CITY HALL — Two weeks after a West Ridge man died after stepping off a party bus in Edgewater, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and two aldermen plan are moving to regulate the rowdy parties on wheels.
The new rules would make it easier for police to track unlicensed party buses, according to a statement from the mayor's office.
The measure, set to be introduced Wednesday, also includes "new safety measures for all operators, increases fines for illegal activities and establishes a multi-agency task force to conduct sweeps to find illegal bus operators," according to the mayor's office.
Quentin Payton, 28, of West Ridge and died March 12 after a "verbal altercation" led to an exchange of gunfire between a dark-colored SUV and someone on the party bus after it stopped at the Dunkin Donuts at 6332 N. Broadway.
Payton was one of three people shot, police said. Chaz Johnson, 22, of Evanston, was shot in his left torso while sitting in the backseat of a car, and died later that day, police said. A third man was hit in his leg, officials said.
No one is in custody in connection with the shooting, according to a statement from the Chicago Police Department.
The ordinance is the latest effort by city officials to regulate party buses, which have been a magnet for violence for years.
In September, the City Council passed a law requiring drivers to call police if drunken patrons toss bottles from the vehicle, moon or flash passersby or use illegal drugs after a spate of shootings.
But that did nothing to stop the violence — three people were injured in a December shooting aboard a party bus in Lakeview, the sixth party bus shooting with injuries in 14 months.
