By Maureen O’Donnell
The Chicago Sun-Times
CHICAGO — It was a true Chicago moment. Amid the taquerias and Polish sausage shops and fortune teller storefronts and factories, a lone undercover officer took his life in his hands Monday.
No, he wasn’t working narcotics. He simply stepped out onto Belmont Avenue.
The goal: see if people would stop for him in the crosswalk.
The result: 101 drivers were pulled over -- and received warnings -- in less than two hours.
One highlight: the Blazer driver with a handicapped sign who shouted: “Get out of the street!”
He changed his tune by the time police stopped him down the block, officers said.
“No speak English,” he said.
The sting, part of traffic safetycampaign, took place at Belmont and Lawndale. Officer John Porter stepped into the striped crosswalk. Motorists ignored him. “They’d rather go to the wrong side of the road than stop,’' he said.
Drivers received warnings instead of tickets. Most apologized.
“I swear to God, I did not see him,’' said Chris Hohe, 41, at the wheel of a beverage truck.
“He should have stopped for me,” said Ozzie Quadri, 44. “He saw me coming.”
“This is the law,” Officer Grace Delgado told him. “There doesn’t have to be a street light” to require a stop.
“It’s fair warning,’' said driver Humberto Tapia, 19. But, he added, “Most of the [crosswalk] lines are either faded or need repainting.”
Brian Steele, a spokesman with the city’s Department of Transportation, said more crosswalk stings are planned.
Copyright 2008 The Chicago Sun-Times