CHICAGO, IL- In yet another case of a violent repeat offender being let loose to prey upon innocent Americans, Devon Jones, who was enrolled in an “electronic monitoring” program, attacked and robbed a pregnant woman in Chicago. Jones is an eight-time offender flouting his release conditions since his August 2025 arrest for a disturbance inside a restaurant involving a taser, the Daily Caller reported.
CWB Chicago, citing court records, said Jones, who was supposed to be wearing a GPS monitor, attacked the victim on Dec. 28 in the city’s mass transit system. According to the outlet, Jones roamed around the Chicago train system for hours while he was supposed to be undergoing home confinement. He entered a gate without paying fare and then attacked his victim, who was pregnant.
According to the victim, Jones struck her in the buttocks, grabbed her, and struggled over her purse, causing her to fall to the ground numerous times. He then took an iPad from her purse and rode off on a bicycle.
The victim suffered scratches and bruises from the attack, CWB Chicago reported. Jones was arrested on Dec. 28 while he was attempting to burglarize a home in a nearby Chicago neighborhood. In this case, he was ordered detained pretrial.
When Jones was arrested in August, prosecutors asked DEI Judge Susana Ortiz to keep him locked up due to his lengthy criminal record, which included a felony gun case, however she refused to do so, CWB Chicago reported.
In December, Cook County Chief Judge Charles Beach II ordered a review of the BPS monitoring program, saying it lacked oversight to hold arrestees accountable, CWB Chicago reported at the time.
Earlier, the electronic monitoring system, usually consisting of an ankle bracelet, drew attention when yet another repeat offender who violated the program was accused of burning a woman, 26-year-old Bethany MaGee, alive on a public train, leading to her hospitalization. He was detained, but it took the Department of Justice to bring federal charges to do so.
Cashless bail was the brainchild of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who claimed it would make the streets safer. However, 50-year-old Lawrence Reed, the suspect who set the woman on fire, had over 70 arrests before the incident, the Daily Caller reported.
Reed was released under Pritzker’s Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act, multiple reports said. Pritzker’s brainchild was the first such law in the nation to abolish cash bail while expanding pretrial release conditions such as electronic monitoring.
Local prosecutors recommended that Reed be held; however, DEI Cook County Judge Teresa Molina ordered Reed’s release on electronic monitoring in August. That came after Reed was charged with slapping a social worker’s face so hard that she sustained a concussion, corneal abrasion, and chipped tooth, CWB Chicago reported.
“I can’t keep everybody in jail because the State’s Attorney wants me to,” Molina Gonzalez told prosecutors. Now, a woman is scarred for life because of her decision, which again begs the question—why do judges have absolute immunity?
In response to the latest case involving Reed, Pritzker said, “Sometimes bills get passed and everybody that votes for it knows that there needs to be a trailer bill or a tweak needs to be made afterward, so I think everybody is open to listening to what changes might need to be made,” the rotund Pritzker told the press, according to The Center Square.
In a court motion arguing for federal detention, the Department of Justice (DOJ) slammed Pritzker and Illinois Democrats for letting Reed walk. He was arrested 72 times and convicted of eight felonies over the past 30 years. He received probation for an arson attack on a Chicago building, the DOJ said.
“Defendant has been leniently treated in state court, including receiving probationary sentences for violent offenses and pre-trial release for a victim-involved crime,” the motion read. “In exchange for such lenient treatment, defendant has consistently re-offended and delved further into criminality.”
The incident drew the attention of President Donald Trump, who slammed the city of Chicago as posted by the Rapid Response 47 account on X.
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