A man on electronic monitoring while fighting allegations that he shot a man at a suburban shopping mall had a gun in his jacket pocket during a traffic stop in Chicago last week, police said.
James Sutton, 29, now faces a new charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
In September 2020, Sutton allegedly shot a 27-year-old man in the leg during an argument at North Riverside Park Mall. Prosecutors charged him with aggravated battery by discharging a firearm, unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, and possession of a controlled substance. According to a contemporaneous press release from the Village of North Riverside, he paid a $10,000 bail deposit and went home on electronic monitoring.
Last Wednesday afternoon, Chicago police who stopped Sutton for running a stop sign in West Garfield Park asked him if he had any guns in the car. He told them that he did, and they found a loaded handgun in his jacket pocket, prosecutors said.
“It’s for protection,” Sutton told officers, according to CPD’s arrest report.
His private defense attorney, Loren Blumenfeld, said Sutton had permission to be out of the house on electronic monitoring at the time of the traffic stop.
Judge Susana Ortiz set bail on the new charges at $150,000, with electronic monitoring required if he posts a 10% deposit. Separately, Sutton is now being held without bail in the North Riverside case, court records show.
Electronic Monitoring Appreciation Week
CWB’s team has been flooded with so many new stories about people being arrested while on electronic monitoring, we’ve decided to declare this “Electronic Monitoring Appreciate Week.” We’ll bring you a bountiful harvest of “EM” stories all week long. Our previously-published installments are linked below. You can see all of our EM Appreciation Week coverage at this link.
- On electronic monitoring for 2 gun cases, man is charged with having 5 more after pulling a mini-AK47 outside Cook County jail, prosecutors say
- 7-time felon, who’s supposed to be on electronic monitoring for burglary and auto theft, is charged with burglary and auto theft in Streeterville
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