Welcome to Arrest Stories. A fifty-nine-year-old Chicago city plumbing inspector faces felony charges after allegedly sending threatening emails to an Illinois state senator on the same day the lawmaker participated in a press conference about illegal immigration. Here's what may have happened.
On September second, Illinois State Senator Andrew Chesney participated in a press conference focusing on illegal immigration and President Donald Trump's proposal to deploy the National Guard to Chicago. The press conference took place on the Tuesday following a violent Labor Day weekend. That same day, Joseph Haggerty, a plumbing inspector for the City of Chicago, allegedly sent two threatening emails to Chesney's government email address.
According to court documents, one of the messages read, "I would love to meet you on the street anywhere I would cave your expletive teeth in and make you sip your food through a straw for the rest of you expletive coward life. coward."
The threatening communications allegedly involved threats of physical harm against the state senator, according to Chesney's office. Illinois State Police launched an investigation into the matter and issued a warrant for Haggerty's arrest.
On November twenty-fifth, Haggerty turned himself in to Chicago police, one day after the warrant was issued. Following his arrest in Chicago, Haggerty was transported to Stephenson County where he remains in custody. He has been charged with two felony counts of threatening a public official.
During questioning, Haggerty reportedly told investigators he had been angry about politics lately and believed his anger got the best of him when he sent the email to Chesney. According to police reports, Haggerty stated he did not intend to hurt anyone and expressed remorse for his actions, wishing to apologize.
Senator Chesney released a statement saying, "I want to express my sincere appreciation to the Illinois State Police Division of Criminal Investigations for their professionalism, diligence, and swift action throughout this case. It is deeply troubling that an inspector for the City of Chicago issued violent threats against a sitting public official, and such conduct must be met with the seriousness it deserves."
All suspects presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Do not take this report as factual, always verify facts. Thanks for watching Arrest Stories.