Palos Hills City Hall gave permission for a helicopter to buzz a residential street?

We were sitting in our backyard when we heard a sound so loud our windows rattled. Within seconds all the neighbors were out on the street watching a helicopter buzz down the middle of the street.

When I say it buzzed down the middle of the street, I mean so close that you could see the pilot. It flew about four blocks right down our street. The helicopter hovered over a convoy of black vehicles. The lead vehicle had a Jordanian flag hanging out the front window.

I immediately called 911. During the first call I was told that no one knew what was going on. As the operator was talking, I saw two Palos Hills Police Dept vehicles following the convoy. I told her that the police were in the convoy. A few minutes later I called back saying that I wanted an officer to come by and explain what was happening. I was then told that it was a funeral procession.

A few minutes after my second call to 911, the black helicopter buzzed across the neighborhood again. It was so low and so loud that a neighbor screamed for her children to get inside the house.

When the officer came by, he said that it was a wedding procession. I asked about the helicopter. He said City Hall gave permission to have a helicopter follow the wedding procession. It’s well-known that I think Palos Hills City Hall is pretty incompetent, but for them to give permission for a helicopter to buzz a residential neighborhood on a Sunday afternoon? Even I thought that was crazy.

So, the question is on the table. Mayor Bennett, who gave permission for a helicopter to buzz our neighborhood on a Sunday afternoon, frightening everyone, causing parents to bring their children indoors and creating fear on a beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon?

Sept 28 UPDATES

*I sent this link to Mayor Bennett and my aldermen asking who gave permission to the helicopter to buzz our neighborhood. Mayor Bennett emailed that no one gave permission. It seems there’s a disconnect between City Hall and the Police Department, given that the Palos Hills Police Department said Palos Hills City Hall gave permission for the helicopter to fly in Palos Hills.

*A Facebook comment from a Palos Hills resident reported that the helicopter came over the police department at such a sideways angle that she thought it was going to crash.

*Another Facebook user pointed out that both Hickory Hills and Palos Hills police officers escorted the convoy. She said they knew all about the plan and approved it. She called the helicopter a ”grand romantic gesture” by comparing it to a prince picking up his princess in a carriage. In this case she said the vehicle was a helicopter.

Sept 29 UPDATES

*The Palos Patch talked to the Palos Hills Police Department. You’ll have to look at the Patch homepage for the information as I am unable to add the link here.

*Someone on the Patch’s Facebook page pointed out it was  Jordanian wedding. Since the Palestnian and Jordanian flags look so much alike, I updated the article to reflect that comment. Given how fast the cars were speeding, it is possible I didn’t see the flag correctly.