Chicago Man Held Without Bond, Charged With Stalking Lightfoot

CHICAGO — A 37-year-old Chicago man who was angry over traffic tickets is being held without bond in connection with stalking Mayor Lori Lightfoot after he was arrested after police said he fired five shots in an alley within a mile of the mayor's residence in Logan Square.

Joseph Igartua faced three felony counts of stalking and reckless discharge of a firearm, the Cook County State’s Attorney Office said. In a bond hearing on Thursday afternoon, a Cook County judge ordered that the man be held without bond due to the number of times he returned to the area of Lightfoot's home in his vehicle over nearly a month's time.

Assistant State's Attorney James Murphy said Thursday that Igartua began driving in the area of Lightfoot's home on Jan. 17 and continued to do so this week. Igartua drove his truck by Lightfoot's home 15 times between the middle of January and this week and made U-turns to drive by the residence multiple times, Murphy said.

Murphy said that Igartua had become disgruntled over traffic tickets. The State's Attorney Office maintains that Igartua arrived at the mayor's home with traffic tickets, a letter addressed to Lightfoot and a loaded handgun. The signed letter stated that Igartua had been to Lightfoot's home on a previous occasion, Murphy said, and that it accused Chicago Police officers of taking five rounds of ammunition from the gun that the man had brought to the mayor's home.

Police said the man was spotted by the mayor’s security detail earlier this month but he was released because it was believed he had a concealed carry license. Murphy said in Thursday's hearing that security officers told Igartua not to return to the mayor's home.

But surveillance cameras picked up the man’s car pulling into an alley around 5:20 a.m. on Sunday in the 2500 block of Tripp Avenue, police said. Five shots were heard and Igartua was arrested shortly after at a local gas station. A Glock 19 was recovered from his car, Murphy said, who added that shell casings were recovered in the alley and from Igartua’s car.

In a statement issued Thursday night, Lightfoot said:

"As a public official, you know people will feel strongly about the job you do for them, that comes with the territory, the mayor said. "What doesn't come with the territory is threats of physical harm or worse.

"My hope is that this will be used as an opportunity for all of us to reflect on how we engage with each other. I want us to see each other as human. Being a part of our participatory democracy means getting out into the world and talking about ideas, debating, and feeling passionate about our beliefs.

"But I think the pendulum has swung so far in the wrong direction, to the point that anybody who speaks up about something or in a way that somebody else disagrees with is pilloried, demonized, and sometimes worse. It's vicious, and we as a society cannot give license to people to think that they can take it upon themselves or to act in a way that causes physical harm to another person. We simply cannot lose sight of our individual and collective humanity. We need to model the behavior that we want our children to copy."

Murphy said Igartua has preciously been arrested for possession of marijuana and that he had completed probation on those charges before he was arrested Wednesday.

In addition to being held without bond, Igartua was ordered to surrender his FOID card and concealed carry license to police and not to have any contact with Lightfoot either at her residence or at City Hall.

He is scheduled to return to court on Feb. 25.