strong odor of flammable vapors present, and the burn pattern on the carpet.

The victim was reported to be in critical condition with burns on over 75 percent of his body. On Friday, May 3, the victim died from the injuries sustained during the fire.

Further investigation by the bomb and arson squad revealed that the victim, who was unemployed, set the fire by his own hand and that he wanted to commit suicide.

The second incident happened on May 6, at 10 a.m., in the Town Hall police station at Halsted and Addison streets. Tim Crotty, 49, entered the station and began waving a large survival knife and yelling incoherently. The offender was holding up his pants with his other hand and acting in a deranged manner. Police in the station told the offender numerous times to drop the weapon.

Crotty advanced on one policeman in plain clothes who identified himself and also ordered the offender to drop his weapon. The offender continued to advance and the policeman fatally shot him in the stomach.

Crotty was taken to Illinois Masonic Hospital and pronounced dead at 10:48 a.m. Later, police learned that he had been laid off from Kmart. If this was indeed a suicide, this would not be the first time someone has committed “suicide by police.”