Peter Fabbri was one of the hardest workers at Matt Lativsky's coating business in the western suburbs.



He's also the main reason Lativsky no longer wants to visit downtown Chicago after police say his friend was shot dead over the weekend near Millennium Park by a man with a long record of gun arrests.



"I take my family into the city quite often, but I'm at the point where I'm ready to boycott the city of Chicago," said Lativsky, who lives in Glen Ellyn. "That someone can't go to Millennium Park -- with someone who should be in jail, with a warrant, 39 arrests, two times for pointing a gun into someone's face -- this scumbag is out on the street when he should be in jail.



"Instead, he's got an illegal gun, and now my friend is dead, his life is gone," Lativsky said.



As he spoke, Paul Pagan, 32, was appearing in bond court on murder charges. He wore a white T-shirt and shorts, and the top of his shaved head was covered by a tattooed ring of flames.



"This court believes that the defendant presents a great danger to the community," Judge James Brown said, ordering the admitted gang member held without bail.



Fabbri was leaving a wine-tasting event with his sister, mother and his girlfriend around 7:35 p.m. Saturday when they encountered a group of seven to 10 people passing out religious pamphlets near Monroe Street, police said.



The family and several witnesses told police the group was preaching a "hateful message," according to Chicago police Cmdr. Brendan Deenihan.



The family began to argue with the group over the Scriptures the group was citing, Deenihan said. As the argument grew heated, Pagan rode up on his bicycle, approached Fabbri and began to argue with him, police said.



The argument escalated into a physical fight and Pagan pulled out a .22-caliber handgun and shot Fabbri twice. Pagan rode away, shaking off Fabbri's sister and girlfriend who tried to stop him, police said.



Officers tracked Pagan down, in part by the gang tattoos covering his head, police said. He was brought to the scene, identified by witnesses and arrested, police said.



Pagan has four felony convictions and had been wanted on an outstanding warrant for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, Deenihan said.



"It's just not fair," Lativsky said. "I'm sad for their whole family. This is going to change their lives forever."



Lativsky said he has employed hundreds of people at his business, which does industrial work coating floors, and Fabbri was one of his best.



Anything Lativsky asked his crew to do, Fabbri immediately volunteered.



"He was the friendliest guy in the world," Lativsky said. "I'm just sick to my stomach over this. I'm shocked because he was such a good guy. To hear that there was any kind of confrontation on the street, it just befuddles me."



He said he's known Fabbri for about the past two years and that they often traveled together when the company booked jobs adding epoxy floor coating out of state.