Nearly 1 in 12 defendants on ankle monitors in Chicago have gone AWOL, authorities say

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Nearly 1 in 12 criminal defendants released pre-trial on ankle monitors in Chicago have gone AWOL, and authorities have no idea where they are, even as some in the program allegedly go on to commit violent crimes.

Data from the Circuit Clerk of Cook County shows that 246 out of 3,048 defendants released pre-trial and placed on ankle monitoring are missing and aren’t actively wearing their ankle monitor. Several individuals released pre-trial have gone on to allegedly commit violent crimes, like Alphanso Talley, who’s accused of murdering Chicago Police Department Officer John Bartholomew.

Hundreds of defendants on pre-trial release through the ankle monitor program accused of violent crimes:

13 individuals charged with attempted murder
103 individuals charged with sexual assault
21 individuals charged with murder
173 individuals charged with aggravated battery

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Cook County Chief Judge Charles Beach told WGN that law enforcement is trying to track down the individuals who are missing.

“It doesn’t mean they’re out committing crimes necessarily,” Beach said. “Some might be. But they’re actively being searched for right now by law enforcement.”

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John Bartholomew standing and smiling against a plain background

He also defended Judge John Lyke, who was presiding over Talley’s previous criminal cases and said in December that the convicted felon’s “mind is finally developing, and he may be on the path to making better decisions,” according to ABC7 News. Records indicated that Talley first got an electronic monitor on Dec. 11, 2025, but his monitor alerted two violations within three days in early March.

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“I wouldn’t call it a mistake,” Beach said. “The judge made the best decision with what was in front of them at the time, right? Unfortunately, you know, we’ll go back to that concept: How do you predict what another human being is going to do?”

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Talley is hardly the only person accused of committing a violent crime while on the ankle monitor program.

In November 2025, repeat offender Lawrence Reed, 50, allegedly lit a woman on fire while on the city’s blue line train, yelling “burn b—-.”

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Reed was charged with aggravated battery in August 2025, but was released pre-trial with an ankle monitor, against prosecutors’ wishes.

Reed has been arrested at least 13 times by the Chicago Police Department since 2017, records indicate.

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Marlon Miller, 40, was arrested in December 2025 after he allegedly attacked three women in the downtown area and was charged with three felony counts of aggravated battery in a public place, according to Fox 32 Chicago.

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At the time of the alleged attacks, Miller was wearing an ankle monitor, according to ABC7.

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Sherri Bester, one of the women allegedly attacked, said “He yelled —- and then he swung and hit me in my left eye.”

“He hit me hard enough that even with my glasses on my eye still did swell,” Bester said.

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Beach, however, insisted the SAFE-T act along with the state’s move to cashless bail isn’t making the county less safe.

“When monetary bail existed we had people who posted monetary bail who went out and committed atrocious offenses. It happened. It happened frequently. We no longer have monetary bail. We have other factors. Those things are still happening, right? That is the nature of a system that is designed with the presumption of innocence,” Beach said.

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