Head Scratcher -OR- System Failure

I get that the collective attention span is measured in nanoseconds. I understand that there are a million stories in each and every naked city. I can see where a justice system might become bogged down, backlogged or overwhelmed by the volume of cases in certain circuits. What I don't get, what evades understanding and what I just can't see is that the obvious miscreants, once IN custody, are set free to carry on their chosen path.

On February 3, 2008 there was a shooting in Maywood, IL. In April, Dahvon Wilson was arrested in connection with the shooting and charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery. Both events were reported in the Pioneer Press edition of the Sun-Times News Groups paper, The Proviso Herald. No further information was published on the incident.

On August 9th, 2008, Four Teenagers were gunned down in the same general area while sitting on the front porch, three of them died. The shootings were suspected to be gang related, but the victims were not affiliated with any of the gangs. Mistaken identity? A familiar refrain in similar incidents in and around Chicago. So frequent that it evidently has stopped being NEWS. All four were recent high school graduates waiting to attend college. By all reports they were normal kids, good kids with bright futures.

The "word-on-the-street" shooter in the killings? The same Dahvon Wilson who'd been in custody in April. The Chicagoist Blog carried This Story about the tragedy.

In November 2008, my local paper carried this:

From the Review's police blotter:
"Alleged gang member arrested

An 18-year-old Forest Park resident suspected by Chicago police of shooting a police officer on the city's West Side was taken into custody Oct. 28 when the departments cooperated in serving a warrant.

At about 9:30 p.m., authorities notified residents of the 1300 block of Marengo that they would be assisting the city's officers in the arrest, and not to be alarmed by the commotion, according to a statement released by the department. Four flash grenades were lobbed into the basement apartment at 1338 Marengo to disorient the suspect.

Dahvon Wilson is a suspected gang member, according to Forest Park police, and was wanted by Chicago authorities for allegedly participating in a number of shootings.

"There is no indication that Mr. Wilson did anything but reside in Forest Park, and his presence did not present a danger to any of our residents," Police Chief Jim Ryan said in a written statement.

Wilson allegedly fired a single shot as police stormed his apartment, but the bullet did not strike any of the officers. Authorities did not return fire."

WTF?!?

Dahvon was back in custody, (this time he would be held without bond), in connection with the shooting of a Chicago Police officer and "allegedly participating in a number of shootings".

I understand DUE process. This seems more like DOH! process. This kid was so clever and diabolical that he slipped through the cracks and wound up living very close to me.

They had him for attempted murder. They, somehow, let him go and now they had him again? In the interim period, at least 4 people died. He is apparently not charged in the August 2008 shooting. It's hard to know for sure because there is nothing I can find about Dahvon in the Chicago or local papers since the arrest. He has a court date on August 20th. So maybe then I'll read about his killing spree?

I'm no crime buff. I don't normally read the police blotters and I have no illusions that the criminal justice system in Crook County Illinois is perfect, let alone functional, but am I just missing a big piece of this particular puzzle?
The Sun-Times News Group apparently agrees about the police blotter reading. They seem to have eliminated it from their revamped website. In fact, good luck to anyone looking for local "hard news" that matters or should matter to them.
Proviso Herald STNG
Pioneer Press Proviso Blog


If it happened over 30 days ago, you have to use "premium" access to the archives.