UPDATED 4:18 P.M.
PEORIA, Ill. – Peoria’s Police Chief says it’s “beyond belief” that an Alabama man was released from jail, a day after allegedly pointing a gun at one of his officers.
Chief Eric Echevarria says Brian Childers, 45, was released from jail on Tuesday with a GPS monitor after a judge’s ruling. Childers is accused of pointing a gun at a police officer during an attempted traffic stop in the area of Howett and Western in South Peoria.
Echevarria provided further details of Childers’ arrest Monday in East Peoria. He says Childers was located in the parking lot of the Par-A-Dice in East Peoria, just before 10:30 P.M. Childers reportedly continued to resist arrest before being taken into custody.
Echevarria adds that during the arrest, Childers was armed with the gun that was allegedly pointed at the officer earlier in the day. He says officers also reportedly found methamphetamine and several thousand dollars of money on Childers, along with methamphetamine found in the hotel Childers was staying in.
Flanked by numerous Peoria Police officers at the downtown headquarters on Wednesday morning, Echevarria blasted the judge’s ruling to release Childers.
“What is the message that we’re sending to our community when somebody can point a gun, not just at somebody in the community, but let alone a police officer in this community, who is tasked with keeping this community safe?” Echevarria said.
Echevarria says he was “completely disappointed” in the decision, and also openly asked what the standards are in order to keep a person detained in jail. He says the Peoria Police Department will not take blame for, what he calls, an “unaccountable party” releasing people who have been arrested.
“We are not releasing them. This is inappropriate, and it has to stop,” Echevarria said.
The Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office says it is planning to appeal the decision to release Childers. It says the judge ruled him released due to a lack of a criminal history, but put conditions on his release. Those conditions include electronic monitoring, he cannot leave the state without court permission, he cannot possess firearms, he cannot possess or consume drugs or alcohol, and must submit to random drug tests.
The release came as part of a detention hearing under the state’s new Pretrial Fairness Act, that replaced the state’s cash bond system. A number of other suspects in the last year – mainly for murders and other violent crimes – have been ordered held in jail until their trials.
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