Nearly 1 in 12 Chicago Pretrial Ankle Monitor Defendants Go Missing

Nearly 1 in 12 criminal defendants released pretrial on ankle monitors in Chicago have gone missing, and authorities do not know their whereabouts. Some in the program have allegedly committed violent crimes afterward.

Circuit Clerk of Cook County data shows that 246 out of 3,048 defendants released pretrial and placed on ankle monitoring are missing and no longer actively wearing their monitors. Among hundreds of defendants on pretrial release through the program accused of violent crimes are 13 charged with attempted murder, 103 with sexual assault, 21 with murder and 173 with aggravated battery.

Alphanso Talley faces accusation of murdering Chicago Police Department Officer John Bartholomew after his pretrial release. Cook County Chief Judge Charles Beach told WGN that law enforcement is trying to track down the missing individuals.

"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."

Beach defended Judge John Lyke, who presided over Talley's previous 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 show Talley first received an electronic monitor on Dec. 11, 2025, but it alerted two violations within three days in early March.

Talley is not the only one accused of a violent crime while in the program. In November 2025, repeat offender Lawrence Reed, 50, allegedly lit a woman on fire on the city's Blue Line train, yelling "burn b----."

Reed faced aggravated battery charges in August 2025 but was released pretrial with an ankle monitor despite prosecutors' objections. Chicago Police Department records show Reed has faced arrest at least 13 times since 2017.

Marlon Miller, 40, drew arrest in December 2025 after allegedly attacking three women downtown. He faced three felony counts of aggravated battery in a public place, according to Fox 32 Chicago. Miller wore an ankle monitor at the time of the alleged attacks, ABC7 reported.

Sherri Bester, one of the women, 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.

Beach insisted the SAFE-T Act and the state's shift to cashless bail have not made 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.