Miscommunication between the state’s attorney’s office and the sheriff’s office led to the accidental release of an anti-gay terrorist, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Shane Sleeper, 31, was released Tuesday night. Police arrested Sleeper in February for terrorizing gay bars and making violent references to the Pulse nightclub mass shooting in Orlando.
“Orlando will come to Chicago,’’ Sleeper said. He was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor.
The misdemeanor charges against Sleeper were dropped, but felony charges of state terrorism, hate crime, harassment and false personation of a police officer were filed against him on Tuesday. He was also ordered held without bail.
Cara Smith, policy chief for Cook County said the office was never notified about the felony charges being added.
“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,’’ Smith said. “We were never notified. Our phones are on 24 hours a day. We complied with the only court order we received.”
Attorney’s office spokesman Robert Foley said: “Mr. Sleeper was in custody when the sheriff’s office brought him to court yesterday. He was arraigned in a felony trial courtroom, where he was assigned a no bail status and left in the custody of the sheriff’s office.”
Sophia Ansari, a spokeswoman for the Cook County Sheriff’s office is confident Sleeper will be found.
“(We) are confident he will be apprehended,” she said.