Man Charged In Murder Of CPD Cmdr. Paul Bauer Due In Court
CHICAGO (CBS/WBBM Newsradio) -- The four-time felon charged with the murder of Chicago Police Commander Paul Bauer was headed to court on Thursday.
Shomari Legghette, 44, was scheduled to appear for a bond hearing Thursday afternoon at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse.
He was transferred to the courthouse from Area Central Headquarters early Thursday morning. He had been in Chicago police custody since he was arrested Tuesday afternoon, just moments after allegedly shooting Bauer four times in the head.
"Now this should come as no surprise, but this isn't his first run-in with the law," Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said Wednesday as police announced the charges against Legghette. "Some individuals just do no play by society's rules. He was one of them; shouldn't be out there, ever, ever again."
Police said Legghette had just completed parole last year, after serving time for weapons and drug convictions.
Court records show Legghette has five criminal convictions, including four felonies, dating back to 1997:
• In January 2015, he pleaded guilty to gun and drug possession charges, and was sentenced to 2 years in prison.
• In October 2011, he was convicted of a battery charge, and was sentenced to a year of probation and 30 days community service; he was cleared of a second battery charge and two counts of resisting an officer.
• In October 2009, he pleaded guilty to a gun charge from 2007, and was sentenced to 3 years in prison. A charge of being a felon in possession of body armor and a drug charge were dropped in that case.
• In 1998, he was convicted of armed robbery, and sentenced to 16 years in prison. In that case, the man wore body armor while committing a robbery in Forest Park, sources said.
• In 1997, he was convicted of a drug charge, and sentenced to a year of probation.
Police said Bauer chased Legghette to the Thompson Center on Tuesday, after Legghette ran away from tactical officers who tried to conduct a street stop because he matched the description of a suspect in a shooting.
"He heard something over the radio, and it wasn't his rank that mattered. It was his responsibility that called," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said.
Bauer and Legghette fell down a flight of stairs outside the Thompson Center, and Legghette allegedly shot the commander at least four times in the head.
"In a matter of seconds, at the hand of one individual who was wearing body armor and armed with a semi-automatic extended-clip firearm, this department didn't just lose an exemplary police officer, the city lost a piece of itself, and a family lost a loving father and husband," Johnson said.
Officers said Bauer's cousin was Martin Darcy, a Chicago police officer who was shot and killed in 1982. Darcy's son was one of the officers who investigated Bauer's murder.
Funeral services for Bauer have been scheduled for Saturday morning at Nativity of Our Lord Church in Bridgeport. Visitation will be Friday afternoon and evening at the church.
City Hall opened its doors Thursday morning to mourners who wanted to sign a condolence book honoring Bauer, who was slain across the street from the seat of city government.
A similar book can be signed at the 18th District police station on the Near North Side, where Bauer served as commander.