Three Chicago police officers were wounded Tuesday-one seriously-by a heavily armed taxicab driver who once served 6 years in prison after a strikingly similar incident in 1970, when he wounded a passenger in his cab and then shot at police.
The cabdriver, Jamaljah M. Aliwoli, 52, of 7020 S. Jeffery Blvd., also was wounded-shot in the right chest, neck and left arm by police after a wild chase that ended in a gun battle at 64th Street and Racine Avenue.
The incident began about 2:50 p.m. when two officers stopped the cab at 69th and Elizabeth Streets, allegedly for illegally passing a stopped school bus. Police said the cabbie opened fire with a handgun as Officers Daniel B. Duffy and Gregory F. Matura were preparing to frisk him.
Police said that a woman passerby possibly saved the life of one of the wounded officers by shielding him from the gunman.
”Darling, lay down,” the woman told the wounded officer, according to Deputy Chief of Detectives John Stibich.
Aliwoli was reported in serious condition Tuesday night at the University of Chicago`s Bernard Mitchell Hospital with bullet wounds to his right chest, neck and left arm. He was charged with three counts of attempted murder.
The injured officers were all patrol officers from the Englewood District:
– Duffy, 28, who had been with the department 14 months, underwent surgery Tuesday night for gunshot wounds to the left side and left buttock and internal injuries. He was reported in stable condition at Bernard Mitchell Hospital.
– Matura, 26, who joined the department 11 1/2 months ago, was treated for a gunshot wound to his right hand at the same hospital and later released. – Dennis Mertz, 24, who joined the department in July, 1986, was treated at Michael Reese Hospital for wounds in his right thigh and later released. Police were not certain if he was wounded by a gunshot or by metal and glass fragments.
Police said that Aliwoli, who was driving a Redd Cab Co. taxi, quarreled with the officers after he was stopped, then pulled a gun from a shoulder holster. He also carried another gun in an ankle holster, according to police. Aliwoli, a muscular 6 feet 2 inches, also was wearing aweight belt and ankle weights.
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Aliwoli fired at close range, shooting Matura in the hand and Duffy in the left side and left buttock, police said. He then ran south on Elizabeth Street about half a block before circling back.
When he reached 69th Street again, he began firing at Matura, chasing the officer, who was trying to reload after his gun had jammed, police said. After chasing Matura, he returned in search of Duffy, who had crawled and hidden behind a van and a car, police said.
Aliwoli yelled, ”Where`s the other one?” according to police reports.
A woman passerby, who had left her car to assist Duffy, shielded the wounded officer from the gunman, saying, ”If you`re looking for the policeman, he`s gone already,” according to Englewood District Sgt. James Cole.
Aliwoli then got back into his red and yellow cab and drove east on West 69th Street. The woman, whom police hailed as a hero but would not identify Tuesday night, gave a description of the cab and driver to arriving police.
With at least seven squad cars in pursuit, and more on the way, Aliwoli turned left and headed north on Racine Street at speeds estimated at 50 to 90 miles an hour, according to police and witnesses.
Police cars coming from both the north and south attempted to block him in the 6400 block of South Racine Avenue. But the cabdriver avoided the hastily improvised barricade and opened fire again at the police cars. One of his bullets struck the headrest behind an officer`s ear, according to Cole.
Witnesses said Aliwoli attempted to turn left from Racine to West 64th Street but struck a car in the intersection and then hit a parked car before ramming head-on into a brick four-flat building at 1200 W. 64th St.
Police officers and witnesses said the cab hit the building so hard it sent up a cloud of steam from the cab`s radiator, and officers who ran toward the taxi held their fire for several seconds waiting for the steam to clear.
Police said Aliwoli shot out his own rear window and opened fire on the pursuing officers, wounding Mertz. Police were not certain whether Mertz was shot or hit with metal or glass fragments from the bullet-riddled cab.
Other officers returned fire and wounded Aliwoli.
”After he saw that he was caught, he started shooting,” said George Ogden, 28, of South Racine Avenue, who witnessed the final moments of the chase. ”He opened fire first. And then the bullets were flying.”
Essie Collins, 52, was parking her car on Racine near 64th when the cab and the police cars flew by, she said.
”I heard shots and I hit the deck,” she said. ”When I had the chance, I ran to my neighbor`s door. . . . I`ve had a gun put to my head twice, and when I hear a gun, I wet my pants.”
Police confiscated a .357 Magnum from Aliwoli, but they were searching late Tuesday for at least two other weapons. Officers said Aliwoli may have taken one of the wounded officer`s guns .
The gunman`s bullet-riddled cab contained several travel bags, a flute and a ”lot of ammunition,” police said.
Police said Aliwoli was convicted in September, 1971, of wounding a passenger in his cab and shooting at two police officers on Aug. 10, 1970, in the 1600 block of West 87th Street.
In that incident, Aliwoli shot a passenger in his cab in the elbow after the passenger said he could only pay his fare with a personal check. Police who arrived at the scene were met by gunfire through their car windows. The officers gave chase and caught Aliwoli after his cab smashed into a light pole at 79th and Ashland Avenue.
For that, Aliwoli was sentenced to serve two 5-10 year terms and two 8-20 year terms on convictions of aggravated battery and attempted murder. But, police said, he served only 6 years and was paroled in April, 1976.
Aliwoli was licensed as a cabdriver by the city`s Department of Consumer Services public vehicles division in 1978. Department records show only one violation for Aliwoli since he was licensed. In 1982 he was cited for overcharging a passenger and ordered to refund $3.
Chicago Police Supt. LeRoy Martin cited the wounded officers for upholding ”the highest traditions of this department.”
”When people come out shooting at you, and you face up to them like that, what else can we call them but heroes?” Martin said.
Aliwoli lived alone in a seventh-floor apartment at 7020 S. Jeffery Blvd., according to Margie Pruett, the building manager.
Pruett said although she rarely sees Aliwoli, she had noticed him a number of times taking elderly residents from the building out to the airport. ”I can`t see him having a temper tantrum or a violent reaction,” she said. ”I can`t imagine him raising his voice.
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”Why should he just start shooting? He was just a very pleasant person. He would always hold the door open for little old ladies.”