A man who was singled out by the Chicago police superintendent as an example of an alleged murderer who should not have been released on electronic monitoring, only to be found not guilty six months later, allegedly ran from a crashed car last week, leaving behind a bag containing $8,000 in marijuana and a loaded handgun with an auto-fire switch and an extended magazine attached. Chicago police posted pictures of the crash scene and contraband on Twitter. A witness recorded now-viral video of the man being tripped and tackled by a bystander as Chicago cops moved in to make the arrest, reports CWB Chicago.
Prosecutors charged him with the pot that was in the bag. They did not charge him with the gun that allegedly had an auto-switch and extended magazine attached, leaving a judge dumbfounded. “I’m having a hard time understanding how he’s charged with some contents of the bag but not all,” said Judge Mary Marubio during a Friday afternoon bail hearing. A prosecutor told her that the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office considered filing gun charges but “decisions were made.” Torrence Reese, then 18, was charged in 2017 with killing two people and injuring a third during a shootout that authorities said was the result of an attempt to steal marijuana. A judge initially held him without bail, but he was later released on electronic monitoring to await trial. Last year, Police Superintendent David Brown identified Reese as an example of someone who should not be on electronic monitoring. At his trial, defense attorney Michael Clancy said "the civilian witnesses called by the State were all liars ... it is plain that a murder scene was tampered with by two and likely three individuals in this case.” The judge found Reese not guilty on every charge, including eight counts of murder.