Judge orders – A Cook County judge ordered three men accused of attacking a CBS News crew near the lakefront detained pending trial after prosecutors described an assault involving racial slurs, a dog, smashed equipment, and a high-speed tow truck escape.
When the tow truck pulled alongside the CBS News van. the morning around Adler Planetarium quickly turned into something far more dangerous. Prosecutors said it ended with a photographer and journalist attacked at roughly 4 p.m. Monday, a camera smashed, the news van’s windshield broken, and the men who fled later caught after a crash.
Cook County Circuit Judge James Murphy ordered William Huerta, 41, Rafael Salinas, 29, and Jon Twist, 37, detained after their first court hearing Thursday. Prosecutors asked Murphy to hold them pending trial, arguing the men posed a threat to the community.
The allegations stem from an attack prosecutors say began while the CBS crew was getting ready for a newscast near the lakefront. They said a white tow truck pulled alongside the news van, and Twist got out with an unleashed German shepherd and approached the photographer.
Prosecutors said Twist yelled racial slurs repeatedly at the photographer and ordered the dog to attack. They said Twist also asked whether the photographer was “scared.” Prosecutors described how the dog circled the photographer but did not attack, and that Twist then kicked the dog.
The photographer grabbed a lawn chair and hit Twist with it before trying to get away, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors then said Salinas got out of the tow truck and approached the journalist. The journalist managed to escape and called 911, prosecutors said. But prosecutors said Salinas then smashed the crew’s camera.
Next, prosecutors said the men smashed the news van’s windshield before fleeing in the tow truck.
Before the attack, police had also been called to a report involving someone flashing a gun inside a white tow truck near Maggie Daley Park, police said.
After the CBS crew was attacked. officers spotted the tow truck driven by Huerta near 43rd Street and Western Avenue. prosecutors said. They described Huerta speeding and driving into oncoming traffic. When officers tried to pull the truck over. prosecutors said Huerta tried to get away and repeatedly pressed on the brakes to cause officers to crash their vehicle.
Huerta eventually lost control of the tow truck and crashed in the 3600 block of South California Avenue, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said four people jumped out and tried to run—Twist, Salinas and Huerta, along with a fourth unknown male. Officers chased them down and placed the three men accused in the attack in custody. according to prosecutors. while the fourth man was not identified.
Prosecutors said officers recovered a rifle that was tossed on the ground near the tow truck.
During the hearing, Murphy ruled that all three men posed a threat to the community and would be detained pending a trial.
Twist is accused of committing a hate crime, criminal damage to property, and faces one misdemeanor count of resisting or obstructing a peace officer.
Huerta faces felony charges for fleeing and eluding, two counts of aggravated assault of a state employee, one count of reckless driving and one count of leaving the scene of a crime, along with various traffic citations, police said.
Salinas is facing one felony count of aggravated battery of a peace officer, one felony count of criminal damages, one count of reckless driving and one count of resisting or obstructing a peace officer.
Prosecutors said Salinas also had two active arrest warrants for aggravated fleeing and eluding stemming from two incidents in March. Salinas will appear in court for the prior arrest warrants on Monday, while all three men are expected to appear in court Wednesday in Skokie.
The judge’s order to detain them came after prosecutors argued that the same men seen during Monday’s chaos were still dressed in the clothes they were arrested in—a detail that underscored, at least in court, how quickly the situation escalated from a preparation moment to a violent pursuit.
Cook County James Murphy CBS News Adler Planetarium hate crime German shepherd tow truck Skokie court
Why was the dog even there??
Detained pending trial sounds right. I mean those racial slurs alone are insane. Also smashing the windshield like that… just why.
So the tow truck pulled up and then they escaped?? I feel like this is like those stories where the cops show up too late. If the dog didn’t attack then how did they even get charged for assault like… wasn’t it basically just barking and chaos?
I’m not saying CBS is perfect but attackers targeting a crew at the lakefront is wild. High-speed tow truck escape though?? Sounds like a movie, and then a crash… convenient. Racial slurs plus a kicked dog is extra disgusting, and I bet everybody’s gonna argue about “both sides” even though the article lays out smashed equipment and all that. Hopefully they actually keep them locked up til trial, because this kind of thing doesn’t just “happen.”