Man who threatened gay bars accidentally released from jail
Shane Sleeper was facing hate crime and felony harassment charges
By Steve Brown
A man who allegedly threatening gay bars with violence has been released from jail accidentally.
Shane Sleeper, 31, was facing state terrorism, hate crime and felony harassment charges after he apparently threatened gay bars in the Lakeview area of Chicago, according to the Chicago Tribune.
He reportedly told one of his victims: “Orlando will come to Chicago” – a direct reference to the Pulse gay nightclub shooting which killed 48 people.
Sleeper had been in custody at Cook County Jail since February for a handful of misdemeanour charges,
But the Chicago Police sheriff’s spokesperson Cara Smith revealed he has accidentally been released from jail on Tuesday (May 1).
Smith said: “Preliminarily, it appears that the only cases he was being held on were dismissed and the sheriff’s office was never notified of any additional charges that were brought.
“We never notified. Our phones are on 24 hours a day. We complied with the only court order we received.”
Cook County state’s attorney’s office spokesman Robert Foley said the sheriff’s office is responsible for custody of defendants.
In a statement, Foley said: “Mr Sleeper was in custody when the sheriff’s office brought him to court yesterday.
“He was arraigned in a felony trial court room where he was assigned a no bail status and left in the custody of the sheriff’s office.”