More trouble over Toni Preckwinkle’s Hyde Park condo, where her son faces eviction after a series of incidents

The Cook County Board president’s son and his family are tenants in a condo she owns but maybe not for long after an eviction lawsuit and assault and gunfire allegations.

SHARE More trouble over Toni Preckwinkle’s Hyde Park condo, where her son faces eviction after a series of incidents
Kyle Preckwinkle, the son of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, leaving court in 2013 after being found not guilty of misdemeanor battery.

Kyle Preckwinkle, the son of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, leaving court in 2013 after being found not guilty of misdemeanor battery.

Richard A. Chapman / Sun-Times

The condominium complex at Hyde Park and Cornell is older than some neighboring buildings, but “when the sun sets and casts a glow across the warm red brick and the wind rustles the ivy leaves, this is a place of old-world luxury and charm,” according to promotional materials that boldly assert:

“This is the place to live.”

Apparently not for much longer, though, for Kyle Preckwinkle, son of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who has been residing there with his wife and their kids in a unit owned by his politician-mother. He’s supposed to be on his way out after more run-ins with police at the building, including over gunshots allegedly fired from his balcony, and a lawsuit to evict the family.

The condo association, which filed that suit, also is trying to get Toni Preckwinkle to help cover the expenses of the case, more than $15,000 in attorney fees and costs to date, which she is fighting.

“The rates and numbers of attorneys and paralegals assigned to this summary proceeding is overkill — reflected in the outrageous amount being sought,” according to court papers her attorney filed this month. “At worst, the attorneys’ rates must be reduced.”

In March, amid Toni Preckwinkle’s unsuccessful run for mayor against Lori Lightfoot, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Chicago police had repeatedly responded to domestic-disturbance calls involving Kyle Preckwinkle at the complex, with neighbors complaining that his mother, who lives elsewhere on the South Side, wasn’t doing enough to address their concerns.

A man living in the unit above Kyle Preckwinkle had obtained a no-stalking order against him for what he said were unprovoked confrontations in which Kyle Preckwinkle came to the man’s door and accused him of purposely making noises that could be heard downstairs and then swearing at him and threatening him.

Kyle Preckwinkle, 38, since has been charged with misdemeanor assault for a May 3 incident involving another confrontation with the same neighbor. According to court records, while the neighbor was walking up the stairs to his third-floor unit, Kyle Preckwinkle stopped him to complain about “banging noises” and asked “who was in his apartment.”

The Hyde Park condo where Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s son lives.

The Hyde Park condo where Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s son lives.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

The neighbor said, “That is none of your business,” and continued to his condo, according to the records, which say Kyle Preckwinkle soon began banging on his door and yelling, “Open the door mother-----,” and approaching the neighbor “in an aggressive manner” when he did.

The neighbor was “in fear of receiving a battery,” so Kyle Preckwinkle was charged, records show.

His attorney declined to comment.

Two days after that incident, the police again were called to the building, this time over a report of possible gunshots coming from Kyle Preckwinkle’s front balcony, according to records and witnesses.

Officers swarmed the area, combing the outside of the building for shell casings but not finding any, according to witnesses.

A neighbor says he heard Kyle Preckwinkle yell to his wife at one point after the police arrived, “Get the camera, they’ve got guns on me,” and, “Do you know who I am?”

Some people thought the loud “bangs” might have been fireworks, but one neighbor reported seeing a “muzzle flash” indicating there was a gun.

A police spokesman said that, at about 7:55 p.m. on May 5, officers responded to the 5100 block of South Cornell Avenue after “a call of shots fired, no one was injured.”

There was no arrest.

The incident is cited in the eviction lawsuit filed later that month in Cook County circuit court by the condo association — which is comprised of the owners of the units of the complex — against Kyle Preckwinkle and his wife and mother.

Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Board president.

Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Board president.

Ashlee Rezin Garcia / Sun-Times

Toni Preckwinkle, who also chairs the Cook County Democratic Party, wouldn’t comment.

In trying to evict her family, the suit cited problems including the May incident, in which somebody was “repeatedly discharging a firearm” and Kyle Preckwinkle’s “threatening” behavior.

The suit said “the Tenants continue to engage in noxious, offensive and intolerable behavior despite numerous notices to cease and desist and intervention from the Chicago Police Department.”

In July, the Preckwinkles reached an agreement with the condo association that Kyle Preckwinkle’s family would move out by the end of August or otherwise be subject to forcible eviction by the sheriff’s police.

Condo association president Leigh Breslau declined to comment except to say, “This is a very private matter . . . We have a path going forward, and it seems to be agreed upon by all parties.”

Except for the legal fees, which Toni Preckwinkle’s attorney has requested a court hearing to dispute, records show.

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