by WorldTribune Staff / 247 Real News September 27, 2023
Under a first-in-the-nation law that went into effect on Sept. 18, judges in Illinois can no longer order individuals accused of crimes to pay money to get out of jail while awaiting trial.
On Monday, a Cook County judge rejected a prosecutor’s request to jail a Chicago man who allegedly shot a dog in the head. Judge Mary Marubio sent Darrick Bender, 19, home with a nighttime curfew and orders to stay away from the dog’s owners, CWB Chicago reported, citing court records.
The arrest report said Bender, after shooting the dog, ran behind a home and threw a backpack over a fence before police detained him. The backpack contained a loaded 9-millimeter handgun equipped with a laser sight, loose ammunition, and two 50-round drum magazines, according to the police report.
Illinois law prohibits the sale of magazines that have more than 15 rounds of ammunition for handguns. In Chicago, suspects can also be charged with a misdemeanor for having a gun with a laser sight.
A 42-year-old man identified Bender as the man who shot his American Staffordshire Terrier in the head. Police did not say if the dog, named Remi, survived.
Prosecutors charged Bender with aggravated cruelty to animals, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, and reckless discharge of a firearm endangering others. They asked Judge Marubio to keep Bender in jail because he poses a public safety threat, court records show.
Marubio refused. She released Bender with a curfew and told him to check in with the court’s pretrial services division and to stay away from the victims, according to the clerk of court’s file.
Last month, Chicago police arrested Bender on a different set of allegations. A 52-year-old woman told police that Bender pointed a gun at her, and a police surveillance camera operator saw him in possession of a firearm with an extended magazine, according to the Aug. 17 arrest report.
Police said they were not able to locate the gun Bender was accused of having. The police report said Bender had a key fob in his pocket for a stolen BMW that was parked nearby.
Prosecutors charged Bender with possessing a stolen motor vehicle and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. They dropped the stolen vehicle charge one week later and dropped the aggravated assault charge on Sept. 7, according to the court file.
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