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 History of Northlake > Sergeant John Nagel & Officer Anthony Perri |
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Sergeant John Nagle & Office Anthony Perri
Taken from an article by Tami Jensen - Northlake Herald Journal, Oct. 29, 1997
At
10:41 a.m. on October 27, 1967, the unthinkable happened. Two Northlake Police Officers, Detective Sergeant
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| Sergeant John Nagle |
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John Nagle, 31 of Bellwood, and 41 year old Patrolman Anthony Perri of Northlake, were gunned down outside
Northlake Bank, 26 W. North Ave., by three armed bandits robbing the bank.
A bank
teller tripped the alarm, which rang at the Northlake Police Station about a block away, when she saw three
people wearing ski masks running into the bank.
According
to an October 28, 1967 article in the Chicago American, the robbers - armed with carbine and several
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| Officer Anthony Perri |
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small automatic weapons - held 15 employees and seven customers at gunpoint while one of them entered the
vault and filled a bag with money and a second one forced tellers to empty their drawers of money into another
bag. The robbery reportedly netted about $83,000.00.
Not
even two minutes after entering the bank, the third gunman saw a police car with Perri and 26 year old
Patrolman Michael Cain of Northlake inside - pull into the parking lot with its red lights flashing.
Without
warning, the three robbers charged the glass doors and fired through them at the two police officers.
One
of the bullets shattered a window of the squad car. Four bullets struck Perri, as he crawled out of the car
with his shotgun. Lying on the ground, Perri was shot again, in the head at close range, by one of the
gunmen.
Nagle
and Patrolman Earnest Hustedt, then 39, of Franklin Park, pulled up in another squad car. Both officers
were sprayed with bullets. Nagle was fatally shot in the head and abdomen as he stood next to his car.
Two
of the robbers escaped in a get-away car driven by a female accomplice. The third gunman was shot and
taken to the hospital Eventually the FBI captured all three cop slayers, who were not from the area and
whose names have been erased from local files. They were charged with murder and sentenced to life
in prison.
Perri
was survived by his widow, Antoinette, a son; a daughter; his mother; a brother, and seven sisters. He
was buried in Queen of Heaven Cemetery.
Sgt.
Nagel was survived by his widow, Marlene; three sons, and his father and mother. He was buried also at
Queen of Heaven Cemetery.
"It
was a very sad day for law enforcement" remembered Carl Dobbs, Northlake’’s Interim Police Chief and
retired Wheaton Police Veteran.
"Any
time an officer is killed in the line of duty, police departments always examine what happened and consider
changing their procedures in terms of how they respond to certain calls.
Dobbs
says police departments took a long look at how they responded to bank alarm calls and developed newer,
safer procedures that have become universal standards in police departments today.
"Even
though two people gave their lives, there was a positive effect in that it alerted police departments
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| Dedication of Nagle-Perri Park in 1971 |
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to re-evaluate how to respond to bank calls and the inherent dangers associated with those
calls," Dobbs added.
Their
service to the Northlake Police Department will never be forgotten. Inside a glass case in the lobby of
the police station, there is a memorial dedicated to the slain officers. Inside the case, there are
pictures of Nagle and Perri and a plaque inscribed with the words, "Lest we Forget." Next to the plaque
are medals of valor, which were awarded to the men by the National Police Officers Association of American
for making the supreme sacrifice while performing their duties as Northlake Police Officers.
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| Nagle-Perri Park Monument |
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"May
the day of infamy, October 27, 1967 at 10:41 a.m., remain forever in our minds. They did not die in
vain," reads a memorial plaque that was dedicated by Hustedt and then-Police Chief James Gilliam.
In
1971 a service was held to rename the park at the northeast corner of Roy and Parkview in honor of the
slain Officers. The inscription at the permanent Memorial reads:
NAGLE - PERRI PARK DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF
SERGEANT JOHN NAGLE AND PATROLMAN ANTHONY PERRI WHO IN THE PERFORMANCE OF THEIR DUTIES AS NORTHLAKE
POLICE OFFICERS MADE THE SUPREME SACRIFICE OCTOBER 27, 1967
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