CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) -
CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE: On Aug. 5, like every Sunday morning, New Alpha Church Pastor Allen Hickman asked the Lord to protect the good folks gathered there from the shooting, robbing and drug dealing that plague the Austin neighborhood where they worship.
At 3:35 p.m - about two hours after services concluded - the Lord answered their prayers.
Acting on a tip, Chicago police gang officers with a search warrant raided an apartment directly above the church sanctuary at 5512 W. Division.
Inside, police confiscated a cache of guns including a Kel Tech sub-machine gun, an AR-15 assault rifle, a collapsible assault rifle, a sawed off shot gun, two handguns, including a 9mm semi-automatic loaded with eight bullets, and three pit bulls that were trained as fighting dogs, authorities said.
Isaac Lindsey, 28, a member of the Four Corner Hustler street gang, was charged with six felony counts of unlawful use of a weapon, three felony counts of training fighting dogs and seven misdemeanor charges that include failing to register the weapons and animal cruelty, authorities said. Lindsey lived in the apartment but wasn't on the lease, Hickman said.
"One of the bullets could have gone right through the floor and it would have been right in the sanctuary. This was something to be afraid of. It could have been so tragic," Hickman said. "We know the Lord was protecting us."
Hickman, who owns the building, said he never suspected the longtime tenants might use the place to stockpile assault weapons.
"They have been here for more than 10 years," Hickman said. "They are church members at another church and go every Sunday. I know their pastor. I really didn't pay attention to the traffic going back and forth up there."
The person listed on the lease was not charged with a crime, but Cook County Sheriff's Police last week served the tenants with an eviction notice.
"I've talked to the church trustees and deacons, and we're not going to just sit back and let them stay there," Hickman said. "There's not too much more we can do. This is happening everywhere. Guns, people getting shot. … I'm almost at a loss of what to do."
In times like that, Hickman prays.
"Every week we pray for the neighborhood's protection," the pastor said. "We're going to keep doing that and intensify it."
