Cold and bleary-eyed, he said he was afraid of
getting caught — a surprising sentiment for a man who has been arrested
178 times, according to police and court records.
Ervin, 52, has amassed charges ranging from
panhandling on trains and disorderly conduct to drug possession and
assault and battery, the records show.
He is a source of widespread fear among riders on the Green Line between the Loop and
“Clarence is not a bad guy,” Ervin said, speaking sympathetically in the third person, as he exited a Green Line train at
on Wednesday and boarded another going in the opposite direction to
continue begging for — and demanding — money. “He got a raw deal. He’s
homeless. He’s a United States Marine disabled veteran, and he needs
help. He don’t want to get in more trouble.”
In truth, the law has not given Ervin much trouble. After arresting him on misdemeanor offenses,
police immediately released Ervin on his own recognizance more than 100
times, instead of holding him over for a bail hearing, according to
court records. The practice comes as the police department steps up
efforts to train officers in crisis intervention, including mental
health and veterans issues.
Ervin rarely shows up for his court dates. Officials
dropped charges against him in more than 130 cases. When cases are not
dismissed Ervin has been convicted, often in absentia, about 25 percent
of the time.
So if anyone should fear justice, it might be his
victims. In a city with bigger crimes and criminals, little is
accomplished to safeguard the public from a panhandler who riders say
is behaving increasingly hostile.
“Although I have been trained to ignore what happens
on the Green Line after taking it for so many years, this guy … is
getting more and more aggressive by the encounter,” said Christie, a
CTA customer who asked not to be fully identified for safety reasons.
David, another regular Green Line rider, said: “I
always ride in the front car of the train and in the back of my mind is
the question: ‘Is today the day I have to fight?’ This guy doesn’t have
a lot to lose, but I do.”
Ervin — who served a year in the
Reserves in the mid-1970s and says he struggles with drug abuse,
homelessness and psychological problems — remains virtually free to beg
from anyone who crosses his path.
Most recently arrested on
soliciting and begging on the platform of the Austin station of the
Green Line, Ervin said Wednesday that he needed to panhandle until
Saturday, when he expected to receive a check from the
Ervin, who said he makes an average of
a day panhandling, said part of the reason he begs is to support three
daughters and three sons. He declined to provide their names or other
information, other than that two sons are living in
Ervin’s record stretches to 1984 in the
“When you get to 100-plus arrests, you are talking about a different kind of criminal,” said
whose officers have arrested Ervin numerous times. Perez heads up a
tactical team in the police department’s public transportation section.
The practice by
Ervin was arrested 11 times in 2009. In eight of the
cases, he was released by the police department on a rule-of-court
I-bond, records show. He did not appear for his court dates all eight
times.
He was arrested 17 times in 2008 — all resulting in I-bonds, the court records show.
relies heavily on a policy that allows potentially violent repeat
offenders to walk free.
“One issue we are dealing with is the small number
of chronic nonviolent offenders frequenting the CTA system,” Drew said.
“In addition to arrests, the department will be working with the CTA
and the judicial system to prevent these offenders from accessing CTA
property.”
police who simply release defendants back into the community.
“Someone charged with assault can be ordered to stay
away from the victim, in addition to posting a cash bond or being
placed on electronic monitoring,” Evans said. “Or someone charged with
panhandling on the ‘L’ can also be banned from using the CTA system.”
Judges commonly find Ervin in default for failing to
appear in court. They fine him and sometimes issue an arrest warrant.
He doesn’t pay his fines, and if he is picked up on an outstanding
warrant, he is often sentenced to time served at his next court date,
the records show.
Street cops such as Perez are frustrated because
they believe more cooperation is needed from the court system to treat
aggressive begging and other misdemeanor crimes as more than just a
nuisance.
“Most judges are reluctant to house guys like this (in jail),” Perez said.
Yet tactical officers working to catch offenders are
not undermined by the courts, but by their own district watch
commanders and other police officials who release defendants on I-bonds
regardless of their criminal history and the likelihood they will
strike again, according to judicial sources.
Until the law enforcement and judicial system finds
a way to effectively deal with Ervin and other aggressive panhandlers,
riders on the Green Line will likely continue to experience a rough
ride.
—
(c) 2010, Chicago Tribune.
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