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| Judge David Navarro (inset) “took offense” to the alleged defacing of “The Bean” sculpture. | Provided; Ballotpedia |
Two men who allegedly tagged “The Bean” sculpture in Millennium Park early on July 2nd were each ordered held on $10,000 bail after Cook County Judge David Navarro said he “[takes] offense at these offenses, these crimes that were alleged.”
Neither Rey Ortega nor Tino Guzman, both 20, has a criminal record. And Guzman isn’t even charged with painting the sculpture. He’s accused of spray painting a nearby bench.
But, because Navarro was “offended,” they sat in jail needing much more money to go free than many other defendants who appeared in the judge’s courtroom this week. Gun offenders and even people who allegedly battered cops after the Chicago Pride Parade were given much lower bail amounts by Navarro this week.
Here’s a look at some of the people whose alleged crimes, based on their bail amounts, didn’t offend Navarro as much as Guzman and Ortega this week:
• Johnathon Bustos, 22, is charged with aggravated battery of a police officer and resisting arrest after he allegedly pushed a police officer from behind and then spit in the cop’s face at the Belmont Red Line station following the Pride Parade on Sunday. Navarro’s Offense-O-Meter prompted the judge to set bail for Bustos at $3,000 — less than a third of the amount given to the two sculpture taggers.
• Police said they arrested 18-year-old Tavontee Fox after finding him in possession of a loaded .357 magnum near the intersection of Michigan and Chicago Avenues around 11 p.m. on July 1st. He’s charged with felony unlawful use of a weapon. An “unoffended” Navarro gave Fox a recognizance bond.
• 31-year-old David Galvan was arrested in the 3200 block of North Halsted shortly after the 2019 Pride Parade was ended due to severe weather. Police said they saw him pushing people into barricades and flailing his fists, striking passersby and causing others to run from the area. An officer tackled Galvan, then allowed him to sit up to explain what happened. At that point, Galvan struck the cop in the leg, police said. Another officer was punched in the groin and kicked in the knee while a third was headbutted in the knee, causing him to fall, according to a CPD report. Galvan is charged with two counts of aggravated battery of police officers, reckless conduct, criminal damage to property, and resisting police. Galvan’s alleged criminal damage and associated behavior failed to offend Navarro nearly as much as Ortega and Guzman’s spray paint did. His bail was set at $5,000 — half of the amount given to the Millenium Park pair.
• Sh’Knolly Smith, 25, was charged with felony aggravated battery of a police officer after she allegedly spat bloody saliva into a cop’s mouth on the 3300 block of North Halsted Street following the Pride Parade, according to court records. Police said they saw Smith bleeding from her mouth while engaged in a fistfight around 12:45 a.m. on July 1st. As an officer led Smith to a transport vehicle, she turned toward the uniformed cop, looked him straight in the face, and spat bloody saliva in his mouth, according to a police report. Smith then wiped her bloody mouth on the officer’s uniform shirt, police said. Navarro set bail for Smith at $1,000, possibly indicating that he found the allegations to be one-tenth as offensive as “The Bean’s” brief defacing.
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