Here are the outcomes of a few court cases you may have read about on CWBChicago:
Hate crime prison time
It’s prison time for the man who attacked a Streetwise vendor and then threatened to kill a black police officer in the West Loop last June.
“Hey, are you a f***ot?” Jeffrey Olson asked the paper salesman after eyeing the edition’s cover illustration in the West Loop on June 30. One corner of the cover included a rainbow painting that resembles the LGBTQ rainbow flag.
The victim, age 48, told Olson that he was not gay. But Olson continued staring at the cover, then punched the man in the chest and knocked him to the ground on the 100 block of South Desplaines.
Police detained Olson a short distance away.
“There are a bunch of f***ots out here,” Olson reportedly said before telling a black officer that he, “hates n*ggers and I will beat the f*ck out of you,” according to a CPD report.
“Give me one chance and I will kill that n*gger,” Olson reportedly said of the officer. “I hate n*gger cops. Kill all the cops!”
He began to pull away from officers while repeatedly yelling, “I hate n*ggers,” according to a CPD arrest report.
Olson was initially charged with felony hate crime on the premises of a church or synagogue, felony hate crime, and felony aggravated intimidation of a peace officer. A grand jury added two felony aggravated battery charges to the allegations.
Now, Olson has pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated intimidation of a peace officer. The other charges were dropped by prosecutors. Judge Erica Reddick sentenced Olson to five years and gave him credit for 240 days times served. He is scheduled to be paroled on Dec. 23 of next year.
Olson previously served two years in prison for criminal damage to government property in 2014; another two years for threatening a Kane County official in 2010 and a concurrent two-year term for threatening a Cook County official the same year.
Probation for school “threat”
A North Side high school student has received probation in connection with a perceived threat against classmates in February 2019.
Amundsen High School student Isaiah Johnson, 20, was arrested last year after he posted two photos of high-capacity rifles to Snapchat during school, stating “Ya’ll all judging me too quickly when this is who I really am outside school” and “I need you guys to show people that video. Let them know I’m not the one to play with.”
Several students reported seeing and being frightened by the posts, according to police records.
Prosecutors charged Johnson with a felony count of threatening violence to a person at a school.
He recently reached a plea deal with the state in which he received 18 months probation for pleading guilty to a reduced charge of attempted disorderly conduct.
Pride Parade gun case
A judge sentenced a Wisconsin woman to 18-months probation for possessing a handgun near the Belmont Red Line station after last year’s Pride Parade.
Jada Ross, 21, pleaded guilty to one felony count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in exchange for the sentence. Prosecutors dropped four other gun charges.
Police said they saw a handgun in Ross’ waistband when she lifted her shirt to take a selfie near Belmont and Sheffield a few hours after the parade was cut short by violent thunderstorms.
Judge Diana Kenworthy oversaw the case and approved the plea agreement.
