Recently in Other Misdemeanors Category

A Pennsylvania man was found not guilty in the dog drugging case.

Ralph Ullum was accused of slipping two pills into the cage of Pixie, a Siberian husky who was competing against the dog of Ullum’s girlfriend, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. Ullum says that he just slipped his two fingers into the cage to rub the dog’s nose.

What would you do to be best in show? DuPage County prosecutors accuse a Pennsylvania man of drugging a competitor's dog to win the coveted American Kennel Club award.

The dog show drug trial against 68-year-old Ralph Ullum has begun. Prosecutors say that the man drugged Jessica Plourde's Siberian husky in an attempt to win the contest, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. Ullum says he's innocent and that prosecutors have no case against him.

Halloween can be a fun time for many, but it can also turn into a nightmare for some. Here is a list of five types of Chicago Halloween crime you may want to watch out for.

1. Sexual Assault

What better night for a sex offender than young children marching up to their doorsteps and ringing their doorbells. While sex offenders are registered with the state, many parents fail to check or simply forget that a neighbor could be a sex offender.

There were 175 Occupy Chicago arrests as of early Sunday morning. For the civil disobedience, most of those arrested were charged with municipal code violations like failure to leave a park after it has closed.

Occupy Chicago has been going on for about three weeks. The protest over Wall Street greed and corruption began as a minor spinoff from the protests in New York City, reports CBS. When the protests first started, only a small group of protestors gathered near city parks. But instead of fizzling, the Chicago protest slowly gained momentum with thousands attending larger rallies.

Francisco Tirado was arrested last week for beating a woman and holding her and her children captive. This was the 65th arrest for the Northbrook man since 2001.

The 27-year-old Tirado was allegedly drunk when he returned home on September 22 and urinated on the floor, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. After peeing, Tirado was confronted by the unidentified woman and Tirado then beat and kicked her. The nature of Tirado’s relationship with the woman was not reported.

The City Council is considering a revision to Chicago curfew laws to set an earlier curfew for children under the age of 12. The City Council is set to vote on the proposed change this week that would require that kids under 12 to be home by 8:30 p.m. on weekdays and 9:00 p.m. on weekends. Children 12 and over will continue to follow the existing curfew of 10:00 p.m. on weekdays and 11:00 p.m. on weekends.

Currently, Chicago curfew laws do not distinguish children under the age of 12 from children between the ages of 12 and 17. Instead, all minors are required to follow the 10:00 p.m./11:00 p.m. curfew mentioned above.

Twenty-year-old Max Fleck called police to report stolen marijuana. When police arrived, they found more pot, and arrested Fleck for violating Illinois marijuana law.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Fleck, from Lincoln Park, and a 19-year-old man called police to report that they had two pounds of marijuana stolen from them. The unidentified 19-year-old says that he was hit in the head with a bottle and cut during the robbery, and Fleck says that he was also punched.

However, it appears that the robbers did not get all of the weed.

Eighteen-year-old Emmett DeFrisco has been charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct after accidentally setting off the Millennium Park bomb scare over the weekend.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, DeFrisco and several hundred science-fiction fans attended a Soycon convention in downtown Chicago. Described as “The Largest Cosplay Gathering of the Midwest,” DeFrisco was among 250 young people who met prior to the convention at Buckingham Fountain in Millennium Park to pose for photos in their comic book, fantasy, and anime costumes.

Dressed as Dr. Who, DeFrisco wore the outfit of the time-travelling doctor and carried around two bricks tied with duct tape as an apparent prop, reports the Sun-Times.

Governor Pat Quinn signed a new law that will require backseat passengers to wear seat belts in Illinois.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the measure strengthens current seat belt laws requiring frontseat passengers to wear safety belts by now requiring backseat passengers to wear safety belts too.

Police can now stop vehicles if they notice backseat or frontseat passengers not wearing safety belts. Violators face a $25 fine reports the Tribune.

The Illinois seat belt law was sponsored by Senate President John Cullerton, a Chicago Democrat. Cullerton was the author of Illinois' first seat belt laws in the 1980s reports the Tribune.

Alvin Kang, a graduate student at Northwestern, has been arrested with two other men for allegedly pointing a laser beam at a police helicopter. The Chicago Tribune reports that the three men are now facing misdemeanor charges for unlawful use of a weapon -- the laser pointer.

According to the Tribune, a Chicago Police helicopter was hovering above the Old Town Triangle neighborhood when Kang and his cohorts shone a green laser beam into the cockpit. Blinded by the light, the helicopter crew donned night vision goggles and directed police officers to the source of the light. Kang and two other men were arrested on a nearby building rooftop.

In allegedly committing the crime, Kang and his buddies may have thought they were playing a harmless prank worthy of a slap-on-the-wrist by prosecutors. However, they would be very wrong if they thought this.