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| Heath Levey | CPD |
An Uptown man who is charged with two counts of hate crime for allegedly drawing swastikas on fences and a garage in his neighborhood is Jewish and was arrested five days before the 2016 election for allegedly threatening to rape and kill an Uptown woman who he believed to be a Republican, according to court records and friends of the man who spoke with CWBChicago.
Heath A. Levey, 51, was arrested Wednesday afternoon outside his home in the 4200 block of North Clarendon after police identified him as the swastika- and graffiti-drawing man who had been recorded on surveillance video November 2nd, four days before Election Day.
But friends of Levey on Facebook, contacted by CWBChicago Friday, said he comes from a Jewish family and has been openly gay and a professed Democrat for years.
Court files reviewed by CWBChicago today reveal that days before the 2016 presidential election, Levey was accused of assaulting an Uptown woman and damaging her property.
A 50-year-old woman told police that she looked out her home’s front window around 6:30 p.m. on November 3, 2016, and saw an “enraged” Levey screaming and forcing open her front gate in the 4200 block of North Hazel.
Levey entered the yard, “stomping hard on the ground while menacingly charging” toward the woman’s front door, police said in a report.
Spotting the woman through her front window, Levey reportedly screamed, “I’m going to rape you, you f*cking Republican! I’m calling the CIA. I’m going to kill all the women and children!”
The woman called 911 and Levey fled from the scene, police said at the time.
Prosecutors charged Levey with assault and criminal damage to property and he was served with a no-stalking order to stay away from the victim, according to police records. Levey reached a deal with prosecutors in which he pleaded guilty to damaging the woman’s gate while the state dropped assault charges. He was sentenced to 18 months probation and fined $265 by Judge Clarence Burch.
Levey is now accused of drawing swastikas on a brick pillar in front of a 65-year-old man’s home in the 800 block of West Eastwood and drawing swastikas and references to the CIA on the garage and fence of a 67-year-old woman who lives nearby. He has been served with a no-stalking order to protect both victims, according to police records. The swastikas and other drawings were made around 3:30 p.m. on November 2nd, four days before this year’s election.
Judge David Navarro set bail for Levey at $10,000 and ordered him to go on electronic monitoring if he is released.
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