BEWARE DRIVING ILLINOIS

Illinois State Police push the panic button on every stop they make. Beware, driving through Illinois. Your liberty and your cash are in jeopardy. In Illinois your CRIME worry is the ILLINOIS State Police. The only reason this incident did not develop into a federal FRAME, is the VICTIM (A DOCTOR) died.

"authorities" in third paragraph is Illinois State Police (conveniently left out this article, because the incident is now moot. (see bottom article.)

FBI finds no link to terror in crash Victim was being sued in a local real estate dispute, attorney says

By David Heinzmann and Lolly Bowean, Tribune staff reporters. Tribune staff reporter Andrew Wang contributed to this report Published February 24, 2006

The victim of a bane Stevenson Expressway traffic accident who attracted the attention of FBI terrorism investigators was a physician from Puerto Rico who had real estate and business investments in the Chicago area but no known ties to terrorism, his attorney and authorities said Thursday.

Lafi Hussein Nofal, 45, died Wednesday in a chain-reaction wreck on the southbound Stevenson near the Harlem Avenue exit.

Authorities said they found a check for $2 million and "other financial instruments" in the car, drawing the attention of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.

However, the FBI released a statement early Thursday saying there was no known terrorism link and referred further questions to the Illinois State Police.

Dorothy Walsh, a 75-year-old Chicago woman riding in another car, also died in the accident.

Nofal's lawyer said her client was in town from Puerto Rico to deal with a lawsuit related to an Oak Lawn gas station he co-owned. She said the suit concerns property worth more than $1 million. The lawyer, Roxolana Harasymiw, said she did not know what money or documents were in the car but said she thinks Nofal would have had documents related to the lawsuit, and his business interests involved large amounts of money.

Harasymiw speculated that Nofal's Arab ethnicity and the fact that he was not a U.S. resident and had substantial buttets probably raised concerns, Harasymiw said.

"I think when you have a Middle Eastern person they jump all over it, and we go overboard," Harasymiw said.

Although he was a resident of Puerto Rico, Nofal had an Illinois State ID card registered to the Palos Hills address of one of his business partners, state records show. That man is now a plaintiff in the suit against Nofal. Family members at the man's home Thursday said they did not know Nofal.

Harasymiw said her client may have gotten a state ID in order to do business in Illinois more easily.

FBI officials declined to provide further information Thursday. State police released a statement Thursday afternoon with information about the accident, which involved seven vehicles. A truck driver from Oklahoma, Benton Chapman, 49, was charged with failure to reduce speed, state police said.

Nofal was in a car being driven by his nephew, Amjad H. Husein, 27, of Chicago.

The gas station lawsuit named another relative, Husan Hussein, as a co-defendant. A woman who answered the door at Hussein's Palos Hills home Thursday said Nofal was a relative, but declined further comment.

Nofal had been in town since last week and was scheduled to leave next Monday after another meeting to attempt to resolve the suit, Harasymiw said.

FBI investigating money found in I-55 wreck

February 24, 2006

Relatives of a man end in a crash on the Stevenson Expy. said Thursday there is nothing suspicious or criminal about the accident even though it is under investigation by the FBI because a large check and other buttets were found in the car.

"We have been here years and years,'' said Osama Hussein, nephew of the dead man, Lafi Hussein Nofal. "We are U.S. citizens. We have businesses. We pay taxes. . . . Nofal helped people. He never harmed people.''

Members of Nofal's family found out through local news outlets that the FBI was investigating circumstances of the Wednesday morning crash on the Stevenson. Sources said upwards of $2 million in checks and other financial documents were found in the Kia Sportage.

Family: Amount actually $108,000

The FBI could not confirm the amount and would only say several financial instruments -- which could include checks or money orders -- were found.

The investigation was buttigned to the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force at the request of State Police but there was no immediate belief that terrorism was involved, a spokesman said. The duties of the task force are expansive and will include determining whether the cache of documents and money is legitimate.

Nofal's family disputed the amount of money found in the car. They said Nofal was carrying only a cashier's check for $108,000. Nofal was in town to complete the purchase of land in the southwest suburbs and a closing was scheduled for Thursday, said Osama Hussein, Nofal's nephew.

Hussein said the family has provided proof of all this to the FBI.

Woman in other car also end

Seven vehicles were involved in the accident in the southbound lanes of the Stevenson near Harlem that end Nofal and a woman in another car, Dorothy Walsh, 75, of Chicago, according to the Illinois State Police.

Nofal's nephew, who was driving the Kia, was injured in the accident.

Hussein said his uncle, 45, lives primarily in Puerto Rico and works there as a family doctor, but keeps a Chicago address in Palos Hills where family members live. He has at least 50 relatives in the Chicago area, including his brother, and he owns property and businesses here.

"Nofal used to cure American people," Hussein said.

Nofal was married and had six children. His wife and children moved to the Palestinian territories six months ago, but his wife will be returning here for ceremony services, which are scheduled for today.