Man Charged With Threatening Violence at Gay Bars Accidentally Released

A man in Lakeview, Chicago was accidentally released from Cook County Jail this week and is currently still at large.

In February, Shane Sleeper, 31, was charged for threatening violence to local gay bars and saying “Orlando will come to Chicago,” referencing the mass shooting at the gay nightclub Pulse that occurred in Orlando in 2016. Originally, Sleeper was only arrested on misdemeanor charges for resisting a peace officer, but these threats led to a felony charge.

On Tuesday, the misdemeanor charges were dropped, but the jail had not been informed of the felony charge that Sleeper now faced. Consequently, Sleeper was released. Blame is being tossed between the sheriff’s office and the state attorney’s office for this mistake. While the sheriff’s office is saying they were never notified of any additional charges, spokesperson for the attorney’s office Robert Foley says that although Sleeper wasn’t charged at the time, he was still arraigned for the threat and for hate crimes and brought into a felony trial courtroom.

According to the Chicago Tribune, “police were still searching for Sleeper Thursday morning. His last known address was on Chicago’s North Side, and he was described as white, 5-foot-11, weighing about 185 pounds.”