Nightmare On Hickory Block Gets Visit From Mayor

JOLIET, IL - On Thursday morning, Mayor Bob O'Dekirk, City Councilwoman Bettye Gavin and several Joliet Police officers and neighborhood services workers gathered across from the notorious Nightmare On Hickory Street property. This is the house occupied by the family of Alisa Massaro, who was paroled in February for her role in the January 2013 murders of Eric Glover and Terrance Rankins. Since Massaro's release, this older Joliet neighborhood has been the scene of multiple drive-by shootings. No one was injured during the recent violence, but some of the long-time residents on Hickory Street are growing fearful.

They want assurances that city officials are trying to stop the crime and are cracking down on building code violations. A few of the structures are looking rundown and have tall weeds around their yards, and they've been that way for a long, long time.

O'Dekirk said it was important to let the neighborhood know that the city is being responsive to their concerns.

"We have received a number of complaints from this block recently," O'Dekirk said. "The city has a lot of resources. There's a lot we can do, so it just was an opportunity to make direct contact with the neighbors and see what the city can do to help out."

Patch asked the mayor to comment on the recurring drive-by shootings in the 1100 block of Hickory, which is near Ingalls Avenue. The house directly north of the Nightmare house has been sprayed with bullets multiple times of late.

"It's unacceptable," the mayor responded. "Within the confines of the law, whatever the city and the police can do, we're going to do and that's what we came down here to let the residents know."

Joliet Police have investigated the possible link between a number of drive-by shootings on North Center Street to the shots fired on Hickory Street of late.

Bob Hernandez, a Joliet community activist who attended Thursday's event, said he does not believe Massaro's release from prison back in late February has any connection to the recent wave of drive-by shootings near her family's home.

"I don't believe there's a link, I personally don't believe there's a link," he said.

However, residents have seen Massaro coming and going from the house, he added.

Hernandez said the Joliet officers are doing an excellent job trying to make the neighborhood safer for the residents. He said it's his understanding that a number of gang members have been moving into pockets around Ruby Street and "there's been an escalation of shootings in the area.

"But the Joliet Police have been stepping it up addressing it," he said.

One woman who lived near the Nightmare On Hickory house told Patch she welcomed Thursday's visit from the mayor, Gavin and the Joliet Police force.

"It's very nice to see. It's been getting scary. It really is," she said.

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Images via John Ferak/Joliet Patch Editor