Chicago officer loses police powers until after investigation of allegations that he turned a blind eye to illegal activity occurring in the building he owns.
The south Chicago home that was the location of a multiple shooting last Tuesday which left four people dead and four others injured is owned by a veteran Chicago police officer who has been accused of ignoring illegal activity going on in the home.
The property at 6221 S. Morgan St. was purchased by Enrique Badillo Sr. in September 2014, according to Cook County property records. According to court records, attorneys with the Chicago’s Law Department filed a housing complaint against Badillo in March 2020 alleging he allowed illegal activity in the building to continue despite being aware of its occurrence.
Neighbors say the home was widely known as a party house for over a year, with at least 50 visitors congregating there several times a week.
"You had gambling, alcohol, card games, dice games, stripper parties, you name it", said one neighbor.
Ald. Stephanie Coleman, whose ward includes the house in question at 6221 S. Morgan, said she’s tried repeatedly to reach Badillo in order to address neighbors’ concerns about the home, but she has never heard back from him.
“This has been the most problematic building in my ward since I took office in 2019,” Coleman said.
Coleman stated that the home serves as a neighborhood barbershop that often sees large groups gathering.
“That’s their safe haven to do their drinking, do their pills, get a haircut,” Coleman said. “It’s kind of a ‘Whosoever will, let them come’ [environment].”
Tuesday’s shooting wasn’t the first to occur inside the home since Badillo bought the property. According to lawyers for the city, a man was shot and wounded in the kitchen during another large gathering in November 2019.
“Chicago Police Officers responded to a call of a person shot at the Subject Property and discovered the victim in the kitchen, surrounded by blood from multiple gunshot wounds to his body,” lawyers for the city said in court filings.
“Officers discovered that there was a party of at least 50 individuals at the Subject Property with alcohol and dice and money observed on the ground. Officers recovered five spent shell casings from inside the kitchen area and observed some slugs lodged into the floor by the kitchen table at the Subject Property.”
Records from the Department of Buildings show that inspectors also found a host of violations during a January 2020 visit to the property.
In an effort to force the owner to observe safety measures, the city of Chicago filed a lawsuit against him over a year ago. They wanted Badillo to install fencing, heavy-duty locks and security cameras.
But as Badillo allegedly could not be reached by officials, because he did not live in the building, the lawsuit never went forward and he was never served with papers. When eight people were shot last Tuesday, the city had not made any progress on any of the security measures they wanted to see put in place in the home.
According to city Law Department spokeswoman Kristen Cabanban, it wasn’t until two days after the shootings that the city was finally successful in reaching Badillo. She couldn’t say why the city took over a year to serve Badillo with the lawsuit especially given that public records show he owns several properties in Chicago and lives in Logan Square.
Cabanban said that the court will now have greater jurisdiction over compliance with safety improvements at the property. City officials have found no evidence that any of the measures have been taken by the owner, she said. A hearing has been set for July 1.
Badillo was hired by the CPD in 1997 and is currently a patrol officer assigned to the Shakespeare District on the Northwest Side. However, Chicago Police News Affairs has stated that Badillo "has been released of his police powers pending the outcome of an internal investigation".
Badillo has acknowledged that he owns the property but has refused to comment further on the case.
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