A man with multiple felony convictions ranging from robbery, burglary to retail theft, who was on pre-trial release for another felony offense found his way to the backyard of Governor JB Pritzker. The man was also on electronic monitoring and had an active warrant for his arrest for not complying with the terms of his electronic monitoring.
“Governor Pritzker’s radical crime policies turned up in his own backyard, quite literally,” State Representative Patrick Sheehan said.
On July 4 around 10 p.m., Chicago Police responded to a call from the Illinois State Police security detail at Governor Pritzker’s home. Troopers saw a man scale a gate into the backyard. They detained Dwayne Milton, 46, who had been placed on electronic monitoring on June 17, but had allegedly begun violating his electronic monitoring conditions within a few days. Following those violations of electronic monitoring, a judge finally signed an arrest warrant last month. Milton was arrested when he showed up in the Governor’s yard.
Earlier this year, data from Cook County shows that nearly 1 in 12 criminal defendants placed on electronic home monitoring (EHM) have gone AWOL. Of 3,048 people in the program, 246 are missing, not wearing their monitors, not complying with the terms of their release, and not being held accountable. Among those still in the program, hundreds face charges for some of the most violent crimes imaginable: 21 charged with murder, 13 with attempted murder, 103 with sexual assault, and 173 with aggravated battery.
“Earlier this year, Governor Pritzker said he was open to making changes to the SAFE-T Act. Yet even after Chicago Police Officer John Bartholomew was murdered by an individual out on electronic monitoring, Democrats failed to make any changes during the spring legislative session,” Sheehan said.
“Time and again, repeat offenders are allowed to return to our streets, and now the consequences have reached even the Governor’s own home. Will Governor Pritzker finally take action now that his radical crime policies nearly reached his doorstep?”
Read the full story here. Rep. Sheehan proudly represents the people of the 37th District.