Chicago thug charged with killing cop was previously arrested, released in another shooting

The efforts of soft-on-crime Democratic prosecutors to empty our jails — under the banner of equity — appear to be having the opposite effect at local morgues.

In what is becoming a broken record, the 18-year thug in Chicago who shot and killed a police officer had a prior arrest involving a shooting, only to see those charges first downgraded and then dropped altogether.

Officer Andres Vasquez-Lasso, 32, was killed while responding to a domestic-related call involving Steven Montano allegedly chasing a woman across the street from an elementary school on the city’s South Side, according to Fox News. Vasquez-Lasso was shot several times as he chased Montano, who was also shot in the head during the exchange of gunfire — the officer was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Medical Center, while Montano remains hospitalized.

A nearby resident told Fox Chicago that Montano beseeched another officer to shoot him as he lay wounded.

“Shoot me, shoot me,” he yelled, according to the woman.

As for his previous arrest, Montano was offered “an alternative to traditional prosecution.”

Montano and two others were arrested last summer after running from a vehicle that was believed to be involved in a shooting, WGN reported. He was charged with a misdemeanor count of resisting or obstructing a peace officer after prosecutors declined to file felony charges.

“The State’s Attorney’s Office Felony Review rejected charges against the 18-year-old, and a misdemeanor charge against him for resisting arrest was later dropped,” WGN reported. “The Cook County State’s Attorney’s office said, based on his age and lack of criminal history, he was offered an alternative to traditional prosecution. The office said he completed 25 hours of community service and that is why the misdemeanor charge was dismissed.”

Montano now faces charges of murder, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, aggravated discharge of a firearm near a school, interfering with reporting domestic violence and one count of assault, according to the Chicago Police Department.

It remains to be seen how those charges play out in the hands of woke Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx.

Tom Tillison

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