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Jason Austin, 26, originally arrested and later released in connection with the August killing of Chicago Police Officer Robert Soto and Kathryn Romberg, is suing the city for mistreatment. In an interview with the Sun-Times, Austin claims that while being questioned, police withheld food from him for three days. While he says he was never beaten by police, he did say they roughed him up when they arrested him: “I just seen them all around me. They grabbed me off the bed, twisted my arm and put the cuffs on.” During the interrogation, Austin stuck by his original claim that though witnesses reported seeing a car resembling his leave the scene of the crime, his car was in the repair shop at the time. He admitted he heard the gunshots but denied having anything to do with the shooting, saying, "I was doing my regular routine, hanging, messin’ with the females."
Chicago Police spokeswoman Monique Bond denied any wrong-doing by officers:
...detectives have conducted themselves in a professional manner throughout the course of this investigation...The department relies on a number of investigative tools such as electronic recording interrogation to ensure investigative integrity, and we will continue to follow the evidence wherever it may lead.Sources also told the Sun-Times that after Austin's release, friends of Austin, including a girlfriend, were intimidating witnesses to recant their testimony, a charge which Austin denied. Still, police have charged Tashianda Howland, 18, and a 16-year-old relative with assaulting another female who is a witness in the case.
The lawsuit filed in court also includes allegations that police beat three of Austin friends who refused to help police build a case against Austin. Austin's lawyer, David Weiner, said, "These police detectives are great detectives but they're angry. And if I were Jason Austin I would not be going back to my home Area 4. Because he could be dropping a piece of gum on the sidewalk and be picked up in the next 25 minutes. So my advice to him, get the heck out of town." Austin agreed:
Everywhere I go, I got to look over my shoulder and got to be worried about what’s going to happen. I can’t live like I was living...I was feeling really blessed at the time [of being cleared of the charges]. I was just thanking the Lord. I’m hoping they get the right person who did this.
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So a car that LOOKS like his is in the area and he admits that he just HAPPENED to be in the area, close enough to hear the gunshots. Oh, and girlfriend just happened to beat up one of teh witnesses in the case.
Wow, is this guy the King of Coincidences or what?
not much of a witness if she saw a car that was in a repair shop at the time she "saw" it.
man ... he was jus doin his thing hanging out and messin with the females. Can't you see that it is impossible for this guy to be shootin some cop and his lady friend? i mean, it's just a coincidence that someone saw a car that looked just like his and it's just a coincidence he happened to be within earshot of the shooting - honest man. and now he can't live how he was livin ...
and then he goes and thanks the Lord for setting him free. mf'r better be thanking someone because his ass got lucky. what a joke.
There are rumbles that this guy was involved in the shooting of Jason Mueller, the general manager of Nonna's Pizza.
It's hard to believe witness intimidation of this type could still happen in 2008. He appears to have the connections to get witnesses to change their minds about what they saw.
"not much of a witness if she saw a car that was in a repair shop at the time she "saw" it. "
Read it again. A car that LOOKS just like his was at the scene. I didn't say it WAS his, just that someone saw a care LIKE his. If they're lying, neither you nor I know. Just another... what's the word... oh, yeah. Coincidence.
As one that's been highly skeptical of this arrest from the start, none of the "facts" of this case add up.
What were Soto & Romberg doing in the car?
Why didn't Soto notice someone sneaking up on them, it's not like this was a safe neighborhood, it's the edge of the ghetto!
So were they engaged in sex at the time? That's about the only reason I can come up with that allows for either of them to notice the shooter, unless of course the shooter was someone one of them knew.
Which leads into, was any attempt made to discover the whereabouts of Romberg's former boyfriend, whose also a cop?
Was Soto's "dying exclamation" recorded?
I should add, it may be that Austin is the shooter.
I don't know.
But the cops in this city have an appalling tendency to arrest first & investigate later in heater cases.
Many have been arrested & released or worse, arrested, tried, convicted, gone to prison & only after years get released because someone lied or even created "evidence".
As Einstein said, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over & over again & expecting a different result"!