Wells Homes Extension where she was once lived. She stands on the corner of East 37th Street and South Rhodes Avenue near the former Ida B. "Some communities, doors close on us, and you don’t know where to turn," said Clarissa Glenn, 52. That is until one victim, Clarissa Glenn, pressed the issue. They pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 22 and 18 months, respectively.ĭespite the convictions, local officials did not take action for the hundreds of people who had been arrested by Watts. That's the same year Watts won "Officer of the Month," according to court filings.īut it wasn't until 2012 that Watts and a member of his crew, Kallatt Mohammed, were arrested on federal charges of stealing $5,200 in government funds from an undercover informant. Local and federal law enforcement were investigating allegations of the team's corruption as early as 2004, according to a recently unveiled report from the city's Civilian Office of Police Accountability. Other times he targeted people just because "he could," she said. Watts, an 18-year veteran of the department, had vendettas against some people, Foxx said. Wells Homes used to stand in Chicago, on Dec. "He really carried himself as the top dog in that neighborhood, and people who didn't comply had cases put on them."Ī vacant lot is seen along Martin Luther King Drive where the Ida B. "He was asking for people to pay a tax, if you will," said Foxx, who has repeatedly sent written statements and held news conferences on the misconduct allegations and the steps her office has taken to rectify the harm Watts and his team caused. Wells Homes public housing project, where they extorted money and planted drugs and guns, knowing their victims – largely Black and low-income residents – wouldn't be believed, said Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx. It's the largest series of exonerations in the city’s history, said Joshua Tepfer, a lawyer with the University of Chicago Law School’s Exoneration Project, which has represented most of the victims.įor almost a decade, Watts and his team preyed on innocent people at the Ida B. Ronald Watts and his Chicago Police Department team. Nile was among nearly 200 people who have been cleared of charges tied to former Sgt. It definitely led him to do other things, led him to get discouraged," his younger sister, Shawntell Nile, told USA TODAY. "He never got to his full potential because of what happened to him. Two years ago, just after he received his certificate of innocence and landed a job, the father of three young kids was fatally shot. With a felony on his record, he was repeatedly denied jobs and apartments. Nile was charged with possession of cocaine in 2007 and sentenced to three years in prison. It changed the course of his life, his family said. Instead, a run-in with a now-disgraced Chicago police officer put the 20-year-old behind bars for a crime he didn't commit. Growing up, he dreamed of starting a landscaping business.īut he never got the chance. Wells Homes site in Chicago where he lived.ĬHICAGO – JaJuan Nile was a joker, a picky eater and his mother's only son. Shawntell Nile, 33, poses with a photo of her late bother, JaJuan, near the former Ida B.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |