Father of teacher robbed in Lincoln Park questions $100 bond allowing alleged attacker to walk: ‘Is that all she’s worth to them?’
By John Kass
Chicago Tribune |
Aug 16, 2019
Even in a city numbed by never-ending murders and shootings, every so often a crime story breaks through and grabs your attention.
Like what happened the other night in the far north suburbs, the old man with a gun, a 14-year-old shot dead, a high-speed chase and now five other teens charged with murder.
But there are many other crimes that don’t break through. Like the young teacher who was stalked and robbed in Lincoln Park last week at one o’clock in the afternoon as she walked to school. She was almost dragged into an alley but fought her robber off, then was slammed violently to the ground. Her alleged attacker reportedly told police he’d hoped to steal her phone and make $100.
And, as Chicago political irony would have it, that’s all he had to put up to walk free on bond on a robbery charge. One hundred bucks, cheap at the price.
“One hundred dollars. That’s all?” said the woman’s father, Kevin Kuhn, when he called me the other day. "That’s the value that the judge, prosecutors and the city place on my daughter’s safety? One hundred dollars? It’s atrocious. He needed $100, so he attacked my daughter. And the city, county and judge put the same value on my daughter as the robber did. Is that all she’s worth to them? One hundred dollars?”
Mr. Kuhn had lived in downtown Chicago for years. But he and his wife grew tired of political corruption, taxes and crime. So recently, they left as part of the Illinois Exodus. They live in Naples, Florida, now, with many other neighbors from Chicago.
“When we left, people were getting robbed downtown, people were getting shot downtown. You’ve seen all the stories. There were even murders,” Kuhn said. “We said, ‘We’re out of here.’ ”
The political fight over low bonds had been simmering for some time. Now it’s out in the open and angry.
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