Pilsen man admits he set fire to a CPD vehicle while wearing Joker mask during 2020 riots

A Pilsen man admitted Thursday that he set hearth to a Chicago police car downtown whereas sporting a Joker masks throughout the widespread rioting and looting within the metropolis in Might 2020.

The case in opposition to Timothy O’Donnell, 32, grew to become among the many most high-profile to consequence from the rioting and looting right here within the wake of George Floyd’s homicide by then-Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin. Its notoriety is due largely to the jarring pictures — captured by the Solar-Occasions and others — of a person in a clown masks amid the chaos that day.

O’Donnell beforehand denied he set hearth to the police car within the 200 block of North State Road on Might 30, 2020. Throughout a police interview, O’Donnell advised authorities, “I don’t stand for the exploitation of me and utilizing me as a puppet to create a picture,” in accordance with courtroom information.

However he pleaded responsible Thursday to obstructing regulation enforcement amid a civil dysfunction and admitted he used a lighter to ignite a chunk of material that he put within the car’s gasoline tank. His plea settlement acknowledges he owes $58,125 in restitution to the Chicago Police Division. A prosecutor stated O’Donnell faces a probable jail sentence of round three or 4 years. His sentencing is ready for June 14.

After O’Donnell’s arrest, U.S. Justice of the Peace Decide Gabriel Fuentes discovered that video of the incident “is certainly fairly damning,” partially prompting him to rule that O’Donnell should be held in custody while awaiting trial. Fuentes famous that, along with sporting a “Joker” masks, O’Donnell “self-reported that he has passed by the identify ‘The Riddler’ prior to now.”

Nevertheless, O’Donnell’s attorneys scored a partial victory final summer time. U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood found that O’Donnell had invoked his right to counsel when authorities tried to get him to determine himself because the particular person sporting the masks throughout the riots. At one level, O’Donnell stated, “I’m in worry. I’m not going to say something additional on that matter with out a lawyer current.”

Woods’ ruling suppressed any statements O’Donnell made about whether or not he wore the masks after he made that remark.

Federal prosecutors charged O’Donnell on June 2, 2020, after investigators tied him to the incident by means of a “PRETTY” tattoo seen on the neck of the particular person sporting the masks. Video offered by a witness confirmed O’Donnell sporting the masks, holding a lit object and putting it within the gasoline tank of the CPD car. Authorities stated the car burst into flames.

{A photograph} taken by a witness additionally confirmed O’Donnell dealing with the gasoline tank, in accordance with the feds. In one other, O’Donnell seemed to be sitting on the bottom, sporting the Joker masks whereas the car burned.

A 3rd {photograph} apparently confirmed O’Donnell posing within the Joker masks in entrance of the burning automotive. In that one, a tattoo that claims “PRETTY” might be seen on the neck of the particular person sporting the masks. A CPD picture of O’Donnell revealed the identical tattoo.

A member of the family advised regulation enforcement that O’Donnell lived in a room in an condo within the 700 block of nineteenth Place. Authorities obtained a search warrant and searched the condo. The feds say they discovered a Joker masks in a bed room.

When it comes time for O’Donnell to be sentenced, his attorneys will doubtless level to the separate case of Jacob Fagundo, A Faculty of the Artwork Institute pupil who additionally set hearth to a Chicago police car throughout the Might 2020 riots downtown. U.S. District Decide Robert Gettleman gave Fagundo three years of probation, in comparison with the year-and-a-half O’Donnell has already spent behind bars.

Fagundo surrendered to Chicago police when he realized he was needed by authorities, and a prosecutor described him as “genuinely remorseful.” Gettleman agreed at sentencing that the crime seemed to be an aberration in Fagundo’s conduct.