The man accused of trying to ignite a Molotov cocktail at a CTA bus stop, then disappearing for weeks after a Cook County judge turned down prosecutors’ request to keep him locked up, is back in custody. Court records show the Cook County Sheriff’s Office arrested Marshun Kimber, the subject of three outstanding warrants, shortly after CWB Chicago profiled him in a report Wednesday morning.
Judge Kelly McCarthy released Kimber on electronic monitoring on July 30 despite an assistant state’s attorney’s warning that he posed a danger to the public and could be a flight risk, according to a transcript of the detention hearing.
Kimber was arrested at 6 p.m. on July 28 after Chicago police responded to a report of a man trying to light a Molotov cocktail at a bus stop at 95th Street and Jeffrey Boulevard, Assistant State’s Attorney Richard Foreman told McCarthy. As officers arrived, they allegedly saw Kimber holding a bottle with a blue cloth protruding from it and an unknown liquid inside. In his other hand, Foreman said, Kimber was holding a lighter, and officers saw sparks coming from it.
“This is an explosive device attempting to be lit, sparks flying out of a lighter from his hand at a bus stop in the middle of the afternoon,” Foreman said.
The officers tried to persuade Kimber to put down the bottle, but he refused, and they had to move in to detain him, Foreman said. As they did, Kimber allegedly removed the cloth and tossed the bottle into the air. It shattered on the ground, releasing the smell of what officers believed to be paint thinner, according to Foreman.
“This was at 6 p.m. on a Tuesday, your Honor,” Foreman said. “That’s a very busy location here in Chicago. Had he lit it, damage could be untold. He could have injured, possibly killed others.”
Assistant Public Defender Sean Craig characterized the incident as a “cry for help,” saying Kimber had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and had taken medication for years but had recently stopped because he could not afford his $15 prescription. Kimber’s family had agreed to pay for the meds while he was on electronic monitoring, Craig said.
“He has since this arrest received his medication and is clearheaded, cogent. I spoke with him extensively this morning discussing himself. We geek out about anime,” Craig told McCarthy. “He is clearly a different person than the one who officers allege was speaking gibberish as he was being arrested.”
McCarthy acknowledged the seriousness of the allegations but ultimately released Kimber on an ankle monitor. Court records show he has not appeared in court since then. Three judges have signed arrest warrants on separate dates.
Not long after CWB Chicago published its story Wednesday morning, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office located Kimber and brought him before Judge Barbara Dawkins, court records show. She heard the state’s motion for pretrial release sanctions based on Kimber’s alleged failures to appear and imposed the maximum penalty under the SAFE-T Act: 30 days in jail.
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